Parkes Phoenix Editor

If you like to get some of your Christmas shopping done early, this is a great opportunity to snag yourself a real bargain! Until Sunday 20 September, News on Rankin are proud to be offering 30% off all their giftware as a part of Destination Forbes. They have gifts for people of all ages, covering a range of interests and occasions, with staff who are friendly, helpful and always happy to assist you with your gift selection. News on Rankin is now a stockist of a great range of Penny Scallan Design products.

They also stock a massive collection of stationary, craft supplies, best-sellers, scratchies, art and plenty more. There is a variety of books on offer including up-to-date adults, childrens and educational books. If you can’t find what you’re looking for, the staff may be able to order it in for you. Looking for a printer cartridge at a great price? News on Rankin boasts the cheapest cartridges in the area.

Forget about driving elsewhere, it’s all about shopping locally in Forbes! Call in to News on Rankin today to check out their exciting product range. News on Rankin are located at 70 Rankin Street and are open 7 days a week.

September sees snakes waking up from hibernation. Please be aware of this when out in the paddocks, stock routes and around town with your animals. If your animal displays any of the following signs ring the vet straight away for advice as they are the most common signs we see with brown snake bites:
• Collapse
• Difficulty breathing
• Weakness
• Struggling to stand on its back legs
• Vomiting
• Colic if it is a horse

The Forbes area does have King Brown and Black snakes as well. These show different signs – a really painful, swollen bite site that is oozing blood. It is important to identify what snake has bitten your animal to assist us in knowing what anti-venom to give. Brown snakes and black snakes have different treatments. If you are unsure what it is and if it is possible and safe to do so a photo of the snake’s head will help us, otherwise we can do tests on your animal to try and work it out.

Cats can go for up to 12 hours before they start showing signs, dogs will usually show signs within 2 hours of a brown snake bite. Please bring in all animals who have possibly been in contact with the snake for assessment as some animals show absolutely no signs before it is too late. If in doubt please call the clinic for advice or bring your animal straight in. It is better to be safe than sorry.

Young Appaloosa Western Breeds Association (YAWBA) are a Forbes based organisation who work tirelessly to live their passion of showing horses. “We all work on this every day of the week,” said Stevie Jackson, Secretary of YAWBA. “We have big ambitions!”

In their second year, YAWBA are holding their first show of the season on Saturday 26 September. “The whole thing went so well last year that it seems like the sky is the limit,” said YAWBA Vice President Leah Helwig. “So this year we are going to keep getting bigger and better.” “We wanted to give something for kids and families to take part in, and so they could come and learn about a different perspective of the western show industry,” Stevie said, “and we cater to everyone from the beginners to the serious competitors. It’s a fun family environment.”

“We cater for the elite, but you don’t have to be elite to be there,” said Leah. The YAWBA Shows are so popular, people travel long distances to take part. For the upcoming event, they have people travelling to the Young arena from Mudgee, Dubbo, Forbes, Goulburn, Yass and the Blue Mountains. There will be a massive range of prizes on offer as well as tickets for a huge raffle which will be drawn later in the year. The winning prize is a free stallion service to Riverdowns Mega Mr. Visit www.yawba.net for more information.

McDonald’s Forbes Restaurant Manager Justin Miller has embarked on a trip of a lifetime this week! He will be travelling to Los Angeles for the 2015 McDonald’s Restaurant Managers Convention; an exciting and rare opportunity. Justin left from Sydney on Monday and is set to have a life changing experience as he has never before been outside of the state of NSW.

“I was born and bred in Forbes,” Justin said last week before leaving. “The furthest I’ve ever been from home was Moree!” The convention will be about leadership practises, the knowledge and confidence of managers, working through any issues and trying to improve the business overall. “It’s a great opportunity to branch out and meet other country stores, see how they run and get up to standards with business practise,” Justin said.

Justin joins a group of 4 managers and a supervisor from the Forbes/Parkes/Cowra area who have gone to LA to attend the convention. As part of the program, they will get to visit Disneyland and Universal Studios in LA before heading to Las Vegas for a few days to look around.

A great initiative for women of all ages is taking off in Forbes to give ladies the space and opportunity to expand their knowledge in auto maintenance and repairs. The Ladies Auto Training Night runs from Nic’s Garage, a local family-run business that has just recently celebrated its 1st birthday, and encourages women to get their hands dirty and learn about a new aspect of self sustainability.

The most recent program ran over two nights with a philosophy of “teaching and empowering women to independently and fearlessly maintain their own cars”. Entry was free for women of all ages and complimentary champagne and nibbles were on offer for the two groups of women who came along.

“We wanted to talk about many things that a lot of women may not know,” said Felicity from Nic’s Garage, who came up with the idea earlier this year. “We covered things like how to jump start your car, how to change a tyre, how to check fluids and things like that.” “We also talked about what to look out for with certain bigger issues and problems, and then opened it up for questions to cover more specific things.”

When it comes to vehicle maintenance, Felicity knows how important and empowering it is to feel independent. “My dad was big on independence and he made sure that I knew all that stuff,” she said. “I always wanted to be a mechanic!” “It’s really good seeing the ladies walk away at the end of the night saying ‘I can do that’.” Nic and Felicity plan to keep running the Ladies Auto Night in the future, with another event coming up in December. It’s a great opportunity to get together for a girls night and have fun while expanding your auto knowledge.

Watch this space to find out more information about this amazing event aimed at empowering women!