Parkes Phoenix Editor

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

OUR Gal

August 31, 2017 by Maggi Barnard

Ainslie Toole

How long have you lived in Forbes and what do you like about living here? I have lived in the Forbes district for most of my life. I love the lake, the river and the people. I love that you can walk down the street and feel part of the community.

Where do you work and what do you enjoy about your work? I work at Landmark Harcourts selling farms. I have been doing this for almost 20 years. I really enjoy the excitement of selling properties.

What do you do to unwind after work or on weekends? I go Dragon boating – training and competing in some regattas. I spend most weekends at kids sport and enjoy catching up with friends, family and travel.

What are you really good at? At rolling my sleeves up and giving a hand.

If you could have a super power, what would it be? To have the ability to make people tell the truth. It would be really entertaining.

What is your pet hate? That fit healthy people are unemployed. I would love to

have the ability to fix that.

Tell us about your best holiday ever. I had two and a half years on a working holiday in England. I travelled through Europe through to the Arctic in my 20’s.

Community Organisations’ Partnership Continues

August 31, 2017 by Maggi Barnard

Amy Shine of Forbes Preschool handed over the keys of their old school to House With No Steps on Wednesday morning.

“On behalf of the preschool, we are happy to hand over the school to another community organisation and look forward to continuing our long-standing partnership with them,” Amy said.

The school moved into new premises end of April last year and since then the old building has been vacant.

Support Manager for House With No Steps, Kim Wright, said that they were looking forward to utilising the area.

House With No Steps will be using the old school as an office and meeting space and have a few plans in mind on how to make the building suit the needs for people with disabilities. House With No Steps members did a tour of the premises and made suggestions for possible improvements.

Leanne Allegri who is the Area Manager for House With No Steps said: “We are very excited about being able to build more of a community space to support people with disability as we move towards the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS).

By Gizell van Wyk

MAYORAL NOTES

August 31, 2017 by Maggi Barnard

I attended NAIDOC celebrations last Thursday when about 900 school children celebrated indigenous culture.

I also had the privilege of presenting the Forbes Senior and Forbes Junior Indigenous Person of the Year Awards respectively to Cath Bowden for her work to promote Wiradjuri culture and Matty Duke for his academic and sporting achievements.

This week also saw another great Forbes event when the NSW Small Winemakers Show got underway. The show fills a niche for small winemakers to showcase their product against their larger counterparts. Tonight the public tasting takes place at the Youth and Community Centre from 6:30pm. I’d encourage as many residents as possible to support the event and sample top wines from across NSW and the ACT.

Last weekend the Forbes Shire’s sporting talent was on display. I attended the Platypi vs Dubbo Roos game and it was great to see our boys overcome Dubbo. In not so good news the Forbes Magpies were unsuccessful in their clash with Parkes. Con gratulations to the Platypi and commiserations to the Magpies.

I also attended the junior soccer and junior netball grand finals. The manners of the children were truly a credit to the clubs and their families. The other thing that occurred to me while attending these events was how lucky we are to have such top quality sporting facilities in Forbes. They are a credit to our community and to our parks and gardens staff.

Graeme Miller

Mayor

Forbes Shire Council

Hard Hitting Mock Crash Paints Stark Picture

August 31, 2017 by Maggi Barnard

More than 500 high school students were emotionally challenged with the realities of what happens in a serious car crash during the staging of a mock crash at the PCYC Parkes last week.

“I am still shaken by it,” said Kian Schembri, a Year 10 student from Parkes Christian School of the annual event staged for the ninth time this year.

The aim of the confronting mock crash is to bring home the message of drinking and driving. The demonstration by the Parkes, Forbes and Lachlan Shire Councils is the corner stone of the NOT A STATISTIC! Youth Driver Education Program.

Four youth actors, Krystle-Lee McMurray and Maddison Collits from Forbes and Jack McGrath and Faith Hanstock from Parkes, took the audience on a moving, tragic and at times upsetting ride from a care free birthday party to the horrors of a car crash and its long-term after effects.

“It is a really good way to teach us a lesson,” said Wally Campbell from Forbes High School, one of seven high schools attending. “It will remain with me as a reminder not to drink and drive, and to think before getting into a car with someone who’s been drinking.”

For Ella Richards from Parkes Christian School it was “really good and very confronting” as she has friends who had been in a crash. “I will definitely not drink and drive.” Melanie Suitor, Parkes, Forbes and Lachlan Shire Councils’ Road Safety and Injury Prevention Officer, said it was hard to gage the effect of the annual event, but in the Central West 25% of accidents involved young people, while the state average was 32%.

Local young drivers were involved in 207 crashes across the Parkes, Forbes and Lachlan Shire Council areas over four years from 2011, resulting in three fatalities and 228 injuries.

By Maggi Barnard

Footy Tipping Results Round 25

August 30, 2017 by Maggi Barnard

MAYORAL NOTES

August 24, 2017 by Maggi Barnard

Last Friday I was able to attend Vietnam Veterans Day at the Cenotaph while the park was full of children for Reading Down Town Day. I was impressed with the respect the children showed the veterans.

On Saturday Cr Webb, Cr Herbert and I attended the Bedgerabong Show. It was great to get out and give residents the opportunity for a chat and feedback.

I’d like to thank Cr Miller for representing Council and presenting at the Sand and Grass Greens golf tournament. The event was very successful and looks likely to continue to grow.

On Sunday Maureen and I attended the Orange Male Voice Choir performance. The choir were again magnificent, but I’d also like to congratulate the young dancers from Kristen’s Dance Studio, who were simply fantastic.

Our current General Manager, Danny Green, will depart this time next week. Acting General Manager, Max Kershaw, will begin the same day so we can ensure continuity of service. We’re looking forward to working with Max and continuing the good work Danny started during his time with us.

On Tuesday, Matt Clifton was in town to meet with stakeholders and discuss Vanfest. At this time of year ticket sales normally haven’t started, but in excess of 6,000

have already been sold.

There are still some tickets left for Grazing Down the Lachlan. This has all the makings of an extremely successful Forbes event and I encourage everyone to purchase their tickets at www.grazingdownthelachlan.com

Graeme Miller

Mayor, Forbes Shire Council

Forbes Shire General Manager To Depart

August 24, 2017 by Maggi Barnard

Forbes Shire Council announced the departure of their General Manager, Danny Green. Danny resigned his position and will depart Council by the end of September. “It was with great sadness that I handed my resignation to Council,” Danny said.

“The decision has been taken in the interests of my family but I’ve enjoyed my time in Forbes immensely and I am very proud of what we’ve been able to achieve.”

Danny has been at the helm of Forbes Shire Council since July 2016. Key achievements during this time included assisting the Forbes Shire through the 2016 floods and the subsequent recovery.

“The Forbes Shire road network suffered over $8.3 million worth of damage during the flood and work to repair this damage continues almost 12 months later.”

Additional achievements included the restructure of the Council’s community, economic development and human resource functions, a focus on project and long-term financial planning and a root and branch review of the organisation’s structure.

Danny was also responsible for overseeing the development and implementation of the new Community Strategic Plan.

“The Community Strategic Plan provides the framework for Council operations and direction for the next four years so this is a particularly important document.”

Infrastructure works embarked upon or continued under Danny’s leadership include the Central West Livestock Exchange expansion, the Northern Bypass, the third bore and the purchase of the Lachlan Vintage Village.

“Whilst I am very proud of what we’ve been able to achieve, it couldn’t have been done without the hardworking, diligent staff of Forbes Shire Council.”

Danny said he had faith in the future of Forbes. “This is a tremendously strong and resilient community as we all witnessed during the flood event. The town has some incredible people and that can give all residents faith in the future of Forbes.”

Sydney Uni Comes To Forbes High

August 24, 2017 by Maggi Barnard

Sydney University was just down the road for Forbes High School students recently.

Forbes was one of four towns to take part in Sydney University’s Widening Participation and Outreach (WPO) program (formally compass), which saw Sydney University run three workshops at Forbes High School this week.

The workshops were attended by Year 11 and 12. According to year 12 student Paige Ellison, “It was very informative and really helpful, especially for preparing for the trials and early entry to university”.

Relieving Deputy Principal and Careers Advisor Daniel West said: “Forbes High School is extremely lucky to have this strong community partnership with Sydney University.”

“The Widening Participation and Outreach program has been supporting students at Forbes High School for over five years, providing opportunities to be successful learners and excel in future careers is important to us as a school”

The three workshops run were:

• Year 12 Promote Yourself – Year 12 students practiced writing persuasively about themselves.

• Year 12 HSC Exam Prep – Students developed effective approaches to prepare for senior school exams.

• Year 11/12 SMASH Essay – Year 11 and 12 students received key tips on how to improve their essay writing skills.

Show Excitement

August 24, 2017 by Maggi Barnard

Forbes Public School students dressed upon Wednesday as real country kids to not only help raise money for the Year 6 farewell, but to also celebrate the start of the show season.

Students were given the opportunity to be photographed with a tractor from Forbes Machinery and the Miss Showgirl finalists holding their art entries for the show.

Students were asked what it meant to be a country kid. Sally Rout said: “What country means to me is having wide open spaces and being able to help dad when I get home from school. I love getting into my workers to feed the sheep.”

Living and Lifestyle

August 24, 2017 by Maggi Barnard

The One-Stop Fashion Shop

Little Extras is excited to announce its new season fashion arrivals. New labels are arriving daily leading into the new spring racing season.

Brighten up your day with labels such as AKA, Sticks & Stones, Rollies and the beautiful scarf brand Frontrow Society, that can now be seen in store. Home of Raw wire wrapped crystal jewellery also on shelves ready for you.

New season trends are lending towards beautiful detailed sleeves in pastel colours with blush and soft pink still featuring strong. Also in stock are some favourite comfort brands such as Elm, Eb and Ive, Mink Pink and Mavi & Riders.

Don’t forget to grab a bargain at the 70% off winter clothing and footwear final clearance sale. Please call in and see one of the friendly girls for assistance with all your fashion and accessory needs.

Coloured Dot Sale At Painted Daisies

Painted Daisies Gift Shoppe is having a massive clearance sale on homewares, pillows and more today and tomorrow. Treat yourself, a friend or that special someone to beautiful gift items at affordable prices.

Sale merchandise is priced with coloured dots. Items marked with a red dot are selling at $20, green dots selling at $10 and yellow dots selling at $5.

More sales are on in-store with great prices to be found, including a selection of well-designed and practical products. You’ll be amazed at what you can find!

The India jute rug, a beautiful laundry basket, vases, cowhide bags and eye-popping candles reusable as succulents or as a cup are among the exquisite goods sold in this gem of a shop!

Take time this weekend for a browse – you might just find what you have been looking for or surprise yourself with something new. The sale ends tomorrow.

Parkes Phoenix Editor

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