Parkes Phoenix Editor

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

Bush Telegraph

February 16, 2017 by Maggi Barnard

BOGAN GATE CWA DONATES TO DIABETES NSW

People travelled from all over to attend the Diabetes Awareness Morning Tea held by CWA members at the Bogan Gate Hall last week.

President Marion McIntyre welcomed the 30 visitors from Parkes, Forbes, Trundle and Bogan Gate, and extended a special welcome to Dr Madhu Velagala from Dubbo and Esther Krizmancic from Sydney representing Diabetes NSW.

Dr Madhu gave an interesting and thought provoking talk about diabetes, and Esther spoke about the role Diabetes NSW can play in helping people.

Dr Madhu and her assistant Emma Dargin did some blood glucose tests on willing people. The visitors enjoyed a delicious morning tea after getting good glucose results. CWA Bogan Gate was pleased to make a generous donation to Diabetes NSW from the morning tea and Christmas party.

By Gail McKay

MORE THAN 70 YEARS IN TRUNDLE COMMUNITY

The Trundle Royal Far West (RFW) Sunshine Club has offered a vital service to the community for 77 years.

The Trundle Op Shop supports Trundle Central School in providing the Come & See speech and language programs for students with speech problems.

After students have been individually assessed at the RFW Head Office in Manly, they can utilise the programs in Trundle with trained staff to save parents the long trip to Sydney for treatment.

The Trundle branch also support other functions and events support of the Royal Far West. All money raised goes directly to the children’s services.

The club meets on the second Tuesday of each month in the Op Shop at 1pm. New members are welcome, or if you would like to support them the Old Time Dance is on Sunday, 5th March at the Memorial Hall from 2 to 6pm.

By Robyn Whitson

GREASE AND OIL CHANGE #2

The second Grease and Oil Change Work- shop will be held in Trundle on Thursday, 9th March with a variety of inspiring speakers covering all things related to health and well being, specifically geared towards small farming communities.

Everyone is welcome for breakfast from 7.30am at the Trundle Golf Club. This year’s speakers are from Dubbo, Wantabadgery, Condobolin, Forbes and Parkes.

It is a fantastic chance to take time to give yourself a once over health check, catch up with friends and learn some new tips and tricks to keep on top of your game. To RSVP, contact Cherie Stitt on 0411 057 745 or cheriequade@hotmail.com

Mid West Pest Management

February 15, 2017 by Maggi Barnard

Mid West Pest Management has a position available now for a Pest Control Technician – located in Forbes we are seeking a motivated and trustworthy person to join our team.

For all information regarding this position – we would love for you to register your interest now – midwestpestmanagement@gmail.com or phone Brad 0417024788 for more information.

How Does Your Garden Interact?

February 9, 2017 by Maggi Barnard

Metal clothes cathcing the breeze on a washing line, a spinning porcupine playing music… These are but two of the creative and fun art works residents of the Jemalong Residential Village (JRV) are working on for their sensory interactive garden.

The pilot Art Connection program for residents of Catholic Healthcare’s JRV culminated in an exhibition in December last year. This year the Art and Dementia program will run eight workshops to inspire sensory interactive art for the garden.

“Getting to know the JRV residents and facilitating the workshops is a real hoot,” said Solange Hershaw and Damian Cast, aldi, company directors of The Last Bureau, an Australian arts and digital media production company.

The Forbes Phoenix was invited to a workshop on Tuesday where conversation, debate and lots of laughter filled the room. Participants Margaret Williams, Maureen Broderick, Una Windsor and James (Jim) Lasserre worked with Solange, Damian and JRV Pastoral Care Co- ordinator, Gwen Barnard, to sculpt a dog using clay.

“I have never had so much fun,” said Maureen, while Una was sure her dog sculp- ture needed to be more in proportion, “as it has a horse head”. Damian helped her make a larger body to fit Buffy, her dog.

So far two sensory pieces have been completed and will be displayed on bollards in the garden.

The first is inspired by resident Lillian Goldstraw’s drawing of washing hanging on a line. “We have replicated it in metal and have a fan underneath so that when someone approaches, the clothes spin,” said Damian.

The second piece is a porcupine sculpted by resident Clare Inwood. When someone approaches, it will spin and play music by the Frank Bourke and White Rose Orchestra. The orchestra is well known as they played at dances throughout central western NSW during the 1930s to 1960s.

“We underestimate those with cognitive impairment and it just makes my heart sing when I see how the residents talk about their work,” said Gwen.

By Dianne Collie

Now That Is AMAZING!

February 9, 2017 by Maggi Barnard

“It is hard to believe AMAZING is actually here.”

This is what designer, Rosie Johnston told the Forbes Phoenix after the installation of the AMAZING sculpture last week. “It feels like the other day when I first spoke with Ian Bartholomaeus from Midpro Engineering. Ian was enthusiastic right from the start and never doubted the project wouldn’t be achieved.”

Rosie described the process of the design and building of the sculpture comparable to the lyrics of Australian musician Paul Kelly: “From little things big things grow.”

“I was inspired to create a sculpture to contrast with the ever changing beauty of Central West NSW and now the sculpture, made with eight tonnes of steel, has been erected in its resting place!” said Rosie.

Keith Mullette, president of the Forbes Art Society and one of the project partners said: “It has been an extraordinary project.” The total value of AMAZING is estimated to be more than $150,000, however in cash terms it cost only $6,000.

Rosie attributes the low cost and successful completion of the project to the hard work and dedication of the Forbes and surrounding communities and farmers, as well as the tradespeople. “I want to thank everyone who has been involved very much,” said Rosie. She also personally thanked Kim Muffet, owner of Girra Girra, who was the Project Manager.

AMAZING is located on the stock route alongside the Lachlan Valley Way, 18 km from Forbes and is the first of up to 14 sculptures to be installed. One of the main aims of the sculpture trail is to assist the Central West to diversify its predominantly rural economy. And with dining experiences, dance and musical performances to be organised, visitors to Central West NSW won’t be able to resist staying a little longer.

By Dianne Collie

Penrith Panthers Pounce On Forbes

February 9, 2017 by Maggi Barnard

Forbes was running high on rugby league fever last Thursday when two Penrith Pan- thers players visited local schools as part of the NRL Community Carnival.

Josh Mansour and Soni Luke visited five schools in the morning to talk about respect and diversity and in the afternoon they were at Spooner Oval to meet fans, hand out autographs and pose for photos.

Many children brought shirts and caps to be signed, while the NRL also had posters with a team photo of the Panthers signed by the two visiting players.

The morning sessions at the schools focused on the importance of respect, belonging and celebrating differences both on and off the field.

The NRL Community Carnival takes players throughout Australia and New Zealand this month to meet fans in more than 80 communities.

Now in its 17th year, the NRL Commu- nity Carnival is supported by every NRL club and NRL Ambassadors, and will reach more than 250,000 kids, visit more than 1,000 schools and travel more than 40,000 km.

To play JRL in Forbes, interested players can contact Matthew Little on 0418 666 550 at the Forbes Magpies JRL, or Mat- thew Toohey on 0450 878 889 at Red Bend JRL.

Mayoral Notes

February 9, 2017 by Maggi Barnard

Due to the predicted high temperatures on Saturday, the Bedgerabong Picnic Races have been postponed ‪until Saturday, 29th April. The new date will be a beautiful time of year and it was a decision that had to be made because of the extreme heat we are coping with at the moment.

The flood recovery debrief was held last week and I was very pleased to hear that our communications during the flood and recovery process set the benchmark for other Local Government Areas in the region affected by flooding. The flood event and the recovery were well managed and professionally handled by Council staff and all agencies involved.

‪On Monday night we had our first briefing session for the year and there were a number of items on the agenda. One of the items was the Forbes Community Plan 2027 engagement results. It was very interesting to see the priorities that have come out of the engagement that will form our 10- year plan. The draft plan will be presented to Council in March.

‪On Wednesday afternoon a Citizenship Ceremony was held for four residents. Congratulations to Emma Gamble, Murphy George, Stephanie Sanu and Sydney Sanu who are now Australian citizens.

‪Next Thursday is our first Council meeting for the year starting at 1pm in the Chambers. Everyone is welcome to attend.

Mayor Graeme Miller

Stamp Of Approval For Post Office Revamp

February 9, 2017 by Maggi Barnard

The Forbes Post Office is one of the most spectacular buildings of its era outside Sydney, and it is getting a face lift to ensure it stays beautiful.

Scaffolding has gone up this week, and will hide the historic building for nearly two months while it is repainted, the roof replaced and the town clock made fully operational again.

According to the Heritage Council of NSW, the Forbes Post Office is aesthetically significant, because it is a considerable example of the Victorian Italianate style, and makes an important aesthetic contribution to Forbes as an eighteenth century public building.

The Victorian Italianate style of architecture was a distinct 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture. It was first developed in Britain about 1802 by John Nash.

Wonder what colour it will be painted?

Preventing Netball Injuries

February 9, 2017 by Maggi Barnard

Netball is ranked as the leading women’s participation team sport in Australia for 15 to 24-year-olds. It is a great sport to develop health and fitness in a team based environ- ment regardless of the level of competition. Like any sport there is an inherent risk of injury. National insurance data indicates that as high as 25% of all major injuries are attributed to Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) injuries. Furthermore ACL injury comes at high physical, emotional and financial cost to the athlete.

The ACL is the main stabilising ligament in the knee. Females are four to six times more likely than males to rupture this ligament. There is also further risk associated with athletes participating in sports involving deceleration, pivoting and twisting. This means that netballers have a high risk of injury to the ACL and lower limbs.

Research tells us that 50 to 70% of all ACL injuries can be prevented with neuro- muscular training programmes. These types of programmes are basically designed to improve the strength, flexibility, control, balance and co-ordination of the athlete. Not only can they decrease the incidence of lower limb injuries, they have the added benefit of enhancing performance.

With this in mind Netball Australia, along with the Institute of Sport, has developed the KNEE programme to provide education to coaches, players and parents. The KNEE programme is a netball specific neuromuscular training programme and can be accessed at www.http//knee.netball.com.au

Whether you are a coach to your child’s netball team, support staff, athlete or parent, this programme is designed to keep players on the court for longer and moving more efficiently when there.

Linda Reilly

Question of the Week

February 9, 2017 by Maggi Barnard

What would you like to learn during your first year at school?

Jonty Rattenbury: Mmmm, not sure but I do like playing with my friends. I know, I would like to learn to write then I can write my Mum a letter.

Tyler Tomkinson: I would like to learn more letters so I can write a story. I am not sure what the story will be yet but it will be a good one.

Rachel Billsborough: We are already learning some stuff, like sounds. When I know all the sounds I will be able to read. I am looking forward to reading by myself as we already read lots of books together at home.

Be Seen

February 9, 2017 by Maggi Barnard

The Penrith Panthers met students at Forbes Public School last week. At the back (L-R) are Soni Luke (Panthers), Byron Warren (NRL), Ethan Gaffney (teacher), David Elvy (NRL) and Josh Mansour (Panthers). In front are Joshua Picker, Sally Rout, Hallie Lemon and Alex Boyton.

Erin Jay enjoyed Australia Day in Forbes recently.

MP for Orange, Phil Donato met Forbes Amateur Swim- ming Club Treasurer, Janelle McManus when he was in town last week.

Parkes Phoenix Editor

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