Regulars at the popular Otago Farmers Market will notice a changing of the guard at the Havoc Pork stand.
Havoc Farm co-owner Linda McCallum-Jackson (63), one of the long-standing characters of the weekly Saturday market, has decided to retire from running the Havoc Pork stand. Her son, Cain Lindegreen - who has operated the Havoc Farm Pork shop in High St for the past 18 months - has stepped up to take over the reins.
''I've worked with Mum quite a lot in the past few months at the Farmers Market, and I love it,'' Mr Lindegreen said.
''It's very busy, very fast and great fun.''
Mrs McCallum-Jackson had been thinking about retiring for some time, and had planned a month-long transition at the market, but a recent health scare meant she has had to stop more quickly.
''We decided that Mum had better retire straight away, so she can rest up,'' Mr Lindegreen said.
A long-standing stall-holder at the Otago Farmers Market [since three months after the market opened], Mrs McCallum-Jackson has been making the trip down from the Havoc Farm in Waimate, driving a truck full of pork products, for the past 10 years.
For a time, this meant getting up at 3.30am to reach Dunedin in time to be at the market by 6.15am to unload. Later, she was able to rent a room in a Dunedin flat and stay overnight on Fridays, but the starts remain early.
''Being part of the market has been great fun, but it can also be exhausting,'' she said.
''The market has grown busier and busier over the years - and so have we.''
When Havoc Farm first started selling pork products at the Otago Farmers Market 10 years ago, it sold products from one pig each week. Now, Havoc Pork sells the products from 20 pigs at the market every weekend.
Mrs McCallum-Jackson believes the popularity of the Havoc Pork products, reflects the quality of Havoc Farm's free-range style of pig farming. The farm is run by her husband, Ian McCallum-Jackson.
Stepping down from the market has been a wrench for Mrs McCallum-Jackson, who said he had thoroughly enjoyed the contact with her regular clients, her staff, and with her fellow vendors.
''I will really miss the market and all the people, but my body is letting me know that it really is tired,'' she said.
Even though she is stepping down from the hands-on running of the Havoc Pork stand, Mrs McCallum-Jackson still hopes to visit the market about once a month.
''It will be nice to come back and have time to chat to everyone,'' she said.
Otago Farmers Market Trust chairman Rodger Whitson said Mrs McCallum-Jackson had been a stalwart the market for many years and one of its ''real characters''.
''Linda has been a great supporter of the market and is always full of life - she'll be missed,'' Mr Whitson said.
Now that she had stepped down from attending the Otago Farmers Market weekly, Mrs McCallum-Jackson hoped to have more time for her garden and reading, as well as developing the Havoc Pork presence at the Sunday market in Timaru.
Along with running the Havoc Pork stand at the Otago Farmers Market on Saturdays, Mr Lindegreen will continue running the Havoc Pork stand at the Stadium Market on Sundays at Forsyth Barr Stadium.
