AFTER a near four-decade tie with St Patrick's Parish School tuck shop, Anne Phegan has packed her last lunch order.
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The tuck shop co-ordinator at the Albury-based primary school for 21 years, Mrs Phegan retired on Friday to focus on her golf game.
Together with a small band of volunteers, she packed 300 orders for pies, sausage rolls, hot dogs, nachos, salads, sandwiches and the like.
"Fridays are always the busiest," she said.
"I started as a tuck shop mum on Fridays back when my eldest child, David, was five; now he's 43.
"When the co-ordinator's job came up in 2000, I thought I'd give it three years and I stayed 21. I loved it!"
A mother-of-four and grandmother of 10, Mrs Phegan brought her passion for food, community service and sense of fun to the role.
Having a system for remembering the students' names was also an asset.
"If you learn all of the kinder kids' names off by heart, you can get through the next seven years without a hitch," Mrs Phegan said.
"You get so much out of them when they're younger; they love a chat and I always know who has lost a tooth."
IN OTHER NEWS:
Among myriad changes in the tuck shop over 21 years, Mrs Phegan singled out the traffic light system to categorise food, a shift to sustainability and online ordering.
She introduced reusable lunch bags about nine years ago.
"The online ordering system is simpler because it takes away the money handling and it's more convenient for working parents," she said.
"I have always seen the tuck shop as a service for families rather than as a business.
"So long as every child at school is fed, I'm happy."
Since 2000 Mrs Phegan introduced multicultural food days, themed lunches and an annual seated lunch for Grade 6 students.
However, she is best known for her popular "homemades" - frozen flavoured milk cups.
Having offered lunch orders only since March, over-the-counter sales halted amid the coronavirus crisis.
"One little boy asked me this week: 'When are you going to open the garage doors again!?'," she said.
"I will miss the children and what comes out of the mouths of babes; I wished I'd taken notes because I could have written a book."
Past and present tuck shop volunteers celebrated Mrs Phegan's career - fittingly - at Albury Commercial Golf Club this week.
Mrs Phegan planned to work on her game in between caravanning with her husband Gary and continuing as a Meals on Wheels volunteer.
"I took up golf again in July and I decided I needed to play more," Mrs Phegan said.
