Parkes Phoenix Editor

Maggi Barnard has been with the Forbes Phoenix since 2021 and loves writing about her community.

GP Surgical Clinic Re-Opens

September 2, 2022 by Maggi Barnard

A rural generalist surgical clinic has been re-established at Parkes Hospital and is run by Dr Angus Brown.

A rural generalist surgical clinic has been re-established at Parkes Hospital that will improve access to high quality surgical care for communities across the Lachlan Valley.

The reinvigorated clinic is being delivered by Dr Angus Brown, a rural generalist with advanced skills in general surgery, endoscopy and emergency medicine, and offers pre and post-operative care for a range of procedures.

“Through the rural generalist surgical clinic, Dr Brown provides public consultations throughout the surgical process to help patients understand their procedures and coordinate any care required afterward too,” said Professor Damien Limberger, Acting Clinical Director of Lachlan Health Service.

“Dr Brown has been providing services to the region for over a year. The reinvigorated clinic continues the work of local GP surgeon Dr Stephen Morris following his retirement.”

Rach Ellem, Health Service Manager of Lachlan Health Service, which includes Parkes and Forbes Hospitals, said the clinic currently operated only at Parkes Hospital on Tuesdays once per month, but there was scope to expand.

Contact the rural generalist surgical clinic on 68612455 or WNSWLHD-Admissions@health.nsw.gov.au

Parkes Boars Wins 2022 Premiers, Secures Hat-Trick

September 2, 2022 by Ben & Kimberley Ryan

The Parkes Boars celebrate after becoming New Holland Cup Premiers for the third year in a row after beating Mudgee 23-20 on Saturday. (Photo: Allan Ryan)

The mighty Parkes Boars have been named New Holland Cup Premiers for the third year in a row, after a nail-biting 23-20 win over Mudgee in the first grade rugby union grand final on Saturday.

The Boars had a rollercoaster season, finishing third on the ladder at the end of the regular season. The team worked hard to bring home the silverware, defeating CSU Bathurst and Dubbo Rhinos on the way to the grand final.

First grade coach Ben Ryan said the team expected the Mudgee Wombats to apply pressure early. “They came out very strong and got an early lead on us,” he said. “But our captain, Christopher ‘Taco’ Parker, and vice-captain, veteran Rory Nock, kept the boys focused and didn’t let the pressure become overwhelming. That allowed us to grind it out for the full 80 minutes and that’s exactly what it took to win.”

The game lead changed hands several times, with the Boars finding themselves four points down in the dying minutes. A textbook try by Sororpepeli ‘Sorro’ Soqe followed by a successful conversion from the golden boot of Luke Bevan were enough to secure the lead for Parkes with seconds until the buzzer.

“The last play was a Mudgee kick off and it was frantic, both teams knew they needed to get their hands on the ball at all costs,” said Ben. “Just about everyone who could get under the ball went for it, and fortunately we came away with it after a Mudgee knock on and that was the end of the game.

“I think a massive thank you has to go to all our families, friends and supporters who wished us luck and those who came over to back us on the day. Going into enemy territory and having a vocal group there supporting you makes a massive difference,” said Ben.

By Ben & Kimberley Ryan

Beautiful Weather For Croquet

September 2, 2022 by Pegging Out

What a beautiful day it was to play Aussie Croquet on Saturday, so good in fact that 30 players turned up and enjoyed the morning at the Forbes Club.

There were four players that had three wins: Geoff Coles, Kevin Rubie, Barry White and Lorraine Todd.

BIG WINNERS: 14—7 Bill Scott and Tony Thomson; 14—8 Elvy Quirk and Joan Littlejohn, Barry White and John Cole; 14—9 Sandy Hepburn and Elvy Quirk, Bill Scott and Geoff Coles

CLOSE GAMES: (some results) Ray Burridge 14 May Jones 13; Kevin Rubie and May Jones 14 Sandy Hepburn and John Cole 13; Merv Langfield and John Cole 14 Jill Rubie and Harley Stewart 13; Colleen Liebich and May Jones 14 Ray Burridge and Rex Toole 12; Harley Stewart and John Farah 14 Colleen Liebich and Neville Spry 12; Jill and Kevin Rubie 14 Doreen Rogers and John Job 12

Another beautiful day for Golf Croquet on Tuesday with a good number of 36 players again. This was the last day of winter play, so here’s hoping we’ll get some warmer days.

BIG WINNERS: 11—2 Neville Spry and Neil Gilmour, May Jones and Ray Burridge, Colleen Liebich and Mal Smith; 10—3 Bruce Field and Noel Jolliffe.

CLOSE GAMES: (some results) Lyal Studwick and Carolyn Neilsen 7 Lorraine Todd and John Browne 6; Neville Spry 7 Kevin Rubie 6; John Farah and Sally Perry 7 Noel Jolliffe and Sandy Hepburn 6; Bruce Field and Ray Burridge 7 John Cole and Vince Roberts 6; Fay Picker and Tony Thomson 7 Iren Ford and Neil Gilmour 6; Neville Spry and Mal Smith and 7 Rex Toole and Bruce Field 6

By Pegging Out

Mayoral Notes

September 2, 2022 by Phylls Miller

We know the roads are bad. This is the case everywhere in NSW. If you can afford the fuel to go on a trip, you will know roads are shocking well beyond the Forbes Shire.

We are doing the best we possibly can, but we need your help to make sure we know about all the road damage. Particularly any new, large or dangerous potholes so they can be included in our works program and at least filled until the weather improves enough for us to properly patch them. Please be kind to our limited staff if there are delays to get through.

To report a pothole phone 6850 2300 or leave your name, phone number and the location on our website at Report an Issue | Forbes Shire Council (nsw.gov.au)

The former Spotlight building is almost completely demolished. Council was fully insured and is ready to rebuild to get businesses in place as soon as possible.

News that the cement slab can remain is excellent for the project moving forward for cost and the rebuild timeline.

Council has this week announced the new pool managers, Belgravia Leisure – the largest leisure management group in Australia and New Zealand (who also manages Parkes Pool). Our pool is a really important community asset and we are looking forward to another fantastic and safe season of swimming starting the October long weekend.

Go the Magpies in Dubbo on Sunday against Dubbo Cyms – they are playing at Apex Oval in Dubbo from 3pm. Wishing you all the best of luck.

Your Mayor
Phylls Miller

Snippets…

September 2, 2022 by Maggi Barnard

The wattles around Forbes and in the region have been in full bloom in time to celebrate the start of Spring yesterday.

Leads Please: Forbes Shire Council has received numerous complaints about dog owners not using leads around Lake Forbes. Remember that responsible dog ownership is important, and that dogs in public places must always be on a lead or leash unless they are in a specified off-leash area. Always keep your dog on a lead in public places.

Bust Your Energy Bills: Applications for the NSW Government’s Energy Bill Buster program to help households slash their power bills by up to $600 a year are now open. Eligible households include pensioners and Department of Veterans Affairs Gold Card holders receiving the Low Income Household Rebate. Households can check their Bill Buster eligibility and apply at www.energysaver.nsw.gov.au/rebate-swap.

Free RATs: Pensioners and other concession card holders can now get up to 10 free rapid antigen tests (RATs) from any Service NSW Service Centre, Mobile Service Centre or Disaster Recovery Centre until the end of October. Eligible Commonwealth Concession Card holders in NSW include: Pensioner Concession card; Commonwealth Seniors Health Care card; Health Care Card (including Low Income Health Care card); Department of Veterans’ Affairs Gold, White or Orange cards. For more information visit Free rapid antigen tests to support vulnerable communities | NSW Government or any Service NSW Service Centre.

Unclaimed Money: Older people are encouraged to check if they have money owing to them with more than half a billion dollars currently sitting with Revenue NSW. Anyone can use the free service on the Revenue NSW website to search for unclaimed money. The unclaimed funding includes share dividends, trust accounts, refunds, commissions, deceased estates and money from a range of other sources. Go to https://www.revenue.nsw.gov.au/ unclaimed-money

Free Food Organics Workshop: Parkes Shire Council is hosting a free food organics workshop on Tuesday, 27th September from 5:30pm – 7pm at the Marramarra Makerspace Studio. Food and garden waste accounts for almost half of waste materials, takes up limited landfill space and creates harmful greenhouse gases when it breaks down. Bookings are necessary for catering purposes. To reserve your spot, visit: https://bit.ly/3cjLqTd

Parkes Public School has received funding to install and make upgrades to safety fencing at the school. NSW Nationals Upper House MP Sam Farraway (right) said it was important that local schools had quality facilities to keep staff and students safe. He is with school principal Coral O’Neill. The NSW Government is investing $8.6 billion in school infrastructure over the next four years.

Be Seen

September 2, 2022 by Maggi Barnard

Vanessa Edwards and Maleaha Clark (2.5 years old) dressed up for the Paint the Town REad reading day in Cooke Park on Friday.

Kane (11), Ivy (7) and Axel (9) Dickerson at the Parkes Show on Tuesday.

The Morley family recently moved to Alectown and did a wonderful pantomime rendition of Roald Dahl’s version of Little Red Riding Hood in his book Revolting Rhymes at the reading day. They are (L-R) Anderson, Amelia, Juliette and Chris.

Brenda and John Davies enjoyed the sun coming out at the Parkes Show.

‘Avarice’ A Thrill For Forbes Scriptwriters

September 2, 2022 by Maggi Barnard

MOVIE MAKERS… Dane Millerd and Adam Enslow have collaborated before on other projects. Avarice has been described in the media as ‘smartly put together and entertaining, a rock-solid homegrown thriller’.

It took more than four years to see the fruits of their labour, but last week two Forbes locals celebrated when the world premiere of a new thriller was screened in Perth, Western Australia.

‘Avarice’ is an action-packed thriller about a home invasion and it all started when Adam Enslow and Dane Millerd met director John V Soto in 2018.

“Adam and I were introduced to John through a mutual film colleague from the US. John had read our horror home invasion script ‘Are You Scared Yet?’ and wanted to chat with us. From there the action thriller Avarice was born and Andrew Slattery was brought in to help us with the script,” said Dane.

Luckily ScreenWest and Epic Pictures believed in the movie and it was made for over $2 million and filmed in Perth.

“It was a great process that Dane and I went through and to see it being made into a movie is pretty awesome,” said Adam.

Dane is just as excited about the movie saying the long wait of four years made it all worthwhile. “There are not short cuts in this business.”

Starring Gillian Alexy and Luke Ford the story of Avarice follows a woman (Alexy), who is an Olympian lever archer, as she attempts to rescue her investment banker husband (Ford) after he is abducted during a vicious home invasion.

As a screenwriter you have to put up with a lot of changes and Dane and Adam were involved in the five rewrites for Avarice. As a point of reference, Dane said Star Wars: A new Hope had 27 rewrites.

“We created the plot and the initial storyline and was able to put our stamp on it,” said Adam.

The writing pair have another thriller on their slate that has been delayed due to COVID, called ‘Death’s Waiting Room’, plus some other projects in their infancy.

They have not seen the movie yet, but can’t wait for the Sydney premiere in mid-September. It will then be released in theatres, streamed online and available on DVD/Blu Ray and video on demand.

Gillian Alexy, who also starred in The Americans, with director John V Soto at the premiere of Avarice in WA last week.

Our Gal – Lea Orr

September 2, 2022 by Maggi Barnard

Where were you born? Mungindi, Queensland (Go the Blues, however!)

Were you named after anyone? Judy Lea, not after anyone.

Which of your accomplishments are you most proud of? Chosen as an exchange teacher to London in 1980. Also our three successful children.

What historical moment stands out most in your memory? The moon landing watched on a small black and white television by the whole school in the school hall at Tenterfield!

What’s the single best piece of advice you’ve ever received? My dad’s favourite saying: “Everything in moderation”.

What’s the greatest risk you’ve ever taken? Thinking I was a better snow skier than I actually was, resulting in a terrifying minute sliding uncontrollably on my stomach on a steep icy slope, stopping just short of the chair lift pylon.

What are the three things you would take to a deserted island? A desalination kit, my handy hubby and a fishing rod.

If you had to spend $10,000 today, how would you spend it? I would book a tropical holiday.

When are you happiest? Seeing our grandchildren; sharing a drink/cuppa with friends and family.

Locally Made Is The New Souvenir

September 2, 2022 by Maggi Barnard

Forbes Visitor Information Centre is seeking expressions of interest from creatives to expand its range to more locally produced products when it moves to the new centre on the Newell Highway at the end of the year.

If you are creative and would like a wider audience for your products, the Forbes Shire Council is seeking expressions of interest for locally made goods.

The former Lachlan Vintage Village is being converted into the new Forbes Visitor Information Centre that will open towards the end of the year and will be an outlet and showcase for locally produced craft and goods.

Whether your interests are in baking, preserves, crafts, sewing, textiles, design, drawing, painting, woodwork, leather work, cosmetics, fragrances and the like, this might be the opportunity you’ve been waiting for.

Locally made is said to be the new souvenir, and with an average of 9,000 visitors per year before COVID, the new Visitor Information Centre’s prime location on the Newell Highway is set to attract loads more people. The new centre will also have a restaurant/coffee shop that will entice more people to make a stop.

The centre currently sells a variety of items with the Amazing brand, but would like to expand its range to include more locally made products from Forbes and the Central West.

Local suppliers must have capacity to provide and deliver adequate stock and hold appropriate insurances licences, certificates and ABN. Expression of Interest Forms are available at Council or at https://www.forbes.nsw.gov.au/council/tenders-public-exhibitions-and-expressions-of-interest/tenders-quotations-expressions-of-interest/tenders-and-eoi and must be submitted by 5pm on Friday, 16th September. For further information contact Council’s Governance Officer, Rebecca Kennedy by email forbes@forbes.nsw.gov.au or call 6850 2300.

Training Boost For Local Emergency Services

August 26, 2022 by Maggi Barnard

One of the scenarios volunteers worked on at the Careflight trauma care workshop in Parkes on Sunday. (Photo: CareFlight)

Emergency services in Parkes and Forbes received a boost on Sunday when CareFlight hosted a unique community education workshop for 14 SES and RFS volunteers.

CareFlight’s trauma care workshops are one of a kind and are provided at no cost to participants. Lifelike medical manikins, simulated accident scenarios and specially-designed simulation equipment aid in the recreation of a high-pressure, hands-on environment, ensuring the training is realistic, applicable and improves participants’ ability to connect learning to real-world situations.

In addition to lifesaving skills, personnel are armed with essential leadership, teamwork, situational awareness and communication skills that will help them respond to traumas.

Head of education and training at CareFlight, Colin Brown said it was the third time in 11 years that CareFlight had hosted the workshop in Parkes. “It is one of our favourite workshops and we love doing it in country towns like Parkes.”

He said the feedback from the participants was fantastic. “Talking to them afterwards they said it was really helpful, especially as they were often the first people to arrive at the scene of an accident or emergency.”

“Some of the practical aspects they learned were how to manage patients in a particular situation, how to triage patients and what to do when they have more patients than resources.”

CareFlight was able to bring the training to Parkes thanks to government grants, and is part of CareFlight’s grassroots initiative to create a resilient and healthier community. In collaboration with local groups and their members, CareFlight is building confidence in the emergency response abilities of locals in the community.

CareFlight’s Community Education workshops are coordinated by experienced doctors, paramedics and nurses who train first responders.

Parkes Phoenix Editor

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