Parkes Phoenix Editor

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

Question of the Week

May 18, 2017 by Maggi Barnard

What is the best thing about Mother’s Day?

Abbey Browne (8) with Mum Heidi Browne:Surprising Mum with presents because she does so many jobs for me, and she gives the best hugs.

Tom Greenhill (9), Laura Greenhill (7) with Mum Trish Greenhill: Laura: Mum gets presents and gets to have time to herself. Tom: That we get to make Mum breakfast in bed and we don’t annoy her.

Emily Phillips (17) with her Grandmother Yvonne Shaw and Mother Sandra Phillips: Celebrating your Mum. It’s to give back for all the things that she’s done for you, and to say thanks.”

Fire Station Open Day: Take the family tomorrow to the Open Day at the Forbes Fire Station at 46 Templar Street from 10 am to 2pm to meet your local fire fighters. Children will be able to see the fire engines and fire fighting equipment, while some free items and a Brigade Kids activity booklet will be available. Activities on offer include fire fighting demonstrations, station tours and fire safety preventions. Advice on installing or replacing smoke alarms, and preparing a home fire escape plan will also be available, as well as a free sausage sizzle.

Fire Services NSW is focusing on fire prevention in the kitchen this year, urging people to Keep Looking When Cooking. “Almost half of house fires start in the kitch- en,” said Station Commander Brian Clarke

Congratulations Don!: Members of the Forbes & District Historical Society were pleased to hear that Don Rath, one of our volunteers, was named Forbes Heritage Volunteer of the Year. Don has spent many years at the museum doing various tasks. If you would like to visit the museum, we are open daily from 2 to 4pm. Group and social bookings are welcome. Please call 6851 6600 for more information.

Forbes Food Revolution: Love good food? Come to the Church in the School- yard on Johnson Street today between 10am and 1pm to enjoy food tasting, cook- ing demonstrations and even a presenta- tion on compost! The kids will love the fun food workshops, jumping castle and spray- on tattoos. Everyone is welcome!

Free cuppa for the driver: Motorists are encouraged to take advantage of the last few days of the scheme to get a free cuppa before the end of the month when it comes to an end.

The scheme operates each year from 1st March to 31st May, and is a partnership between 22 councils, Roads and Maritime Services and more than 90 local participat- ing businesses in Central and South West NSW.

Drivers who have travelled more than 100 kilometres from the address on their driver’s licence are eligible for a free cuppa at participating businesses.

The Free Cuppa team is looking forward to seeing how many free cuppas were giv- en out this year as the number of participating businesses has increased from 68 last year to 92 this year. Over 2,000 free cuppas were handed out last year.

Netball Carnival Attracts Hundreds

May 18, 2017 by Maggi Barnard

The Forbes Netball Association held a very successful all age carnival recently with more than 400 players from all over the Central West. Players aged from 10 years to open ladies played over 130 games of netball. The carnival was dominated by representative teams, using it as a training carnival for match practice for NNSW State and State Age Championships.

Results for the day were:
17 Rep division: winners Forbes 17 Rep; runners-up Blayney 17 Rep
15 Rep division: winners Blayney 15 Rep; runners-up Forbes 15 Rep
14 Rep division: winners West Wyalong 14s; runners-up Parkes 14 Rep
13 Rep division: winners Bathurst 13 De- velopment; runners-up Forbes 13 Rep
12 Rep division: winners Bathurst 12 De- velopment; runners-up Dynamite
11 years – A: winners Dubbo Pink; runners- up Leeton 11s
11 years – B: winners Dubbo Green; run- ners-up Bathurst Blue
Thank you to carnival convener, Marg Spackman, and all the helpers and parents setting up from 6:30am and packing up. Congratulations to all the Forbes players for participating and having fun. All players dis- played outstanding sportsmanship.

By Robyn Kenny

Warning Over Mindfulness Apps Offering Quick Fix

May 18, 2017 by Maggi Barnard

Doctors are warning about the risks of relying on smartphone mindfulness apps, offering meditation and breathing exercises, for your mental health.

The apps have become some of the most popular downloads, offering everything from improved creativity to pain relief.

“We noticed that apps are promising consumers quick, easy, effortless and often instant solutions, to what they’re framing as their health issues,” said Dr Quinn Grundy, a postdoctoral researcher with the Univer- sity of Sydney’s Charles Perkins Centre.

She said that such quick-fix pledges could be damaging to those seeking help. “If your app has promised that you’ll get better really easily and really quickly and you don’t, consumers shouldn’t feel like there’s something wrong with them,” Dr Grundy said. “Or that their mental health can’t be treated.”

While the apps tout their healing credentials, only a small percentage of them have been created by universities or healthcare professionals.

“There was a couple from the government that we looked at, the Department of Defence for example, and a few from some prominent mental health organisations — and I would say that we had the most confidence in those.”

Many of the apps offer a small amount of content for free, after that users are asked to subscribe. While this has become common to many types of apps, Dr Grundy said those downloading mental health apps were already vulnerable.

“We would argue that mental health consumers are perhaps in a more vulnerable position to things like targeted advertising, or in-app purchases or a subscription model,” she said.

She said app creators, as well as moderators of online stores, needed to face increased regulation.

“Although developers are often the target of regulation, the big players like Apple and Google are really the de facto gate- keepers at the moment,” she said.

One PHD student said she started using a mindfulness app last year to help her with some ‘bouts of anxiety and stress’.

She decided to download an app that was highly-rated in the app store, however it soon began increasing her anxiety.

“The app would ask you to rate on a scale how you felt you’d done in certain areas of the day,” she said. “For example, had you exercised, eaten healthy, had you done any relaxation techniques.”

“If I missed out on a few activities in a day, the app would actually rate my day and it would sort of tell me that I hadn’t had a good day.”

The student said she no longer used a mindfulness app, and recommended using any of these programs in conjunction with professional advice.

(Source: abc.net.au)

Forbes Medal Goes To Medical Centre

May 18, 2017 by Maggi Barnard

The final event of Forbes Heritage 2017 last Wednesday was a celebration of the rich and diverse history of the town with the Forbes Medical Centre receiving the Forbes Medal.

A very surprised and delighted Dr Neal Somes accepted the medal for the Centre’s, ‘Discovering our Doctors’ project, which he said had been “very much a team effort”. “History is very important,” he said. “The project is for the patients as they make the practice. It will also help our new doctors to reflect on how their forbears dedicated their careers to assisting the Forbes community.”

Other nominees for the Forbes Medal were the Forbes and District Historical Society, Forbes Railway Arts and Information Centre and Two Tone Films.

The Heritage Volunteer Award went to Don Rath, who has been a volunteer at the Forbes Museum since 1973. The other two nomi- nees were Yvonne Collits and Pamela Thomson. All three nominees have been involved in various community organisations willingly volunteering their time, energy and expertise with a commitment to heritage conservation.Cr Phyllis Miller said it warmed her heart to see so many people attending the ceremony. She con- gratulated all the students who entered the Art Awards. Sampa Bhakta won the Art Acquisition Award.

By Dianne Collie

Two Big Rides On Sunday

May 18, 2017 by Maggi Barnard

The Forbes Flat Land Cyclo Sportif takes place on Sunday with two big events on offer.

Starting and ending at the Forbes Aquat- ic Centre, the first ride of 120km starts at 8:45am, and the second ride of 72km starts at 10:30am.

The rides offer a unique opportunity of flat varying distance terrain. Snacks and drinks will be available at the Forbes Aquatic Centre. Make sure to bring your Cycling Australia licence with you to show at registration. If registering on the day, arrive 1.5hrs before the first race commences. For registration and payment information, visit https://www.facebook.com /ForbesFlatLandSportif/ For more information contact: Marco on 0428 515 425, Juliana on 0419 649 579 or Matt on 0429 046 832.

Biggest Morning Tea Attracts Record Numbers

May 18, 2017 by Maggi Barnard

The Forbes Sports and Recreation Club came alive with fun and laughter on Wednesday when the Women’s Bowling Club hosted its biggest ever Biggest Morning Tea for the Cancer Council with more than 50 people attending.

This year the event incorporated fundraising for breast cancer, as well as a celebration of Mother’s Day. The Biggest Morning Tea, and Wednesday morning bowls, is usually a ladies-only event, but this year the men were invited. “The men love coming and playing with us,” said Ann Mackay, President of the Women’s Bowling Club.

“We’re very happy with the roll-up. It’s amazing the amount of people who are willing to support the cause.” Fellow event organiser and club Secretary, Sandra Priest, agreed. “We’ve never run an event as big as this,” she said. “The Bowling Club is donating the fees for the green today, and all fundraising proceeds will go to the Cancer Council.”

March Of The Minions

May 18, 2017 by Maggi Barnard

Minions have been popping up all over town recently as the Forbes Neighbourhood Watch Group have been out placing stickers on wheelie bins. The aim of this initiative is to generate conversation and remind community members to look out for each other. There are two post- ers, one about community safety and the second raises awareness about domestic violence. The posters were designed by students from local schools as part of an art competition last year.

If you would like to have a sticker on your wheelie bin, please contact Lynn Ward, the president of Forbes Neighbourhood Watch on 0417 536 619.

New Privacy Law

May 18, 2017 by Maggi Barnard

New privacy laws are set to come into force in the near future after the Federal Parliament passed amendments to the Privacy Act.

These new laws will require the manda- tory reporting of certain data breaches for Australian Government agencies, busi- nesses and organisations which have an annual turnover of more than $3 million, health service providers, credit reporting agencies and any organisations holding personal tax file numbers.

A data breach would include such things as unauthorised access to or disclosure of information or where information is lost and a reasonable person would conclude that access or disclosure would be likely to result in serious harm to an individual to whom the information relates.

Penalties for such breach are $360,000 for individuals and $1.8 million for corpo- rations where there is a failure to notify of the breach to the individual or individuals concerned.

So those that retain data (or information) about individuals need to consider a review of employee’s access to information, the quality of your cyber security measures and the adequacy of privacy training to staff.

If we can assist in this or any other legal problem please contact Matthews Williams Solicitors.

“Delmar” Has The Lot

May 18, 2017 by Maggi Barnard

“Delmar”, just 25km from Forbes, is an ideal fattening and fodder opportunity with ac- cess to irrigate from the Lachlan River and Jemalong Irrigation.

With almost 70% developed to flood irri- gation and the majority flood free, “Delmar” lends itself to a lucerne, fodder/cropping en- terprise, and lambs and cattle.

The 1,600 head sheep feedlot can be extended by up to 50% to 2,400 head with materials on the farm. Included is 110 ha (272 Ac) of barley and oats, a set of steel Atlex sheepyards, steel cattleyards, a ma- chinery shed, hayshed, stables, silos, and a 3-4 bedroom home with modern kitchen and renovated bathroom.

Auction: 11am Thursday, 6th July at the Forbes Services Club if not sold prior. Con- tact Ainslie Toole 0407946838, or ainslie. toole@landmarkharcourts.com.au

Parkes Phoenix Editor

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