Parkes Phoenix Editor

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

Sculptures By The Bush

April 14, 2022 by Maggi Barnard

Here’s a school holiday activity. Take a drive around the countryside of Blayney Shire for the Sculptures by the Bush tourist trail of outdoor artworks that dots the scenic land-scapes around Blayney during April each year.

Local residents and community groups create sculptures in one of three categories: Hay Bale Art, Farm Art and Scarecrows.

New sculptures are created every year and a list of entries and the digital map will be available on the Blayney Shire Council website and Sculptures by the Bush Facebook page.

Lachlan Dragons At Nationals

April 14, 2022 by Maggi Barnard

The NSW Western Region Dragon Boat Team who won a silver medal at the Nation-als in Adelaide last week are at the back (L-R) Trevor Whitaker (Forbes), Chris Favell (Forbes), Michael Montgomery (Dubbo), Lynnton Martin (Dubbo), Neil May (Forbes), Al Gersbach (Forbes) and Graeme Board (Dubbo). In front are Dave Quigley (Dubbo), Warren Edwards (Forbes), Michelle Graham (Dubbo) and Rhonda Lang (Dubbo). Chris Sweeney (Forbes) not in photo.

The Forbes Dragon Boat Club was well represented at the Australian National Dragon Boat Championships in Adelaide last week with 13 of its members selected in the NSW Western Region team.

The team competed last Friday at Westlakes and won a silver medal in the 500m open race with five Forbes club members in the boat. They are Chris Favell, Neil May, Warren Edwards, Al Gersbach and Trevor Whitaker.

The other team members from the Forbes club are Elly Ireland, Claire Davis, Deb Abela. Louise Moore, Donna Edwards, Maggi Barnard and Nicole Williams.

Do you have an Easter Tradition?

April 14, 2022 by Maggi Barnard

Jack de Jong: Going camping for the weekend.

Kieran Collits: Spending it with my family.

Jacob Howarth: Going to my Aunty’s house for a barbeque.

Letter to the Editor

April 14, 2022 by Maggi Barnard

Dear Editor

Following negative publicity from the Red Cross Bushfire Appeal of 2021, and the subsequent Red Cross Telethon Flood Appeal held on 12th March on Channels 7, 9 and 10, I would like to explain to your readers how donations are being distributed to people.

We raised $25.2million for people impacted by the floods in Queensland and NSW in March. We are currently disbursing two types of grants: a bereavement grant of $20,000 per grant, and relief grants of $500 each. These grants are a gift from the Australian people.

So far $8.8M has been distributed leaving a balance of $16.4M. for distribution.

Our grants team is working around the clock to process grants as quickly as possible. Applications that have all of the correct information, identification and bank account details are being processed faster. We are getting high numbers of incomplete, ineligible and duplicate applications that are slowing down the approval process. All applications are checked and approved by our grants team to ensure donor’s money is going to eligible people impacted by floods.

All donations from individuals via our website and the telethon have been received. We are in the process of collecting donations from businesses who pledged during the telethon.

The dashboard for these grants is updated daily on the following website: www.redcross.org.au/cashassistance/

Sue Strahorn
Red Cross Zone Representative
Parkes/Forbes

Mayoral Notes

April 14, 2022 by Maggi Barnard

From everyone at Forbes Shire Council we wish you and your families a happy and safe Easter. I think for many of us, it will be a chance to catch our breath as it has been a very busy start to 2022.

At council we have several major projects going on as well as our everyday shire responsibilities. It is a busy time with deadlines, weather and supply issues but our dedicated crews are working hard to continually meet these deadlines. Behind the scenes we are working hard to ensure Forbes continues to forge ahead.

Please enjoy the time with your families and travel safely if you are going away. Don’t forget it is double demerits on the roads over both Easter and Anzac Day. Enjoy your well-earned break.

Talking holidays, many families are already enjoying the school holiday programs. It is another full program of events and activities for children, if you haven’t booked one yet, look at our website under community/ family and youth services/ youth programs. (Youth Programs | Forbes Shire Council (nsw.gov.au))

Next weekend Forbes will be hosting two Elvis Festival additional events with the Amazing Forbes Street breakfast on Friday, 22nd April. It has become a bit of a favourite for Elvis goers with a range of breakfast options, good coffee and a bit of music to get your groove on. We are also hosting the Swingin’ on the Speedway dance at McFeeter’s Motor Museum. I look forward to welcoming plenty of visitors to our beautiful town.

Your Mayor,
Phyllis Miller

Forbes Sporting Shooters Results

April 8, 2022 by Maggi Barnard

3rd April .22 calibre rimfire rifle shoot with 18 members: 25m fly target shoot: Brian Neilsen, 200/200; John Dean, 200/200; Wayne Facey, 200/200; Phil Anderson, 200/200; John Gorman, 200/200; Anthony Bratton, 200/200; Terry Knight, 200/200; Steve Mitchell, 200/200; Ben Smith, 199/200; Mia Condon, 198/200; Steve Hindmarsh, 197/200; David Carr, 196/200; Norm Brook, 195/200; Barbara Brook, 189/200; Jane Coleman, 183/200 and Dennis Finn, 164/200.

50m fox target shoot: John Dean, 120/120; Garry Parslow, 120/120; Brian Neilsen, 118/120; Anthony Bratton, 118/120; Steve Mitchell, 118/120; John Gorman, 116/120; Ben Smith, 116/120; Terry Knight, 116/120; David Carr, 114/120; Steve Hindmarsh, 112/120; Norm Brook, 111/120; Phil Anderson, 111/120; Wayne Facey, 110/120; Barbara Brook, 108/120; Mia Condon, 107/120; Jane Coleman, 102/120 and Dennis Finn, 94/120.

75m bear target shoot: Wayne Facey, 118/120; John Gorman, 118/120; Ben Smith, 118/120; David Carr, 118/120; Steve Hindmarsh, 116/120; Garry Parslow, 114/120; Steve Mitchell, 114/120; Brian Neilsen, 112/120; Phil Anderson, 112/120; Anthony Bratton, 112/120; Norm Brook, 108/120; Barbara Brook, 108/120; Terry Knight, 108/120; Jane Coleman, 102/120; John Dean, 99/120 and Mia Condon, 91/120.

100m feral cat target shoot: David Carr, 116/120; Phil Anderson, 108/120; Ben Smith, 106/120; Brian Neilsen, 105/120; John Gorman, 104/120; Barbara Brook, 98/120; Steve Mitchell, 94/120; Norm Brook, 86/120; John Dean, 85/120; Steve Hindmarsh, 85/120; Anthony Bratton, 82/120; Wayne Facey, 79/120; Terry Knight, 75/120; Jane Coleman, 58/120 and Mia Condon, 50/120.

The next Sunday shoot is 17th April at 10am. The centre-fire rifle shoots start at 2pm. The next Wednesday shoot will be on 20th April at 2pm at the Bedgerebong Road range.

By Tony Bratton

Awaken The Dragon

April 8, 2022 by Maggi Barnard

The Venerable Rabdrol dots the eyes of the ten-seater dragon boat at Lake Forbes.

The Forbes Dragon Boat Club turned 10 last year but COVID lockdowns meant the club could only conclude its planned anniversary celebrations on Sunday with a special ceremony.

Member of the Sydney Buddhist community, the Venerable Rabdrol conducted a Dotting of the Eye ceremony for the club’s new ten-seater boat. The ceremony is for the awakening of the dragon in keeping with the strong traditions of dragon boating.

The special guest read out a poem by Thich Nhat Hanh before using red paint to dot the two eyes of the dragon head on the boat.

The club’s paddlers took the boat on the lake and ‘charged’ the bank three times to awaken the dragon.

The ceremony was followed with morning tea attended by members past and present at the Forbes Sport and Recreation Club. President Cathryn Sweeney gave an overview of the past ten years of the club that was started on 11th September 2011 with 38 members currently.

“Since the founding members saw the potential benefits of putting the beautiful Lake Forbes to use, many members have enjoyed the rewards of being part of a social group and sporting team training up to three times per week and participating in many regattas around Australia, and even overseas.”

Cathryn also presented founding member and first president Wendy Green with her life member pin. Wendy was named the club’s first life member earlier this year and the ten-seater boat was named after her.

New Country Rail Headquarters In Orange

April 8, 2022 by Maggi Barnard

New country rail headquarters were opened in Orange recently by UGL Regional Linx (UGLRL) with 75 staff members.

Acting Premier and Minister for Regional NSW Paul Toole said UGLRL was delivering on its promise to deliver a new regional head office and purpose-built network control centre as part of its $1.5 billion contract to operate and maintain the Country Regional Network (CRN) on behalf of Transport for NSW.

“The CRN is the backbone of NSW’s regional rail network for all our customers, from our rail passengers to farmers and industry, and to open the headquarters in Orange builds on NSW Government’s vision to deliver more jobs and major infrastructure in the regions,” he said.

Minister for Regional Transport and Roads Sam Farraway said the team would be managing 2,400km of operational rail lines and 3,000km of non-operational corridors, 1,300 level crossings and more than 900 bridges and 1,200 property assets such as stations.

Other major depots maintained by UGLRL are in Bathurst, Dubbo and West Wyalong and satellite depots in Queanbeyan, Narrabri and Tamworth.

The Kite Street building also houses the CRN’s Network Control Centre, previously operated out of Mayfield, Newcastle.

What is your favourite childhood memory?

April 8, 2022 by Maggi Barnard

Sheryl McDonnell: I grew up in Queensland and I loved going fishing with my siblings and my dad. Our family would go for a picnic around the Darling Downs and we fished all day.

Tony Bratton: I went with my friends to the Forbes pool all the time and when we got older, around 13, we rode our push bikes to the river at the caravan park or Four Mile on the Lachlan Val-ley Road to swim in the river.

Monica Wren: Swimming in the Lachlan River with my brother and sisters. We lived on the river and we had our spot where we swam. We had so much freedom.

Forbes Welcomes Amazing Women With Vision

April 8, 2022 by Maggi Barnard

The Forbes Gathering Committee members with Melinda Schneider, Jean Kittson and Kia Handley.

Women from across the state converged on Forbes last weekend for a very successful NSW Rural Women’s Gathering, after a long and challenging three years since Forbes applied to host the event,

After a beautiful Welcome to Country from Yarrangirri Holmes and Elder Aileen Allen, Forbes Mayor Cr Phyllis Miller OAM welcomed everyone to Forbes, followed by Local State Member Phil Donato MP who welcomed the group to the Central West.

Guest speaker Cressida Cains of Pecora Dairy, and 2020 NSW/ACT Agrifutures Rural Woman of the Year, was the first speaker on Saturday, followed by local real estate agent Tara Kelly of Century 21 Central West.

Special guest, Melinda Schneider then spoke of her life growing up as a performer from a very young age and the life twists and turns that brought her to be in the role of a Rural Adversity Mental Health Program (RAMHP) Ambassador. There was not a dry eye in the house during Melinda’s session.

Participants then heard from NSW Farmers’ Young farmer Council Representative Charlotte Groves. Followed by a panel discussion led by MC Kia Handley around Mental Health.

A variety of workshops and tours were held on Saturday afternoon, followed by the Gala Dinner on Saturday evening, which was by far the highlight of the Gathering. Guest speaker, Jean Kittson, had the crowd in stitches!

On Sunday morning, participants enjoyed a Sculpture Down the Lachlan Guided Tour around the Lake and Forbes Dragon Boat Club demonstration. Followed by the opportunity to hear from four local speakers providing inspirational stories, leaving everyone walking away inspired, encouraged and ready to take on a new challenge. Dr Karen Ritchie spoke about the Boosting the Lachlan Valley Art Project, Wendy Muffet spoke about Grazing Down the Lachlan, Fiona Aveyard of Outback Lamb and Rose Philipzen of Moxey Farms.

Stephanie Stanhope from NSW Country Women’s Association spoke about the history of the CWA in NSW as they celebrate 100 years!

For further information please go to www.centralwestlachlanlandcare.org, twitter, facebook or Instagram @cwllandcare

Parkes Phoenix Editor

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