Parkes Phoenix Editor

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

Our Gal – Kym Goodall

July 29, 2022 by Maggi Barnard

Kym Goodall

How long have you lived in or around Forbes and what do you like about living here? I have lived in Forbes for most of my life, aside from a few years in Orange and Batemans Bay. Family kept drawing us back home and I love the small town community.

Where do you work and what do you enjoy about it? I own and run Bright Beginnings Early Learning Centre. I am extremely blessed to work with an amazing team of educators, and our families are the absolute best. It gives me great joy watching children blossom and grow during their time with us.

What do you do to unwind on weekends? I have recently taken up a new hobby of making drinking tumblers. It allows me to destress and gives me a creative outlet.

What’s on your bucket list? I want to travel around Australia and also overseas. I hope that soon we can get a caravan and start touring around the country a bit more.

Tell us an interesting fact about yourself? I was a contestant in Dancing with the Stars in Forbes a few years ago. I loved being a participant and raising funds for such a great charity.

What was your first job? Check out chick at Woolies.

Tell us about your best holiday ever? My family and I spent six weeks traveling through Europe. It was amazing to soak in all the history, and to visit family in Greece.

Forbes Croquet News

July 29, 2022 by Pegging Out

We had 31 players for Aussie Croquet on Saturday with three players winning three games: John Browne, Bruce Field and Merv Langfield.

BIG WINNERS: 14 – 6 John Browne; 14 – 9 Ray Burridge and Barry White; 14 – 10 Joan Littlejohn and Bruce Field, Dorelle Scott and Alex Todd, Robin Pols and Jeff Liebich, Colleen Liebich and Neville Spry, Colleen Liebich and Allan Jones.

SOME CLOSE GAMES: Marie Spry and Alex Todd 14 May Jones and Harley Stewart 13; John Cole and Merv Langfield 14 Jeff Liebich and Harley Stewart 13; Lorraine Todd and Marie Spry 14 May Jones and Neville Spry 13; John Farah and Peter West 14 Elvy Quirk and Sandy Hepburn 13; Kevin Rubie and Lorraine Todd 14 Bill Scott and Allan Jones 12; Merv Langfield and John Cole 14 John Farah and Ray New 12.

Another big turn up of 36 players for Golf Croquet on a chilly Tuesday morning. There were five players who managed three games: John Cole, John Farah, Mal Smith, and two newer players Noel Jolliffe and Allan Jones – well done!

BIG WINNERS: 10 – 3 Elvy Quirk and Jeff Liebich, Kevin Rubie and Noel Jolliffe; 9 – 4 John Farah and Bruce Field, Dorelle Scott and Noel Jolliffe, John Farah and Fay Picker, Kevin Rubie and John Job, Barry White and Tony Thomson.

SOME CLOSE GAMES: Colleen Liebich and John Farah 7 John Browne and Elvy Quirk 6; Merv Langfield and Allan Jones 7 Joan Littlejohn and Ray Burridge 6; Jill Rubie and Noel Jolliffe 7 Carolyn Neilsen and John Job 6; Allan Jones and Bill Scott 7 Fay Picker and Vince Roberts 6; Mal Smith and Allan Jones 7 Neville Spry 6; John Cole and Peter West 7 John Browne and Bruce Field 6.

By Pegging Out

Creating Futures At Forbes North Public School

July 29, 2022 by Maggi Barnard

Forbes North Public School is committed to ‘creating futures with education changing lives’ as a true reflection on what our school believes while celebrating the theme for Education Week 2022.

Throughout Education Week and across the month of August our school is offering multiple opportunities for wider community including parents, carers, and extended family to visit the school, enjoy meaningful celebrations and acknowledge the importance of public education.

Starting this week by celebrating ‘100 Days of School’, our 30 Kindergarten students dressed as if they were 100 years old to celebrate 100 days of primary school with parents and grandparents coming to school for a picnic in the sun on the common green area with a special cake cutting ceremony.

NAIDOC 2022 was celebrated with a cultural immersion inviting local Aboriginal cultural group ‘River Spirit’ onto our grounds for a full day of authentic cultural activities.

Next week during Education Week on Tuesday 2 August our school is open to our families from 10.00am until 3.30pm as our community comes to school at a time suitable to them to enjoy the playground sports and games, have lunch at the canteen, visit our classrooms and see first-hand what a day in public education really looks like.

Our students will also commence a unique sports program including golf and squash at Forbes Golf Club, lawn bowls at Forbes Bowling Club and cycling around Lake Forbes.

During August our senior students are attending an Eco Day in Parkes, hosting ‘Reading Up North’ previously known as Reading Downtown and Northparkes Mine are installing 20 roosting boxes in our mature trees allowing our students to observe and monitor breeding native birds including the Grass Parrot, Eastern Rosella, Currawong, Honey Eaters, other species and, we are hoping to attract rare birds such as the Swift Parrot to our playground.

Parents and carers will also have the opportunity to attend Mathematics workshops over two evenings as our staff are currently focusing on place value and whole number as an area of interest and improvement across Kindergarten to Year 6 numeracy.

Forbes North is also celebrating Education Week in August with a massive book sale combining the love of reading and the annual book week celebrations around the theme ‘Dreaming with Eyes Open’. Education changes lives and every student at Forbes North will have the opportunity to proudly celebrate public education in the coming weeks.

Top Astrophotography Entries On Show At The Dish

July 29, 2022 by Maggi Barnard

Left: Old Giant in the Fog by Ian Inverarity was named the overall winner of the David Malin Awards. Right: The Photo Editor’s Choice went to Jarrod Andrews for ‘Beams at the Arctic Henge’.

A South Australian photographer was named the overall winner of the prestigious David Malin Awards in astrophotography at the Parkes Radio Telescope on Sunday.

Ian Inverarity entered the Nightscapes category with his image called ‘Old Giant in the Fog’ for which he won the top prize.

The Photo Editor’s Choice Award was won by Jarrod Andrews from Victoria for his image titled ‘Beams at the Arctic Henge’. Jeff Darmanin, a News Corp picture editor, judged the Photo Editor’s Choice awards.

The competition received entries from every state and territory of Australia and as the premier competition of its kind in Australia, a panel of distinguished Australian astrophotographers judged the category entries. Dr David Malin judged the overall winner from the list of these winners, as the best in show. The judging panel included Phil Hart and Alex Cherney, previous winners of the David Malin Awards, and of numerous other national and international astrophotography competitions.

It was not just technical skill that was awarded. The prizes went to pictures that captured the beauty of the sky and the intrinsic interest of astronomy in an aesthetically pleasing manner. Celestron Australia supported the competition with prizes to the value of $10,000.

The finest images will be exhibited in two parallel exhibitions. The first will be on show at the CSIRO Parkes Observatory’s Visitors Centre for the entire year. The second exhibition, organised by the Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences, will tour Australia beginning in October. Last year’s received over 200,000 people Australia-wide making it the largest photographic exhibition in the country.

What value do you think the Wiradjuri Ngurambang Exhibition at the Parkes Library & Cultural Centre will bring to the community?

July 29, 2022 by Maggi Barnard

Amanda Corcoran: It is a visual presentation of Wiradjuri culture that will help to share it with the non-indigenous community to broaden understanding.

Kevin Bloomsfield: I love the exhibition. It will create more cultural awareness in our community and for visitors.

Rose Jones: It opens up a whole new world of Wiradjuri culture and history that should’ve been taught in schools years ago. It is a great step forward to create better understanding.

New Courthouse Café Opens This Weekend

July 29, 2022 by Maggi Barnard

The collection of cafes in Forbes is further expanding this weekend with the opening of the new Courthouse Café inside the Vandenberg Hotel. The opening hours will be 8am to 12pm on Saturday and Sunday. See you there!

Snippets…

July 29, 2022 by Maggi Barnard

The Rotary Clubs of Parkes and Forbes have joined a District project initiated by the Rotary Club of Coolamon to support the Ukraine Appeal. Community members can purchase sunflower seeds for planting. The sunflower is the National floral emblem of Ukraine, so purchasing them will provide financial support, but also show solidarity with Ukraine. Funds raised will go to the Rotary’s Ukrainian Aid Fund, which has already received around a million dollars in donations.

Nominate A Tradie Today: Today, 29th July, is the closing date for this month’s Tradie of the Month competitions in Forbes and Parkes, sponsored by Gunn’s Menswear and Totally Work Wear respectively. Readers can nominate a tradie, male or female, to go into the draw and the winner each month will win a prize. Simply drop into Gunn’s Menswear or Totally Work Wear to nominate a tradie, or send us an email at editor@forbesphoenix.com.au or editor@parkesphoenix.com.au.

Community Funding: Not-for-profit organisation in the Parkes Shire can apply for funding. Round 1 for the 2022/23 Community Financial Assistance program is now open! The Parkes Shire Council is encouraging groups and organisations to apply for a donation, a waiving of fees and charges, seed or growth funding. Applications close at 5pm on Friday, 13th August. For more information visit https://bit.ly/3yIjI9W

Charity Ball: Northparkes Mines will be hosting a Frontline Charity Ball at the Parkes Leagues Club on Saturday, 20th August to raise funds and celebrate the emergency services within our local communities. The evening will consist of a sit down dinner, live music by Gabemusic and auctions. It will also feature special guest hosts The Eighth Mile Consultancy Pty Ltd. Tickets available via: https://bit.ly/3uTGIlh

Aboriginal Language For Personal Use: TAFE NSW Forbes is taking Expressions of Interest in Certificate I in Fundamental Aboriginal Languages for Personal Use. TAFE is looking at starting a part time course on a Wednesday night that would run for 17 weeks at the Forbes campus. This would be a fully subsidised course and is open to all students. Learn the foundations to reading and writing in your local language and join your community in protecting and promoting traditional languages for generations to come. Register your expression of at: https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage

AFL Trees: Fans of AFL and the environment will be pleased to hear that Planet Ark and National Tree Day major sponsor Toyota Australia are teaming up with the AFL to plant trees around Australia. During rounds 17-19, the AFL’s sustainability rounds, a native Australian seedling will be planted for every point scored across all games!

It is National Tree Day on Sunday and to celebrate Forbes Shire Council’s Urban Services and Events teams planted 50 native eucalypts to create enhanced bird habitats.

Check Your Child Restraints

July 29, 2022 by Maggi Barnard

The recent free child restraint checking event held in Parkes and Forbes discovered that the majority of seats were incorrectly fitted.

The most common mistakes included shoulder straps needed adjustment, the seatbelt path was wrong, there wasn’t a large enough gap between the back of the front seat and the child restraint and capsule tether straps were used incorrectly.

If you missed this annual event, local fitters can install and check child restraints for a small fee. Find them in Parkes at Col Fletcher Ford and Kia and Parkes Tyrepower, and at Jelbart Dawson in Forbes.

Amy Makes A Century Plus One

July 29, 2022 by Maggi Barnard

Amy Dunstan, who became a JRV resident in January 2019, turned 101 on 3rd July and celebrated afternoon tea with her sons Kerrie and Ray.

In 1921 Australia defeated England in The Ashes series, the Royal Australian Air Force was established, Edith Cowan became the first female parliamentarian in Australia, and Amy Dunstan was born on the 3rd of July.

This means she turned 101 this year and celebrated the big day at the Jemalong Residential Village (JRV) with her two sons Kerrie and Ray.

Amy shared some wonderful memories of her long life being the second oldest of nine children. “I have six sisters and three brothers. We had lots of fun as we played together,” she said.

“My first job when I left school was doing housework. I then became a dress maker which I really loved. I made soldiers uniforms and blankets in the war years.”

Amy met Davitt and married him on the 3rd of March 1943. We had two wonderful sons Kerrie and Raymond and we have some beautiful grandchildren.”

Amy said they loved socialising with friends, dancing and listening to Bing Crosby. Sadly, Davitt passed away in 1977. “I still miss him.”

Amy has her favourite picture in her room of blue ducks. “I love blue ducks and also have blue wooden ducks. They remind me of my husband as this was the name of his unit in the war.

“I love spending time with my sons and their families. I love to have contact with people.”

Be Seen @ Forbes

July 29, 2022 by Maggi Barnard

Shelbie Smith and Amelia Callaghan enjoying time out at Sylo.

Mick and Aleashia Taylor out and about in the CBD.

Alex Feringa and Talia Harding were spotted shopping.

Parkes Phoenix Editor

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