Deck your letterbox in December for the chance to win a $150 gift voucher to spend in any Forbes store! Decorate your letterbox with tinsel, lights, baubles – whatever you can find! Upload a picture of your decorated mailbox to hashtag #deckyourmail for your chance to win!
Forbes Services Memorial Club hosted a Melbourne Cup luncheon this year with all proceeds from the activity benefitting the Forbes Breast Cancer Support Group. On Monday two of the groups representatives, Dianne Howarth and Denise Jelbart, were presented with a cheque for $1173.15 by event organisers, Raylene Paradowski and Lindy Sherritt. The money was raised through the sale of raffle tickets and a silent auction.
The Breast Cancer Support Group is an informal support group made up of breast cancer patients and survivors. The group meets on the second Saturday of each month at the Vandenburg Hotel for a casual lunch. The group does not hold meetings but provides friendship, support and helpful advice to people diagnosed or recovering from breast cancer and its treatments.
There are no membership fees and everyone is welcome. The group aims to keep people informed and provide practical help to allow cancer sufferers to maintain a sense of normality and make themselves available to listen and provide support. Raylene and Lindy were very pleased with the event and made special mention of Michael and Denise Jelbart who were regular raffle ticket sellers prior and during the event. They also wished to thank Jenny
Currey who was the MC for the afternoon, and even though it was her first time, did an exceptional job.
The Forbes Breast Cancer Support Group were most grateful for the donation of funds which will be used to improve the facilities at the Western Care Lodge giving patients having treatment access to self-care accommodation in Orange.
The volunteers of the Forbes Railway Arts and Visitor Information Centre enjoyed a special afternoon tea at the Forbes Town Hall last week to celebrate the group’s 25 year anniversary.
During the afternoon tea, Mayor Phyllis Miller presented Merle Churchill, Anne Nixon, Dorothy Findlay and Pearl McGuire with gold life membership badges for 25 years of service. Mayor Miller also presented certificates of
appreciation to Judith Taylor, Lyn Simmonds and Maureen Moon for their years of service, hard work and dedication. Mayor Miller said she was honoured to be celebrating the 25th anniversary of the volunteers.
“For 25 years the volunteers at the Forbes Railway Arts and Visitor Information Centre have welcomed our visitors to Forbes and personalised their visit, given them a warm country welcome and excellent service,” Mayor Miller said.
“During that time Forbes residents and visitors have also enjoyed the beautiful handcrafts, arts, baking, jams and relishes made by these volunteers.” “The time they have dedicated to our centre is invaluable to the visitor economy of Forbes and all of our volunteers have played a key role in improving the experience our visitors have while in Forbes.”
|
|
The Forbes community banded together on Wednesday 25 November to say no to domestic violence for the White Ribbon Day March. 100 white balloons tied to wrists floated and bobbed through the street and the captains
of Forbes High School carried a banner with a slogan supporting victims of domestic violence. Behind them was an army of Forbes’ school students, community groups and community members walking together to put an end to domestic violence.
As the marchers arrived at Victoria Park, the piper stopped playing and the traditional Welcome to Country was performed before an introduction to the day, and a speech from Mayor Phyllis Miller. “Forbes is still ranked in the top 20 for recorded domestic violence related assault incidents by Local Government Area,” Mayor Miller said.
“Domestic violence is not just a problem in our area though. To date in 2015 there whave been 78 women killed by violence in Australia with 1 in 4 Australian women experiencing physical or sexual violence from a current or former partner.” “Children living in a relationship with abusive behaviour are considered to be at risk of harm, either directly by being abused or indirectly by witnessing the abuse of their parent or carer.”
“By being here today and getting involved in the White Ribbon Day March, you are all helping to change these statistics and by working together we can make a difference. Don’t be afraid to stand up. Together we can put a stop to violence against women.”
There are so many great reasons to do your Christmas shopping in Forbes this year! Did you know that spending money in your home town helps to boost the local economy? When you support your local businesses, you are supporting the people and entrepreneurs of Forbes. There are items in Forbes that you likely won’t find anywhere else – quirky, one-off gifts and unique handmade by local crafters.
When you shop locally, you are helping build in your community and keep those small, independent businesses alive and kicking. Shopping locally gives you the chance to help keep the community unique as well as supporting good jobs that hire local people. When you shop locally, you actually reduce your environmental impact and invest in your town. It’s quite likely you’ll get better service because local businesses generally take more time to get to know their customers!
But there is an even better reason to shop locally in Forbes this Christmas. Once again this year the Forbes Business
Chamber will host the Find It In Forbes This Christmas promotion and festival in 2015, and this year is set to be bigger and better than ever before! This year, shoppers can be rewarded for shopping locally in Forbes by making a
purchase from any of the 33 participating businesses. This will put you into the draw to win in a total of over $15,000 worth of prizes! All you have to do is spend $10 to receive your tickets into the draw to win from the prize pool, with the prizes being drawn throughout December.
The first draw of the promotion will take place during this year’s Christmas Festival, which will be held on Saturday 5 December. The Christmas Festival will run from 9am until 2pm and there will be plenty of great activities and amusements for the whole family this year, including live entertainment by Cath Adams, a local singer and previous contestant on The Voice. The fun doesn’t stop there! Enjoy dance performances by local dancers as well as a visit from Santa, fun rides for the kids, plenty of amazing market stalls and of course the traditional wheelbarrow races that are always a crowd favourite. This year, the races are being sponsored by Acheson’s Home Timber and Hardware.
The heats for the wheelbarrow races will kick off at 9:30am. If you need sign up forms, you can find them at Bown’s Sportspower or Anytime Fitness in Forbes. The winner in first place for the wheelbarrow races will win $500 worth of Why Leave Town Gift Cards, with the winner of second place receiving a $100 Bunnings gift card.
The first round of prizes will also be drawn starting at 10:15am. The prizes drawn on the Saturday will include two nights of accommodation at Greentrees Guest House in Orange for two people. This fantastic prize also includes a full buffet breakfast to enjoy, as well as a Woolerina scarf valued at a total of $650! The other prizes to be drawn are two $500 Why Leave Town Gift Cards, which can be used at any of the participating business.
The prize giving doesn’t stop there! More prize draws will take place on Saturday 12 December and Saturday 19 December. On December 12, entrants in the competition could be the lucky winner of a Smeg FAB10 bar fridge valued at $3190 from Greenhomes Australia! Two more $500 Why Leave Town Gift Cards are also up for
grabs.
On the following weekend of December 19, the lucky prize winners could receive a three month membership at Anytime Fitness in Forbes, which is valued at $269. This is also one of the last chances to win one of two $500 Why Leave Town Gift Cards. This year, the 2015 Major Prize Draw will be taking place on Christmas Eve, Thursday 24 December. Starting at 2pm, one lucky winner in this draw will be taking home a whopping $10,000 worth of Why Leave Town Gift Cards, and if you aren’t going to be in Forbes at that time, don’t stress because the winner does not have to be present for the draw.
The Find It In Forbes promotion has been running for a number of years and began as a way to encourage shoppers to spend in Forbes. “The cards reward people for coming to Forbes and encourages them to come back,” says Jess Dawes, Admin Marketing and Events Coordinator at Forbes Business Chamber. “The idea is that the money from the
cards enhances businesses because they keep the money in the community.”
The Forbes Business Chamber would like to thank all of the generous sponsors of this year’s promotion, especially their major sponsors who are Greenhomes Australia, John Davis Mazda, The Forbes Phoenix, Forbes Shire Council, Knights Cranes and the Forbes Advocate. When you head out to do your Christmas shopping in the coming weeks, remember to shop locally in Forbes to support our local businesses and to be in the running to win some of these incredible prizes.
Encourage local prosperity, invest in the community, buy local first and Find it in Forbes this Christmas!
On Saturday 22nd November many of our local ladies made their way to Canberra to challenge themselves and raise valuable funds for the Jane McGrath Foundation, Breast Cancer Awareness and Treatment Charity, in the 2015 Miss Muddy.
Miss Muddy is a female only obstacle and mud festival with a course of up to 5km for participants aged 13 years and over. It includes mud, colour, climbing crawling, slipping and sliding. This is an untimed event which is all about women supporting women in a fun and non-threatening environment. There are no expectations or judgements just lots of fun.
Three of our local ladies, Carmen Walsh, Tracey Reid and Kathy Ward, were amongst the many women who took the
challenge last weekend. This was the first event of this type for the three ladies who thoroughly enjoyed the experience and are claiming it to be a warm up for their next challenge the Dubbo mud run in April next year.
Eventually the trio would like to complete the Tough Mudder NSW event which was also held over the weekend at Glenworth Valley on the Central Coast. Forbes and Parkes were well represented at this challenge with at least two teams from Parkes and a combined Forbes, Bathurst and Gunnedah team of 9 all completing the course. Tough Mudder is an 10-20km obstacle course which promotes teamwork and comradery while raising funds for the Soldier On Foundation.
Soldier On is about Australians coming together to show their support for our physically and psychologically wounded and raise money to help improve the lives of thousands of soldiers who have recently returned from the conflicts after 1990.
With just four weeks until Christmas, have you started your shopping yet and what would you like Santa to bring you this year?
“I would have to say no – all I have is a few stocking fillers but nothing major. I would love a swimming pool for Christmas but don’t like my chances.” – Kristy Hartwig
“Yes, I have started my Christmas shopping but I haven’t finished. I need a new vacuum cleaner if Santa is reading but I want a holiday in Fiji.” – Erika Bourke
“Yes I have started my shopping and am not far off finishing. I don’t really know what I want for Christmas but I wish for good health and happiness for all my family and friends.” – Andrew Hubbard
Congratulations to Forbes High School’s NAIDOC Debating Team who came Runners Up in the State Competition
at Sydney Parliament House earlier this month. While they were in Sydney, the students enjoyed a cruise around Sydney Harbour and a dinner on Cockatoo Island. Well done!
With temperatures rising it is important to be aware of the damage the sun can do. Remember to Slip, Slop, Slap, Seek and Slide when out and about. You can check the UV level for your area by using the SunSmart UV Alert app or checking the Bureau of Meteorology Website. Have a safe summer!
The Forbes community gathered to Light the Night on Sunday 22 November in Victoria Park, raising over $3,400 to support and raise awareness for individuals and families suffering from blood disorders.
Calling for volunteers! The Find It In Forbes This Christmas Festival is on Saturday 5 December from 9am to 2pm and the committee is looking for volunteers to help out on the day. They need help setting up and ensuring things run smoothly. If you can lend a helping hand, contact Jess at forbes.businesschambernsw@gmail.com
or on 0407 380 936.
Citizen of the Year Award nominations are now open in Forbes Shire providing the perfect opportunity to recognise the hard work of volunteers within the community. The awards recognise and reward those Forbes community members who have a consistent record of excellence, who have made outstanding achievements in their
field and have contributed in a significant way to our community. Nominations are open until 5pm Monday 18 January, with forms available at Council’s administration office at 2 Court Street, or online at www.forbes.nsw.gov.au
Did you know eating Christmas cake can support the community? Buy a Lions Christmas Cake or Pudding this year and you will be supporting the local community. Cakes have been a major fundraising project of Lions Australia since 1965, raising in excess of $52 million overall. All proceeds from the cake sales are used by the Lions Club for community and humanitarian projects. Cakes are available at a number of local retailers, including NRMA,Forbes Shire Council, Lakeside Takeaway, St George Bank and Baa Moo Oink. They will also be available at the Carols by Candlelight in Victoria Park. The Forbes & District Lions Club is grateful for your support.
