Jenny McCabe has been working for local solicitors FarrellGoode for so long she feels like she is a part of the furniture but on 1 July that will come to an end when she retires after 35 years. Many in Temora, that have used the services of the legal firm, are familiar with her friendly smile as she mans the reception desk, however, she has done more than reception over her years working for the firm. She was recruited by her sister, Sandra Kite, who was working for the firm but wanted to job share, which at the time was a rather unorthodox concept. Initially Darryl Goode, the father of current Solicitor Director Jason Goode, said no but after a bit of convincing he agreed and the arrangement worked out well for both employer and employee. “We both had young kids at the time, and we were able to pitch in and pick up the slack from each other,” Ms McCabe said. “If she had to be home with a sick kid, I'd come in on the day that she would normally work, and then she would pick up my day somewhere down the track. “So, we did a lot of helping each other out.” She has seen many changes in her time at the firm and a fair share of interesting characters. Mr Goode and fellow Solicitor Director Mitchell Flakelar said that Ms McCabe will be sorely missed around the office. Mr Flakelar said that Ms McCabe has had a hand in most things in the day-to-day running of the firm and is more like an executive assistant. “Her local knowledge will be missed, when people walk in the front door and if they see anyone else other than her or a sister on the front desk, they ask questions,” Mr Flakelar said. Her most enduring memory of her time at the firm is the camaraderie in the office. “Everyone's always got on pretty well, probably because we're a smaller team, it's just that I think I'll miss the most actually,” she said. As she enters the next phase of her journey Ms McCabe says it will probably take some time to acclimatise to not coming to work each day but intends on travelling around a bit with her husband and spending time with family. “We have eight grandchildren so hands-on with them, and two of them live in Tasmania, so we'd like to probably do it Tassie a bit more extensively,” Ms McCabe said.
