The NSW Saving our Species program is calling for community volunteers to become “cockatoo counters” and help be part of the Great Inland Glossy Count this November.

National Parks and Wildlife Service Senior Project Officer Adam Fawcett said anyone can be a part of it.

“Bird lovers, citizen scientists or anyone with an interest in this beautiful threatened species, are needed to survey Glossy Black Cockatoo populations at three key sites around inland NSW.

“Glossies are easily spotted with their distinctive red markings and this cockatoo count will help our scientists understand more about this threatened bird,” he said.

This is the second year the Great Inland Glossy Count has occurred. In 2019 seventy volunteers participated and counted over 700 Glossy Black Cockatoos across inland NSW.

On Saturday, 21 November, Goobang National Park, some 100km from Forbes, will be surveyed.

“What a great opportunity to get out to some of our amazing national parks and state forests, sit back and watch a threatened species in its natural habitat,” Adam said.

Volunteers will need to pre-register using the Department of Planning Industry and Environment’s website www.app.betterimpact.com/PublicEnterprise. COVID guidelines will be followed.

The project is funded by the NSW Government’s Saving our Species program and the NSW Environmental Trust, and is led by Central West Local Land Services in partnership with NPWS, NSW Forest Corp, Dubbo Field Naturalists, Australian Wildlife Conservancy and the land owners and managers within these areas.

Forbes Shire Council’s Tourism Plan 2020-2030 is currently being developed and Council is calling on the community to provide input.

“We would love to hear from everybody. As members of the community, you are important stakeholders in the future success of tourism in Forbes and your suggestions and input are invaluable,” said Forbes Shire Council Mayor, Phyllis Miller OAM. “Tourism is so important to our local economy and we need to ensure tourists want to stop here. We need to have the services and attractions that they cannot resist and then tell all their friends about.”

Forbes residents are also invited to vote on their Top Five favourite things to do with visitors when they come to Forbes. This will help identify the attractions that are visited frequently and may need attention as well as themes Council can expand upon.

How can Forbes grow and what are the strengths and weaknesses of the area? These are some of the questions being posed to residents of Forbes. “This information is so important to establish our plan for the next 10 years in attracting people off the Newell Highway to stop and stay a while in our wonderful part of Australia. Tourism is important to the economic development of the region and will boost employment opportunities,” said Phyllis.

Complete the survey before 23 October and go in the draw to win a $100 Why Leave Town Card.

The survey can be found at www.yoursay.forbes.nsw.gov.au/forbes-tourism-plan.

Forbes and Parkes CanAssist groups received generous donations from Forbes CWA Evening Branch last week to help them deliver the valuable financial support to locals who are battling cancer.

COVID-19 has prevented CanAssist groups from raising funds this year, so any donations have been welcomed with immense gratitude. Due to restrictions, the CanAssist groups in Parkes and Forbes were unable to run their normal fundraising  events.

Forbes CWA Evening Branch President, Karen Wright who works with cancer patients in both Forbes and Parkes, saw the benefit of her patients wearing masks and so began making some to distribute to them.

“Initially, the idea was to give patients masks, but then staff at Parkes and Forbes Hospitals asked if they could purchase them and it snowballed from there,” explained Karen. Forbes CWA Evening Branch members and other volunteers got together and formed a working bee over a weekend to meet the demand.

Karen said, “It was a community effort as some ladies donated material, while others cut out the patterns, and those with sewing skills spent a few days sewing to make the masks.”

The number of masks made is not known as many were given away before people asked to purchase them.

When it came time for the money raised from the sale of the masks to be distributed Forbes CWA Evening Branch decided that it was fitting that the proceeds be divided equally between both Parkes and Forbes CanAssist groups.

Mr John Schrader, President of the Forbes CanAssist said they were very appreciative of the $650 donation as did the representative of the Parkes group. “Funds that CanAssist raise is all used to support locals in their cancer battles,” he said. “None of it goes to pay for administration or head office or anywhere else. It all stays in the local community to support locals.”

All CanAssist money allows these dedicated workers to contribute towards trans- porting patients to appointments, their medications and chemist bills. Sometimes they assist clients with vehicle registrations, mechanical repairs, or even new tyres so people can travel to out of town appointments safely and on occasions contribute to some accommodation and other practical things.

With so many changes this year, it is inspiring to see how community groups and organisations in Forbes have adapted, particularly the Forbes CWA, with their ongoing efforts to better support so many in the Forbes community.

Avid and amateur twitchers will soon have four, unobtrusive vantage points from which to observe over 150 bird species, with the construction of new bird hides underway for Gum Swamp reserve.

Local contractors, Midpro Engineering and Irrigation commenced work earlier this month to construct three new two-storey steel and timber structures on the water’s edge. The existing bird hide at Gum Swamp will also receive a makeover as part of the redevelopment.

Forbes Arts Society’s Keith Mullette said, “While Gum Swamp is already a popular destination for bird watchers, this project will encourage residents and visitors to utilise the wetland sanctuary for other passive recreational activities such as walking, photography and yoga, or to simply immerse themselves in nature.” Work on the new bird hides is anticipated to be complete by the end of 2020, weather permitting.

Gum Swamp is one of the stops on the Sculpture Down the Lachlan trail following the installation of the impressive ‘Varanus’ sculpture in July which has clocked up 8,500 visitors in ten weeks.

The ‘Boosting the Lachlan Valley Economy Art Project’ is proudly funded by the NSW Government’s Restart NSW program through the Regional Growth, Environment and Tourism Development Fund, the Forbes Arts Society, Forbes Shire Council, Lachlan Shire Councils and Evolution Mining, and aims to foster visual arts throughout the Forbes Shire to grow the visitor economy and promote the Lachlan Valley region as a premier tourism destination.

Kate Kelly, the chamber opera co-created by composer Ross James Carey and writer Merrill Findlay in Forbes ten years ago, is to be performed online for a major national opera festival.

The Gertrude Opera Company in Melbourne will perform Kate Kelly for the 2020 Yarra Valley Opera Festival in October.

The Kate Kelly Song Cycle, as the chamber opera was initially called, re-interprets the life of one of Australia’s most iconic women, the youngest sister of bushranger Ned Kelly. It emerged from Merrill’s Kate Kelly Project and was first performed in Forbes in September 2011, as the headline act for the inaugural Kalari-Lachlan River Arts Festival, beside the lagoon in which Kate Kelly’s body was found in 1898.

Gertrude Opera’s artistic director, Linda Thompson says she is excited about her company presenting Kate Kelly. “I looked for a piece that was an Australian woman’s story and this is a little nugget,” she told The Age newspaper. “The music is really exciting.”

The Yarra Valley Opera Festival performance of Kate Kelly will feature Emily Burke as Kate, Andrew Moran as Kate’s husband Bricky Foster, and Michael Lapiña as the grocer Quong Lee, whose aria describes Kate’s life and death in Forbes.

Yarra Valley Opera Festival runs 16-25 October. Kate Kelly will be streamed live from 7pm, Saturday, 24 October. For more information and tickets visit www.gertrudeopera.com.au/kate-kelly-sister-of-ned.

The original Kate Kelly Project was supported, in Forbes, by the Australian Government’s Regional Arts Fund.

The new Forbes Men’s Shed is in its final stages of completion since its inception in May 2018. Members were able to move into the new shed on Monday, 3 August 2020 however they are still working on improvements for the facility.

The new facility, which is self-sufficient with water and run partially by solar power, can now comfortably host 50 people in their new dining room. Along with workshops, cards, and health programs, the space will also be used for relaxation with a small library in the works.

Since the start, some 13 years ago, membership has steadily grown however, COVID-19 restrictions which limited activities of the organisation saw numbers decrease this year. President Norm Haley predicts numbers will rise again and is also encouraging younger residents of Forbes to join, with the shed accepting members from ages 12 and up. “It’s here for anyone wanting to join,” Norm says.

The new Shed is well equipped to be utilised by its members for a variety of activities. “It’s expanded our foresight for work related jobs, with room to adapt new health programs which will hopefully be an enormous asset to men in Forbes,” said Norm.

The Men’s Shed members are currently working on a number of repair and construction jobs for the Forbes community and are always up for a challenge.

By encouraging mateship and open communication about both physical and mental health, the Men’s Shed is an invaluable community resource.