Parkes Phoenix Editor

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

Tyreright Dealer Helps Villagers In Papua New Guinea

August 25, 2016 by Maggi Barnard

Jamie Walsh of Tyreright Forbes recently took part in a fishing trip with people from country NSW and Queensland on the Fly River in Western Papua New Guinea. As part of the fee for the fishing trip operators dropped off 200kg of used clothes, medical supplies and school stationery to each village along the way. In addition, the Tyreright head office donated t-shirts and footballs to the local community. Jamie said the look of happiness on the faces of the children was unbelievable. This ensures that not only the tour operators benefit from fishing tourism, but the villagers as well.

The fishing guides come from the villages resulting in flow on effects for the local population. More than 156 black bass were caught on the trip. “We can’t wait to return,” said Jamie. “Next time we will be taking extra items to give to the villagers.”

Once Upon A Time In Forbes

August 25, 2016 by Maggi Barnard

More than 200 children of early childhood centres and primary schools had many stories to tell after the Forbes Reading Down Town Day last Friday.
Barry Peters, known as the Paul Kelly of underaged music, entertained kids at the Forbes Services Memorial Club, CentaCare and student volunteers read stories at the Library, and some businesses in town opened their doors to story-hungry kids.

The Birth to Kinder mascot was happy to pose for photos with kids dressed up in their favourite characters. Forbes Birth to Kinder organised the event for the tenth year with the theme this year: Australia: Story Country.

Record Number Of Medals Awarded At Wine Show

August 25, 2016 by Maggi Barnard

Judging at the 25th Annual NSW Small Winemakers Wine Show concluded on Wednesday afternoon with judges commenting on the high quality of the wine exhibited. This resulted in a higher than normal number of medals being awarded.

Of the 550 wines entered, a total of 290 medals were awarded, consisting of 34
gold, 53 silver and 203 bronze. That’s a 52.5% strike rate, which is one of the highest over the past shows. The Best White Wine of Show went to Coolangatta Estate 2009 Wollstonecraft Semillon. The Best Red Wine of Show went to Horner Wines 2015 Cabernet Sauvignon.

Other trophies were awarded to McLeish Estate 2009 Semillon, McKellar Ridge 2015 Shiraz Voigner, Robert Stein 2016 Riesling, Borodell 2015 Sauvignon Blanc, Two Rivers 2015 Stones Throw Semillon, Colmar Estate 2015 Chardonnay, Bimbadgen 2013 Signature Chardonnay, Angullong 2015 Fossil Hill Vermentino, Borodell 2012 Gewurtztraminer, Lilly Pilly 2015 Semillon Sauvignon Blanc Noble Blend, R. Paulazzo 2014 Shiraz, Two Figs 2013 Barrel Select Shiraz and Melange Wines 2015 Shiraz Durif.

Wines from Orange, Young, Griffith and Canberra did very well this year. There are medal winning wines in all the varieties on show, so there should be wines to suit everyone’s preferred style. All of the wines exhibited will be available at the public tasting on Friday night from 6.30pm at the Forbes Youth & Community Centre. Tickets are $25 per head and are available at the door.

By Mark Watts

Sean Choolburra Captivates Crowd At NAIDOC Celebrations

August 25, 2016 by Maggi Barnard

School students from all over Forbes helped celebrate NAIDOC week on Tuesday. While the festivities were relocated to the Town Hall due to weather conditions, nothing could dampen the mood. Forbes North Public School’s Wiradjuri Choir raised the rafters with song, and Red Bend Catholic College’s Indigenous dance group took to the stage to showcase traditional dance.

The Forbes community was treated to a sausage sizzle with a twist; crocodile, emu, and kangaroo sausages were on the menu, as well as traditional snags for the less adventurous. But the real treat was a performance by the multi-talented Sean Choolburra, a critically-acclaimed comedian, dancer, and TV host, who captivated the crowd with traditional storytelling, didgeridoo, and dance.

As well as celebrating culture, NAIDOC week is an opportunity to recognise the contributions made by Indigenous Australians. Mayor Phyllis Miller presented the Indigenous Youth of the Year award to Ethan Markwort for his enthusiasm for sharing traditional culture. The Indigenous Person of the Year was awarded to Donna Bliss of Yoorana Gunya Family Healing Centre for her tireless commitment to closing the gap.

Local Agent’s Auction Success

August 25, 2016 by Maggi Barnard

Ian Simpson & Co held their first auction as an independent agent at the Forbes Services Club last Friday. There were two rural and two residential properties on auction, with three of them sold under the hammer. Negotiations are continuing on the fourth. There were 14 registered bidders among more than 120 people in attendance.

The first residential property to sell was 28 York Street Forbes which went for
$420,000. The two rural properties were also sold. Urah at Condobolin was sold for $550,000 to a phone bidder, who is a farmer from Condobolin. Stockdale in Manildra sold for $520,000 to a family from Mullion Creek.

Ian Simpson said he was absolutely delighted with the result. “As this was our first auction under our new banner of Ian Simpson and Co, it was great to kick start our new business with such a great result. We ended up with all vendors and buyers extremely satisfied.”

One local vendor said he was very pleased with the personal approach of Ian Simpson and his staff, their level of professionalism and organisation levels were just fantastic.

Ian will hold another auction on 16th September at the Forbes Services Club for two rural properties, one from Cowra and one from Grenfell. On 4th October four properties will be auctioned; 3 residential and 1 rural at 6pm. Tomorrow there will be a furniture sale auction at 8 Clements Street at 11am.

By Cheryl Newsom

Shades Of Grey…

August 25, 2016 by Maggi Barnard

As with fashion, home decorating goes through interesting cycles of what’s in
and what’s not. Key periods in styling will always be remembered through the colours and designs that were in vogue in a time period, i.e green laminated benchtops takes us back to the seventies.

Over the last few years decorating with neutral tones and adding the WOW factor with accessories became trendy. This has allowed everyone more freedom to style and update their looks much more frequently with a minimum of fuss and expense.

But I feel the tides are changing again. After attending the recent launch of the new Haymes Paint colour collection for the new season, I fell in love with a whole new palette of colours I think will be the new direction with soft greys to deeper silver and more blue-grey tones. Instead of always selecting a more stone-base neutral with varying shades of creams and browns, we will now be selecting softer tones.

These new shades will combine beautifully with the move towards using black as an accent colour, as well as adopting a new sophisticated feel to our styling efforts. The grey colour wheel also works perfectly with accents of red to make a retro inspired statement. It can also look soft and feminine when paired with lilac and silver and a touch of bling. Yellow looks amazing when splashed in a room of grey, and I love it when orange is combined with grey to look vibrant, and seriously stylish and sophisticated.

I think it will not be long before there is a new must have colour. We will select this colour to make our homes a true vision of neutral beauty and it will allow us to unleash the decorator within as our possibilities of choice become limitless.

By Karen Creith

Bowen Therapy Relieves Pain Naturally

August 25, 2016 by Maggi Barnard

Forbes Bowen Therapy & Wellness treats the whole body and offers natural, holistic approaches to pain relief, respiratory problems, digestive issues and other physical and psychological ailments. They can help whether you’re suffering from nerve and joint pain, reflux, sinus pressure, migraines, sleep disorders, scoliosis or any other form of pain. They perform a series of focused massages with frequent pauses to allow your body to heal naturally. Many
of their clients feel the results after the first visit, and most symptoms are relieved after just a few appointments.

Developed by Tom Bowen, The Bowen Therapy technique is based on a series of massages targeting certain points on your body. It is a gentle massage with frequent pauses to help promote your body’s natural healing. When they massage the soft connective tissue, impulses are sent throughout your body to improve circulation and lymphatic drainage. Contact 0427 592 771 for an appointment.

All Winyar Rams For Sale At Auction

August 25, 2016 by Maggi Barnard

The Winyar Merino and Poll Merino Stud on property Auction Ram sale takes place on 7th September at 1pm, with inspection starting at 10am. All rams on the property will be offered for sale to enhance the quality and selection on offer.

At Winyar a new feature to the ongoing measurement of Winyar rams is the Australian Sheep Genetics figures. These figures will be available on sale day or upon request. Winyar also offers a free sheep classing and advisory service, which results in huge gains.

According to Wool Classer for Winyar, Michelle Woodhead, the Winyar wools reaching cutting fleece of over 8.5kg average at 19 microns is quite an achievement in high rainfall. “The wool have excellent bloom, tensile strength and nourishment. I can thoroughly recommend the Winyar type.”

At Winyar, 2015 will go down as one of the most successful years for record ram sales, as well as good wool and sheep sales. For all enquiries, contact Rick Power on 0437 131 925 or Bill Gilbert on 0407 440 503.

Quality Bulls On Sale At Coota Park

August 25, 2016 by Maggi Barnard

A unique line up of bulls will be on offer at the Coota Park Blue-E On-Property bull sale on 6th September at 2pm. Coota Park Blue E will be selling 45 bulls and 20 cows (with calves at foot) on the day. Based in Woodstock near Cowra, Coota Park Blue E has grass-fed bulls that are performance recorded, fertility tested and sold with a guarantee. The Wright family developed this line of Angus x Shorthorn cattle 20 years ago.

At the Beef Spectacular Steer Trials in March, the two teams entered came third and fourth overall out of 67 teams – a great result for Coota Park Blue-E in this prestigious competition. The sale will be conducted by Delta Ag. More information is available at www.Bluee.net.au.

Felix Rams – It’s All About The Lambs

August 25, 2016 by Maggi Barnard

Felix Rams has a singular focus on producing efficient and profitable prime lambs by breeding high performance, structurally sound meat sheep rams. Since 2000 thy have weighed more than 19,000 lambs within 12 hours of birth. It is little wonder that a Felix client recently claimed: “You’ve solved our lambing problems”.

They use birthweights, Lambplan breeding values for birthweight and lambing ease to help eliminate the production of rams that sire lambs with excessively high or low birthweights.

At Felix Rams the priority is quick early growth, and maturity, not maximum adult ram size. Their rams won’t be the biggest you will buy, because great big rams are almost certainly late maturing rams. Felix Rams will efficiently produce a 22-28 kg lamb. Over the last five years they have been committed to DNA testing potential young sires for yield and eating quality with over 300 animals tested.

Felix Rams provides Lambplan breeding values for every ram sold, allowing lamb producers to buy on specification to suit their production system.

Felix Rams will offer around 140 Poll Dorset and 45 White Suffolk rams at their annual on-property sale at Greenethorpe on 6th September. Catalogues are available at www.felixrams.com.au or call Rodney on 0417 499 204, or the selling agents, Allan Gray and Co Cowra on 02 6342 2377.

Parkes Phoenix Editor

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