The Hansen family have the distinction of being the oldest family operated and continuous running optometry practice in Australia, having provided eye care to the people of the central west for six generations. 

Their story began in the 1890s when Henry Hansen, a Danish immigrant and watch-maker opened his business in Orange. Henry Hansen sold ready-made spectacles as part of his inventory. 

Fast forward to the early 1900s, and his son Frederick began working at the family business, advertising himself as a “Scientific Optician”, performing rudimentary eye examinations and prescribing spectacles.

This tradition continued with his sons Lel and Bob, taking over the business after completing their optometry studies. This saw the evolution of the family business from a humble jeweller and watchmaker that dabbled in providing spectacles, into Western Optical Pty Ltd, with optometry practices in Orange, Parkes and Wellington. 

They also started the first lens grinding laboratory west of the Blue Mountains in NSW. This laboratory provided the lenses for spectacles all over central west NSW and further abroad.

Over the next 50 years, the scope of the Optometry profession steadily evolved as did Hansens, with the next generation of Hansen optometrists entering and running the business. 

In 2008, the fourth generation of Hansen Optometrists began working in the practice. Soon after in 2012, they purchased an existing optometry practice at 267a Clarinda Street Parkes, which became Hansen Eyecare Plus Parkes. 

They soon expanded operations, providing an optometrist five days a week, increasing staff and giving a much needed injection of new technology to better service the eye care needs of the people of Parkes. 

Hansens continues to defy current trends by remaining a fully independent, family owned optometry practice in a sea of foreign owned, corporate optometrists. They have survived the test of time, continuing to evolve and staying at the forefront of optometry with the latest advances in technology and eye care innovations. This allows them to provide the highest quality of eye care to their patients. 

They also pride themselves on their strong involvement in the local community, providing vision screenings to primary schools, after hours services, home visit to the elderly, sponsorship to local charities and spectacles to the less fortunate. 

Hansens delves into many of the sub-specialties of optometry including children’s vision, dry eye management, specialty contact lenses and orthokeratology. 

With optometry in their DNA and a fantastic team of support staff, there is little doubt that Hansen’s will continue to support the people of Parkes and the surrounding community for generations to come. 

 

New licensee of Forbes and Parkes McDonalds, Jenny Parfitt, together with her husband Dave and two daughters Lilly and Isla packed up their lives in the Blue Mountains to take on a new challenge in Parkes.

Jenny’s career progression through the ranks of the fast food giant, McDonalds is an inspiring story.

Raised in a working class, middle income family, Jenny had always been of the belief that if you want something, you work for it. Her first job was at Emu Plains McDonalds when she was just 14 years old. Jenny worked there for six months before moving to the Penrith Leagues restaurant and spending the next 23 years with the same licensee.

Jenny took a break from work for six months at 25 when her first daughter Lilly came along. Within six months of returning from maternity leave, Jenny was promoted to Operations Supervisor.

Fast forward four years, and Jenny was offered the opportunity to buy a share and become an equity partner. By the time she left Penrith to relocate to Parkes, they jointly owned nine stores. 

Since moving to Parkes, Jenny has been overwhelmed by the amazing local support she has received. “The people of Forbes and Parkes are just so kind and lovely, we have felt very welcomed,” said Jenny. 

The Forbes and Parkes McDonalds stores have also come on board as the brand new sponsors of our extremely popular Tradie of the Month feature. For details on how to enter please refer to the ad on page 8 of this week’s paper.

Twenty one year old Ben Lovett, from Parkes, started playing rugby league when he was just five years old. His hard work and sheer determination over the years has secured a him a spot with one of the NRL’s top rugby league teams, the South Sydney Rabbitohs.

The Forbes and Parkes Phoenix spoke to Ben’s parents, John and Fiona Lovett about Ben’s debut. 

Proud mother Fiona said, “We’re still quite overwhelmed and excited. We had hoped that he would debut sometime this year because he is in the first grade squad, had been named in reserve for the past few weeks and he was doing quite well.”

Describing the moment Ben first told them he was going to make his debut, Fiona said, “Ben face timed us both separately and it was quite emotional.” 

Last Saturday, 25th March, on the day of Ben’s debut, an excited John and Fiona arrived early and watched the three games prior to the main event. 

“We watched the crowd build up, and all the people that had come from Parkes to watch. It was an exciting build up to the moment when Ben came on in the 60th minute,” said Fiona.

During last Saturday’s game against the Manly Sea Eagles, South Sydney paid tribute to one of rugby leagues greats who recently passed away, four time premiership winning captain, John Satler. Ben was honoured to be presented his jersey by John Satlers son, Scott Satler.

In 2022, at the age of just 61, Penrith Panthers’ rugby league legend Royce Simmons announced that he had been diagnosed with Dementia. 

The diagnosis sent shock waves through the rugby league and broader community. However, Royce wasted no time at all, throwing himself behind the “Big Walk” to raise money for Dementia Australia to fund further research.

“I’ve got dementia, but not too bad at the moment, I’m just trying to make people aware of how bad dementia is,” said Royce. 

“I don’t think people realise how bad it is, over 400,000 people are currently living with dementia in Australia and experts say that is expected to double in the next few years.”

Royce has gathered a huge amount of support from the rugby league community that he was a part of for decades and has many supporters on board sponsoring the walk. 

Royces “Big Walk” kicks off on Tuesday, 18th April in Dubbo. He will travel through Parkes on Thursday, 20th April, and is scheduled to arrive in Bathurst on Saturday, 29th of April where the Panthers Vs Wests Tigers will be playing for the Royce Simmons Cup.

Royce has called upon fellow footy and sporting legends to join him on his walk through regional towns including Parkes and Eugowra. Part of Royces initiative is for the junior footy clubs in the towns they pass through to utilise the opportunity to raise funds for their own clubs, in addition to helping Royce raise money for Dementia Australia 

Royce went on to explain, “We organise and supply a couple of guest speakers for the local fundraisers, we supply some memorabilia for the auctions and we are happy that it helps raise money for Dementia Australia and local junior footy.” 

Local President of the Parkes Marist Junior Rugby League Club, Andrew Thomas spoke to The Forbes & Parkes Phoenix about why this is such an important fundraising event for people to get behind. “Royce is so driven by junior league and grassroots football, they’ve asked the clubs to hold an event and we have decided to hold a fundraising dinner.” 

Royce’s Big Walk, and the Fundraiser to coincide with his walk, will be on Thursday, 20th April. The Fundraiser will be held at the Parkes Services Club and tickets will be $35 each, which will include dinner. On the night there will be a number of guest speakers, an auction, raffle, and lucky door prizes. 

The Parkes Marist Junior Rugby League Club will put any funds that they receive from the “Big Walk” fundraising event towards upgrading the outdated facilities. 

“We are pushing for a new grandstand, that’s the biggest ticket item that we are working towards. Parkes Council has been great, they funded a $76,000 Master Plan that was designed by an architect from Newcastle. He has submitted a design that has already been approved and its sitting there ready to go once we find enough funding. It’s up to us to be the driving force to make it happen,” said Andrew Thomas. 

 

 Forbes Mayor Phyllis Miller, and the citizens of Forbes have welcomed the announcement last week of a major development in the activation of 10.29 hectares of Crown Land to provide affordable homes for local families. 

The land is located across three blocks at Farnell Street and Dawson Street and in a few short years, will be completely transformed into a community of affordable houses just 2.2 kilometers north of the Forbes town center.

“We all know that housing availability has been a major issue in Forbes for quite some time, particularly for people looking for rentals or even a first home purchase,” Mayor Miller said.

“The shortage of land especially, has contributed to pushing up the prices of houses being sold in Forbes. Now combined with rising interest rates and pressure on cost of living the prospect of owning a home for many is moving further out of reach,” Mayor Miller said.

“This activation of Crown Land is a very welcome step in easing some of this pressure, and providing a new supply of homes for the next generation.”

“We are very excited for this project and very grateful to the NSW Government,” she said.

The development will see 101 new housing lots, with around 30 percent of this dedicated to social and affordable dwellings. 

“This is fantastic news for Forbes particularly as our projected population growth far exceeds the State average and the need for housing and facilities to accompany this growth is paramount,” Mayor Miller said. 

NSW Nationals Upper House MP Sam Farraway said the NSW Liberal and Nationals Government was moving the state forward by increasing the housing supply in Forbes with the activation of 10.28 hectares of Crown land to deliver up to 100 housing lots. 

“The NSW Liberal and Nationals Government is listening to the concerns of local families by increasing the supply of housing in our region and helping them to get into an affordable home,” Mr Farraway said. 

“We’re able to do this thanks to our economic management ensuring that NSW continues to have the strongest economy in the country.” 

Minister for Lands and Water Kevin Anderson said this announcement is part of a three-year Crown Lands program, designed to activate underutilised government land for housing projects in regional areas facing housing stress. 

 

Parkes Shire Council was lucky to receive a $12,600 grant for 2022-23 school holiday activities for youth aged 12-24 years in the Parkes Shire from the NSW Government Holiday Break Program. Parkes youth had the opportunity to:

Develop new creative skills in Resin Pouring and Bali Batik ink techniques in flag making.

Learn about stand-up comedy and develop their own routine with Aussie comedian Anthony Lamond; and

Team up together to complete a photo scavenger hunt around the Parkes CBD.

“Diversity in our offerings for youth is so important”, said Creative Learning Programs Coordinator Roxanne Gallacher, the Summer Sessions Project Manager.

“Being able to access grant funding to deliver these sessions to the youth of Parkes is a privilege, and we are extremely grateful to the Office of Regional Youth for the opportunity to bring something different this year,” Roxanne said.

As a result we had 92 young people attend across the seven events. Feedback that the programs were giving youth opportunities not readily available, with a good variety and comparable, or exceeding those of larger regional centres. 

Ability to reach youth who had not been to library events or workshops before and they have been willing to connect into the library as a source of creativity and information. 

There has been an increase in bookings for other library programs and events, bringing new youth into the Library spaces and connecting youth from different schools together in a relaxed environment.

Former Forbes resident, Tony Mileto, took us to a few of the places around Forbes that holds the fondest memories for him.

Born in Sydney and raised on the Central Coast of NSW, Tony moved to Orange at the age of 12, where he completed his schooling and eventually followed his long time ambition of becoming a Police officer.

Upon following through with his dream of joining the Police Force, Tony chose to be stationed at Forbes Police Station where he served for just over three years. 

“I thoroughly enjoyed my time here, Forbes was a 24-hour police station back then, it’s not anymore,” said Tony.

Whilst reminiscing about his time as a police officer in Forbes, Tony went on to talk about why he initially joined the police force: “I chose to be a police officer because there is no greater honour or privilege than to represent your community, and that is what I wanted to do, serve the community. That’s what I enjoyed during my time in Forbes,” said Tony. 

During his time with Forbes Police, Tony was also the School Liaison Officer and described himself as passionate about working with kids at risk. He knows many kids come from challenging backgrounds and beleives it is always worth investing time in our youth as they are our future.

During Tony’s three year stay in Forbes, he proudly talks about his time spent enjoying local sport. Tony said he spent two years playing with the Forbes Magpies reserve grade team and then one year playing with the Forbes Platypi, stating “I thoroughly enjoyed playing with both clubs”.

After his three years in Forbes, Tony returned to Orange, where he continued his work with local youth while working at Orange PCYC, before moving into more mainstream police work. 

Tony worked in different specialist areas of the police force until he was unfortunately involved in a serious motor vehicle accident while on duty. Tony was in a police vehicle when another driver drove head first into his vehicle. Whilst he eventually recovered, that accident ended Tony’s police career. He went on to become a Factual Investigator, which involves investigating serious motor vehicle accidents.

“My life changed when I came across a motor vehicle accident where three young boys were killed at Billpin,” said Tony. Following this, he committed himself to making our roads safer, for young people and the community as a whole.

In 2017, Tony joined Orange City Council, so that he could have a platform to make a positive difference in his community, and that is where his political journey started.

Tony is extremely passionate and dedicated to serving the communities in his region which include Parkes, Forbes and surrounds. Tony explained that in order to actually make things happen, “You need to do it at the highest level, and that is why I have joined up with a strong political party like The Nationals who I know can deliver.” 

 

Parkes will feature in a documentary about the family history of Peak Hill resident, and well-known indigenous artist, Irene Walker.

Back in 2006, Irene was researching her family history. Upon entering her great grandmothers name, Nelly Bungil (Nanny Nelly) in an online search, she discovered photographs of her great grandmother that had been made into a sculpture.

Irene was not aware of any stories about a statue being made of Nanny Nelly, however, it turned out there were family members who did know, and one of them was Irene’s brother Arthur Ridgeway. 

Irene’s eldest son, Daniel King recalls a trip he made with his uncle in 2001, where he first saw the statue. 

 “We basically went down to the vaults of the Australian Museum and into a room. There was this white sheet over a lifesize figure, we took the sheet off and there was my great-great grandmother,” said Daniel.

“The statue was absolutely lifelike, it was literally like she was standing there.” Daniel also sadly recalls seeing the the pain in her eyes.

More than 20 years after first seeing the statue of Nanny Nelly, Daniel has been awarded funding from the Adelaide Film Festival to produce a documentary about his great-great grandmother. The feature length documentary will will premiere at the 2023 Adelaide Film Festival, and air on NITV.

In 1996 Nanny Nelly’s daughter, Victoria Walker (Nanny Kempsey) was walking through the Australian Museum when she saw the statue and recognised that it was actually her mother. 

Nanny Kempsey was part of the stolen generation, at the age of eight she was taken into custody by the Aboriginal Protection Board and sent to Cootamundra Girls School. She didn’t see her mother again until she was 17 years old when she received notification that her mother, Nanny Nelly was dying and had requested to see her. She stayed by her mothers side until her passing. 

Upon seeing her mothers unclothed statue on display in the Australian Museum, Nanny Kempsey wrote to the museum to have the statue removed from display. However, after consulting with family members, she then wrote to the museum again, allowing them to keep the statue, specifying that it could be put back on display under the condition that they clothed Nanny Nelly’s statue, identified Nanny Nelly and told her story. 

Irene Walker first saw the Nanny Nelly statue on a trip with Daniel in 2018, when it had been relocated to Penrith. Knowing that Nanny Nelly was unclothed, she requested the museum place a sheet around her.

Irene described seeing her great grandmother as an amazing experience. “It was the pinnacle moment for me, it was like looking at a real person,” said Irene. She has visited Nanny Nelly several times since this and describes it as wonderful.

The Australian Museum has committed $150,000 to the restoration of not only Nanny Nelly’s statue, but of two other statues that were commissioned at the same time. 

The three statues of a young boy, an older male and a woman, were commissioned in 1938 as a way of preserving an image of full blooded Aboriginals who were believed to be a dying race, when the census revealed a decline in the population. 

Nanny Nelly’s family are retracing her steps in the feature length documentary titled “Her Name is Nanny Nelly”. Part of that journey is to find the families of the other two statue subjects, the older man, Jimmy Clemence and the young boy, Harold Marsh.

After a complete refurbishment of Forbes Public School in 2022, including new paint and new carpet, the school was faced with not one, but two flooding events. The floods hit just three weeks before the end of the 2022 school year.

Following the floods, Forbes High School generously offered up space for the remaining three weeks of the school year for all of the Forbes Public School students from kindergarten to year six. 

“That three weeks gave us time to unpack with the kids about what was happening. During the last week of school, the students were permitted to return to the school site, to allow them to have some closure,” said Megan Staples, Principal of Forbes Public School.

“Students were allowed to walk around the school, they also assembled on the oval and all pretended to imagine what their new temporary site might look like upon their return to school in 2023.”

During the school holiday period, Forbes Public School students and parents were kept updated about the build for the temporary site. Regular updates were provided about the return to school for 2023, including a virtual tour of the school the day before school returned for 2023 to show parents and students what to do. 

“The goal was all about returning students to school on day one of term one and an all important return to a focus on teaching and learning,” said Megan.

Questions have been raised as to why the effort was put into building the temporary demountable site in favor of immediately getting on with refurbishing the original, existing site? 

Forbes Public School Principal Megan Staples explains, “After two years of COVID interruptions, the last thing we wanted in the new year was the shuffling of students or distractions from trade and construction work.”

Megan is grateful that the school was involved in two weeks of intense planning and design for the new temporary site, to ensure it would really work for the staff and students who may be using the temporary site for the next 12 months or more. 

The refurbishment of the original, existing site is under discussion and planning is well under way. “The gyprock has been ordered, the carpet has been ordered and tradies are on standby,” said Megan. 

Once the temporary demountable site is fully signed off, then tools can be picked up and work can begin on the refurbishment.

As with any experience you go through as a team, the staff at Forbes Public School, along with the wider school community of parents and students, have all been brought closer together and Megan is exceptionally proud of how everyone has banded together.

“The students have had a great return to school year and are looking forward to all of the exciting aspects that come along with everyday learning. Including excursions, sports carnivals, visiting shows, Healthy Harold, Aurora program, sporting and creative arts opportunities and just being able to provide students the chance to reconnect with school and be a part of activities that make them happy and help them thrive and succeed,” said Megan.

Megan wanted to send out a message to all of those involved with supporting Forbes Public School. She went on to say, “In the summer of 2022, in our Forbes community, we had tradies, school teachers and community members all band together to enable the establishment of a school for day one, of term one, over a period of two to three weeks. That is something we can all share in and be proud of.” 

“Thanks and praise are also extended to everyone who helped with the flood preparations, which was so important and helped redirect water. A big thanks to SES, Forbes Shire Council, Royal Defence Force and all of the community members who helped.”