HAPPY IN HIS WORK: Greg Berghan on deck at RD1, a few days short of his 30th anniversary.
HAPPY IN HIS WORK: Greg Berghan on deck at RD1, a few days short of his 30th anniversary.
Saturday will be the 30th anniversary of the day Greg Berghan, then a brand new 17-year-old, started work at the Kaitaia Dairy Company store in Kaitaia.
He had fronted up the day before, on his birthday, to ask if he might have a job, and while a great deal haschanged over the ensuing three decades his enthusiasm has never waned.
Having grown up on a farm at Takahue, he had decided that working in a farm shop wouldn't be a bad way to earn his living, he said last week, his career beginning "out the back" in the bulk store, working alongside Stan Julian.
"George Coulson was my first boss," he said, while Barry Maria and Peter Moss were there too, to pass on their years of experience.
The Kaitaia Dairy Company, which was on the corner of Commerce and Melba Streets (where Postie+ is these days), subsequently became a Town and Country agri-centre, then RD1, and is about to morph into a branch of Farm Source.
Greg, the son of Velda and the late Jim Berghan, credited being part of "a good team" for much of his job satisfaction, but manager Gary McDonald reckoned he was a real asset to the company.
"Farmers enjoy dealing with him," he said.
"Well, one or two might be a bit puzzled sometimes, but most of them do."
