We received plenty of beautiful images of birds, flowers, landscapes, pets and more from our readers for the Spring Photo Competition. The judges had a tough task picking the winners. Bec Bennet from Hold Photography picked 15-year-old Peta Allen as the Forbes winner, while Marc Payne from March Payne Photography named Elizabeth Drady as the Parkes winner.

Bec’s comments on Peta’s winning entry was: “Lovely composition, perfect mirroring of the silo in the water, nice warm colours, soft afternoon sky. Depicts a lovely country scene.” Marc said of Elizabeth’s winning shot: “It has impact, it fills the frame and is nicely exposed.”

The judges also wanted to give a special mention to the second and third place winners.

• Forbes 2nd: Katie Drady: “Skiing in theflood waters. Great concept, great current scene for our region.”

• Forbes 3rd Anne McLennan: “Great composition, beautiful bright colours, goodfocus.”

• Parkes 2nd: Wendy Baigent “Image fillsthe frame and has nice colour, gives impact.”

• Parkes 3rd: Casper Jones “The use oflight is gorgeous in this image and thelight in the cat’s eyes draws you in.”

Peta and Elizabeth have each won a family photo session with Bec and Marc respectively.

Pet owners in Australia and across the world now have the opportunity to buy premium pet food made in Parkes at the very first business to open its doors in the Special Activation Precinct (SAP).

The $82 million state-of-the-art Pet Care Kitchen manufacturing facility, officially opened last Wednesday, uses the latest technology and up to 50% locally sourced ingredients within a 200km radius to produce premium Black Hawk kibble.

“Partnerships with local farmers will ensure crops are grown to the company’s exacting specifications and provide primary producers a guaranteed market for their product,” said EBOS Group Chief Executive Officer John Cullity.

 The pet food bags, ranging from 400g to 25kg, all bear the inscription “Proudly made in Parkes, NSW Australia” in the top right hand corner. “These bags are incredible, and it means wherever the pet food is sold a bit of Parkes is going right across the country and the world,” said Deputy Premier and Minister for Regional NSW Paul Toole, at the opening.

The very large and complex project, measuring 12,800 square metres, took over four years to build with all the challenges of the COVID pandemic, and employs 60 people from Parkes and the region and is in production 24 hours per day, five days per week.

“We will take thousands of trucks off the roads as we leverage the benefits of Parkes and its rail hub to move our pet food to all parts of Australia and other parts of the world,” said John.

For the Mayor of Parkes Shire Cr Ken Keith OAM the opening of the pet food facility is a significant milestone for the Parkes SAP and a very exciting time for Parkes. 

“This is the start of a new era for the region. The SAP will ensure that Parkes continues to boast a strong diverse economy and will create jobs and opportunities for the whole region when completed, particularly efficiently linking agricultural value-added products to world markets.” 

NORTHERN GATEWAY PRECINCT

Work on the game changing Northern Gateway Precinct is also kicking off, which will connect the Parkes SAP to the town centre and the Newell Highway. The Stevens Group will invest $18 million to develop the project that will create hundreds of jobs during construction. “The 20-hectare Northern Gateway will include a new highway service centre, as well as a future commercial and business park,” said Paul Toole. 

Parkes Mayor said the connecting road from the bypass to the CBD presented an opportunity for Parkes to tempt them to turn at the large round-about and spend time and money in town.

The ever expanding inland public art trail of Sculpture Down the Lachlan is becoming the focal point of the region’s arts and culture and the addition of the 22nd sculpture has added yet another dimension to this unique experience.

Within – Without (Of Land and Spirit) by Greg Johns uses interlinking geometric shapes to represent the patterns formed in nature, and the interconnection that exists between them. The 5m high geometric piece, located on Marsden Road in the Lachlan Shire, speaks of nature’s micromacro links and the importance of respecting and protecting them.

“When links are broken, such as the extinction of particular flora or fauna, the whole system becomes vulnerable and can ultimately collapse,” said sculptor Greg Johns. Greg used hundreds of solid 25mm mild steel unites, each cut from solid steel plate in collaboration with boilermaker Darryl McFarlane of Demill Engineering.

The 5m high pod, formed from open hexagonal units, offers vastly different patterns when viewed from different angles. “The public can see through the form to the surrounding landscape, and this conection to the surrounding landscape is important,” Greg said.

“When you move around the sculpture, which continually changes visually, a negative figure suddenly appears from one angle. The intended implication of the organic pod form is of a protective spirit. A deep, profound guardianship of place as a priority is a message this sculpture hopefully conveys.”

Forbes Arts Society Chairperson Trudy Mallick said the sculpture’s connection to the landscape was complementary to the theme of environmental sustainability that spans across the 100km trail.

For more information about the project, visit www.forbesartssociety.com.

There is only one way for the NSW CWA to celebrate its centenary and last Saturday 120 Parkes women were treated to a high tea out of the books, plus a fashion show, as the local branch celebrated this milestone occasion.

Established in 1922, “the ladies of the CWA forged a foundation of friendship and service that spread around the state and nation creating a legacy of strength and communities,” said Parkes President Alice Milne in her welcoming address at the Parkes Golf Club. “We seek to serve our community through friendship, advocacy and fundraising.”

Dorothy Macdonald, member of the Parkes branch for 50 years, reminisced about the friendship, good times and laughter over the years. “There are many treasured memories,” she said recalling how her mother was given life membership from the Peak Hill branch when she was 16 years old.

“At the age of 100 my mum still wanted to know what the CWA was doing.” She said Parkes branch had always been very busy and singled out catering for the opening of the Parkes Radio Telescope as a highlight. “Nothing was too hard, members are very skillful, accept all challenges and are able to achieve whatever they put their minds to, whether it is caring for others, or helping those in need to a love of cooking, flowers, music, and handicraft. “To enjoy what you do is not a chore and for all the years I have been involved with the CWA I have had the most enjoyable learning experiences in my life,” said Dorothy.

The fourth edition of Forbes’s very unique long lunch has lodged itself in the memory banks of the 700 plus guests who came from far and wide to enjoy a degustation menu among the magnificence of the Central West’s gum trees.

Many said it was the best Grazing Down the Lachlan yet, and director Wendy Muffet agreed that it might be judged by the resoundingly positive feedback. “I could not be more delighted with how it all worked out.

“The highly curated menu by Creative Director O Tama Carey was very exciting this year,” said Wendy. O Tama, who created all the recipes for the degustation menu, drew inspiration from the local history during the gold rush era and incorporated ideas from Chinese dishes found in regional restaurants in Australia with touches of native ingredients and flavours.

What is there not to enjoy about meandering from food station to food station through the wondrous landscape at the Gum Swamp Wildlife Refuge while enjoying carp crackers, ginger and shallot scrolls, kangaroo dim sums, a family soup, Ants Crawling on Trees (rice vermicelli with lam mince) and burnt bloodwood honey gelato each very carefully matched with a beverage?

The return of the multi-award winning event after a two-year hiatus came with a new set of weather challenges leaving the usual event site at 9 Mile Reserve under about a foot of water, and a new venue had to be found last minute. 

“I take my hat off to the team, they are so resilient,” said Wendy. “That was a highlight for me when nobody said we could not do it.” 

According to Wendy the new venue at Gum Swamp turned out to be a huge bonus as they were able to highlight the beauty of the area. “Many locals had never been there.” 

Leaving the site as they found it by delivering a no-waste, environmentally responsible event makes this foodie adventure truly unique. Guests have the option to donate back their goodie back of items, including wine glass, enamel plate, linen napkin and recycled cutlery to be used the following year. Items worth $19,000 were donated back after the previous event. “We literally leave only footprints as everything is recycled,” said Wendy. “We find that more and more people are commending us on this philosophy, as so much waste is left behind at huge festivals and events across Australia.” 

The benefit of this small idea that has grown into something really big, is not just a direct injection of $400,000 in the local economy, but the profits are delved back into community projects, such as the ever growing Sculptures Down the Lachlan art trail. 

By Maggi Barnard 

 

Residents of the Forbes and Parkes Shires have been saddened by the passing of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II since the announcement of the news by Buckingham Palace last Friday.

“My sympathies to everyone since the passing of our beautiful Queen,” said Forbes Shire Mayor Phyllis Miller. “Personally, I do not know life without her as our Queen, like many in our community. Her 70 years of selfless service was an inspiration.”

Mayor of Parkes Shire Ken Keith said: “On behalf of my fellow Councillors, Council staff and the residents of the Parkes Shire, I extend my deepest sympathies to His Majesty King Charles III, the Royal family, and all those mourning the loss of Queen Elizabeth II.

“Queen Elizabeth II’s reign was the longest of any British monarch, and over her seven decades on the throne, she proved to be a rare and reassuring constant amidst a period of extraordinary change,” said Ken.

Flags at both Councils were lowered to half-mast last Friday as a mark of respect. The Queen visited Australia 16 times, which included 12 visits to NSW visiting Bathurst, Broken Hill, Dubbo, Katoomba, Lismore, Lithgow, Wagga Wagga and Wollongong.

The Prime Minister announced a one-off public holiday on Thursday, 22nd September as a national day of mourning to mark the death of Queen Elizabeth II. The Forbes Shire Council will be holding a short service for the public on the day at 10:30am to lay wreaths and flowers and observe a minute’s silence at 11am.

Parkes businesswoman Rebecca Miller has been named Humanitarian of the Year in recognition of her outstanding philanthropic contribution.

The owner of La Bella Medispa received the award at the annual Australian Beauty Industry Awards held in Sydney last month.

Rebecca created The Ripple of Kindness Project in 2018 and has since raised almost $150,000 for various charities.

“This is a very humbling acknowledgement, but the real heroes are the three amazing humans, Margie, Lilly, and Connie, who are the reason why I started The Ripple of Kindness Project, and I would like to dedicate this award to them,” said Rebecca at the awards night.

Rebecca’s first project was raising money and awareness for cancer charities by shaving her head when a close friend Margie Burns was diagnosed with invasive Lobular Carcinoma, an aggressive type of breast cancer. Rebecca raised $25,000 for Parkes CanAssist and Love Your Sister. “I was honestly so blown away by the support,” said Rebecca.

“What really touched me was the response from so many women who have been affected by breast cancer and who shared their stories with me.”

Rebecca’s second project was a 355km run from Parkes to the Westmead Children’s Hospital raising funds for The Bandage Bear Foundation, Carrie’s Beanies for Brain Cancer, The Leukaemia Foundation and CanAssist.

She was inspired by Lilly Wyburn, a Parkes girl who battled leukaemia from the age of two and at only 8.5 years old lost her battle in November 2017. “Lilly touched so many lives in her short time on earth. Throughout the run, I wore a very special necklace that Lilly’s mum, Jodie, gave me. This really helped me to get through this massive challenge”.

After two years of training and planning and COVID-19 delays, Rebecca completed her run on the 18th of April 2021 in nine days, which is just shy of a marathon a day, raising almost $105,000.

In March this year Rebecca saw the struggles her beauty industry community was facing after the challenges of droughts, bushfires, COVID-19 shutdowns and flooding. Rebecca raised almost $9,000 to support salon owners impacted by the floods to help rebuild their salons so they could continue to support themselves, their families, and their team’s families.

“When you give back to other people and your community, it reminds you what you’re made for. Focusing on the needs of others has a way of motivating you to do more than you thought possible. You feel the benefits immediately. You become more productive. You find creative solutions to problems. You find strength when you’re exhausted. That’s because life supports that which improves the quality of life. When we contribute to our community, we become part of something that is bigger than ourselves,” said Rebecca.

The Australian Beauty Industry Awards were launched in 2011 nationally and are judged by an independent panel of judges, media, PR and business specialists.

It took more than four years to see the fruits of their labour, but last week two Forbes locals celebrated when the world premiere of a new thriller was screened in Perth, Western Australia.

‘Avarice’ is an action-packed thriller about a home invasion and it all started when Adam Enslow and Dane Millerd met director John V Soto in 2018.

“Adam and I were introduced to John through a mutual film colleague from the US. John had read our horror home invasion script ‘Are You Scared Yet?’ and wanted to chat with us. From there the action thriller Avarice was born and Andrew Slattery was brought in to help us with the script,” said Dane.

Luckily ScreenWest and Epic Pictures believed in the movie and it was made for over $2 million and filmed in Perth.

 “It was a great process that Dane and I went through and to see it being made into a movie is pretty awesome,” said Adam.

Dane is just as excited about the movie saying the long wait of four years made it all worthwhile. “There are not short cuts in this business.” 

Starring Gillian Alexy and Luke Ford the story of Avarice follows a woman (Alexy), who is an Olympian lever archer, as she attempts to rescue her investment banker husband (Ford) after he is abducted during a vicious home invasion.

As a screenwriter you have to put up with a lot of changes and Dane and Adam were involved in the five rewrites for Avarice. As a point of reference, Dane said Star Wars: A new Hope had 27 rewrites.

“We created the plot and the initial storyline and was able to put our stamp on it,” said Adam.

The writing pair have another thriller on their slate that has been delayed due to COVID, called ‘Death’s Waiting Room’, plus some other projects in their infancy.

They have not seen the movie yet, but can’t wait for the Sydney premiere in mid-September. It will then be released in theatres, streamed online and available on DVD/Blu Ray and video on demand.