Each term students in Years 3 to 6 participate in a leadership day held at Forbes Public School. This is an innovative and interactive day where they are equipped, challenged and inspired with skills that will enable them to have success in a number of dynamic areas of personal development.

This term the leadership day was held on Thursday, 2nd August and the school was privileged to feature David Acheson as the guest speaker who started off the day’s proceedings. David is an aboriginal elder involved in the local Aboriginal Education Consultative Group (AECG).

This was a wonderful opportunity for students to gain insight about aboriginal leadership from a local identity. Also on the same day, students who were candidates for the upcoming Junior AECG, delivered speeches to the audience as part of a leadership election process.

“It was fantastic to see the children speak with confidence and clarity to such a large group of individuals,” said Forbes Public School Principal, Dafydd Thomas.

After the formal address in the hall, students eagerly moved on to a great part of the day where they dispersed into constructive workshop groups. These groups had specific focuses to enhance their personal skills in target areas. They gained insight into developing public speaking skills, extending social skills to have success in various settings, resilience training, team building and goal setting.

At the end of the day, students were treated to a warm sausage sizzle on a freezing cold day.

The second White Ribbon Cup held annually between Forbes High School and Parkes High School was blessed with sunny skies and took place at Pioneer Oval in Parkes on Monday.

The rugby league match between Forbes and Parkes High Schools is aimed at raising awareness for domestic violence and to emphasise that domestic violence is not ‘ok’. Approximately 2,500 people came out in support of this worthy cause.

White Ribbon Ambassador and Forbes High School Aboriginal Educational Officer (AEO), Barry Merrit said: “Who said our youth don’t have a voice? Our youth are standing up and saying loud and clear, ‘It needs to stop!’”

The statistics are staggering, said Barry.“On average, one woman a week is murdered in Australia in a domestic violence incident and one in four children has witnessed domestic violence in their lifetime.” The idea to hold the cup first originated within the White Ribbon Supporter Boys group at Forbes High School. Barry’s role as the AEO and team coach was to make it happen. The inaugural cup was held at Forbes High School in 2017.

Although Forbes High School brings the cup home in its second victory against Parkes, Barry marks the day is not about the game itself but about our youth coming together and raising awareness for such a great cause.

“The game was played in great spirit by both teams and sends such a strong message to both our communities that domestic violence is not ok!” said Barry.

By Gizell van Wyk

In an attempt to give some form of relief to struggling farmers during the current drought experienced in NSW, Kim Lowe and Herb Beer of K&H Interiors and Design have partnered with Rural Aid’s ‘Farm Rescue’ campaign to raise money to support local farmers needing assistance.

The entire community is asked to join the endeavour to help drought affected farmers by attending the K&H Rural Aid Farm Rescue fundraising auction which is being held in the Sylo building on Friday, 10th August with arrival from 7.30pm commencing at 8pm.

Tim Mackey from Forbes Livestock Agency has graciously volunteered to be the auctioneer for the evening. Selected goods and services donated to the cause will be auctioned to help raise money to finance the farm makeover activities.

Rural Aid ‘Farm Rescue’ is helping support Australia’s rural communities and Aussie farmers by providing tangible resources to drought affected communities. In this instance the funds are being raised to finance several mini ‘Farm Rescues’.

‘Farm Rescues’ entail a group of volunteers and some trades people visiting remote and rural areas to help fix infrastructure that farmers do not have the skill, time or money to do themselves.

Community members are also asked to nominate a farmer or farmers can nominate themselves as potential recipients of a ‘Farm Rescue’. Farmers being nominated can live within an hours’ drive or less of Forbes, and can register at www.farmrescue.com.au/farm-rescue.

For people wanting to do more, you can donate product, which could either be used for the auction or will be given directly to the farmers. You can also make a financial donation or volunteer to help. For more information visit the official ‘Farm Rescue’ website.

The winner/s of the ‘Farm Rescue’ will be announced at the auction and the entire town is invited to attend! The ‘Farm Rescue/s’ will be delivered during 14th to 20th October.

Forbes Preschool has been selected to deliver the Ninganah No More program, Parliamentary Secretary for Western NSW, Rick Colless announced on Monday.

Rick said the Preschool would receive $20,000 to deliver this much needed program. It is designed to increase the level of Aboriginal languages being taught and embed awareness and understanding for children from an early age.

“The $400,000 program will support young children in appreciating and understanding Aboriginal languages while participating in early learning environments,” said Rick.

“I’m extremely pleased to announce a range of agencies across the Orange electorate will be participating in delivering the Ninganah No More program.

“The local community will also benefit immensely, with stronger relationships forged between early childhood services and their local Aboriginal communities.”

Director of the Forbes Preschool, Amy Shine said this funding would go a long way towards linking indigenous children with their heritage culture.

“This is such a great program and we’re excited to deliver this in our community. It’s so important for these young kids to understand their culture and history. It’s through developing their language skills that we will be able to do this,” said Amy.

Minister for Early Childhood Education and Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, Sarah Mitchell said: “Agencies and services running the program will soon be teaching 14 languages across NSW including Gumbaynggirr and Gamilaraay, Yuin, Wiradjuri, Paakantji and Bandjalang.”

“In addition to increasing the literacy and vocabulary skills of Aboriginal children in NSW, Ninganah No More will help young people preserve some of their heritage and traditions and develop as bilingual speakers.

“By opening the door on children’s curiosity, we are supporting them to learn more about Aboriginal cultures and languages,” said Sarah.

After 60 years of educating and preparing young people for school, Forbes Preschool has been, and continues to be, a part of almost every single household in Forbes.

Play-based learning has been the secret to 60 years success in the Forbes community. As well as providing vital early learning skills and a place where first friendships are made and plenty of fun is had.

To celebrate, Forbes Preschool is inviting all who have been a part of those 60 years to come along and celebrate on Saturday, 4th August at the Forbes Golf Club starting at 6:30pm.

Have you been a part of the committee? Do your children go to preschool or will you have children at preschool in the future? Did you always hope to get to a ball but were too busy with little people? Get a group of friends together and lock your tickets in now before it is too late.

Forbes Preschool Director, Amy Shine said: “As much as this night is to celebrate 60 years of preschool it is about giving mums and dads a night off too.”

Tickets are $65 each and can be purchased on Eventbrite/Forbes Preschool 60th Birthday Ball tickets. Tickets include a champagne or beer on arrival, cocktail dinner by Eat Your Greens and a dessert bar. Drinks can be purchased throughout the night from the fully stocked bar.

Entertainment for the night will be byGabe Middleton.

The Forbes High School Wellness Hub has again proven its significance by being named winner in the Spotless ‘Keeping People Healthy’ category at the Western NSW Local Health District’s Living Quality & Safety Health and Innovation Awards held recently in Dubbo.

The Spotless ‘Keeping People Healthy’ award is aimed at initiatives that promote healthy choices, prevent ill health and improves the overall health and wellbeing of the community.

In 2016, Forbes High School observed an increase in complex, student psychosocial needs, impacting the mental health and wellbeing of their students.

This project aimed to establish a Wellness Hub on site and increase access to health services. A multi-disciplinary team was established to create the Wellness Hub, provide outreach services and evaluate progress.

An impressive 207 occasions of service were recorded during the first 12 months of operation.

An extract from the Summary of Award Winners said: “This is an excellent example of how a locally-led project can improve health outcomes for youth and families.”

Staff and teams from across the Local Health District submitted entries leading up to the awards, with projects focussing on ways better health results can be achieved for patients through innovation.

In total, 77 projects were received across 10 project award categories. Award finalists presented their projects at a symposium, allowing projects to be showcased to staff and managers from across the district so that innovative ideas could be shared.

The Forbes Eisteddfod now in its 25th year is celebrating its diamond anniversary. The eisteddfod opened its doors last Friday at the Forbes Town Hall for the music, speech and drama, piano, vocal and schools components and will conclude on 22nd July at the Forbes High School after dance. For the duration of the eisteddfod, organisers and volunteers will welcome more than 500 competitors and 15 schools, representing close to 60 towns.

A reason for the Forbes Eisteddfod’s ongoing success is attributed to the committee’s ability to make all competitors and their families, locals and visitors alike, feel welcome. It therefore comes as no surprise that the Forbes Eisteddfod is affectionately known as “The Friendly Eisteddfod” and is a result of the positive and uplifting experience competitors leave with. This also being one of the reasons why participants return.

Jen Kelly has been bringing her children to the Forbes Eisteddfod for the past 10 years. “It has been such fun again this year! The ladies are always so friendly and the children love catching up with old friends and making new ones. It’s such a great way to encourage confidence in performers and gain skills in so many different areas,” said Jen.

It’s clear that the Forbes Eisteddfod committee have the secret to hosting a successful eisteddfod and that this event will continue to grow and be around for many more years to come. The cream of the crop will feature at the Grand Concert held on 28th July.

Local agent for Landmark Harcourts, Ainslie Toole was recognised for her exceptional rural property sales results over the last year at the recent National Real Estate Conference & Awards held at the Gold Coast in Queensland.

For the last quarter, Ainslie has been named number one agent in Australia for Landmark Harcourts. Not only this, but for the last year she has been placed in the top 10 nationally, finishing sixth. It comes as no surprise then that she has also been named three times the number one sales agent for NSW.

Ainslie has been selling rural properties in the Forbes and surrounding districts for 20 years. She has sold almost 300 farms in the area; some of these she has sold multiple times.

“Repeat business like this, is the biggest compliment you can give an agent,” said Ainslie.

Ainslie remembers 2008 as the biggest year, when she sold 28 rural properties in just 12 months. “This was in a time when we thought we were short of listings. It wasn’t a great season. We were still in drought but the livestock, particularly sheep prices were at record highs and interest rates had dropped to record lows,” said Ainslie.

Ainslie says she never planned on being a rural property agent. “When I returned from working and living in England for a few years, I wanted to move back to Forbes so I applied for every job that was available.

My first day back, I had the interview and the second day I was in Sydney doing the training. I started selling farms with an English accent which confused most people.”

Ainslie has had many highlights over the last 20 years of her career. “It is obviously exciting to win state and national sales awards and to be recognized amongst your peers but some of my fondest memories are where we sold some of the tougher listings that created challenges.”

“When I started, I sold a small farm on the edge of town that for as long as I could remember had been for sale. I’ve had buyers that it took up to seven years to find the right farm and since, they have bought three more through me,” said Ainslie.

Through her work, Ainslie has met a lot of very interesting people. “I have met a few famous people and made many friends over the years. There aren’t many country roads that I haven’t been down in the district.”

Ainslie feels that whilst she works in what is still a male oriented industry, she has never seen that as a disadvantage… until she needs to change a tyre! She grew up on a local family farm and started helping out as soon as her feet could reach the pedals. She typically did all the choice jobs that no one else wanted to do such as chipping burrs, drenching sheep and raking hay. So this, combined with 11 years as a trainee and retail manager in Sydney and England after leaving school, meant she was ready for a change.

Ainslie admits that real estate isn’t always as easy as it looks. Her phone typically rings non-stop from 7am to 9pm and sometimes even later with the finalising of a sale.

“That means we don’t ever go home and finish for the day.”

“I have met all our top national and state high achievers by attending the National Conference & Awards previously, so I have colleagues and friends that I can converse with all over. This has helped a lot.”

For Winifred Brown, last Sunday afternoon was filled with balloons, flowers and cake in celebration of her 100th birthday.

Win, as she’s affectionately known, saw her milestone 100th birthday on the 6th June. She was honoured by family and friends through a ‘Thanksgiving Celebration’ held on Sunday at the Jemalong Residential Village (JRV) where she resides.

Approximately 120 family members came from far and wide to attend the special occasion.

Win was born in Manildra on 6th June 1918. She was the second of six children born to Frances and Roy Doust who lived at Burdett near Canowindra.

Her education commenced at Burdett Public School, a one teacher one room school of 20 to 30 pupils in 1923.The family moved to a farm at Garema in 1928 where Win’s schooling continued. She was awarded a bursary at the end of primary school and was able to board at the Forbes St John’s hostel and attended Forbes High School.

Following high school, Win started working as a governess on a property near Bedgerabong supervising correspondence lessons. It was during this time in 1935 that she met a young farmer from a neighbouring property. Following a friendship and courtship that lasted nearly 10 years, Win Doust and Edgar Brown announced their engagement and were married at the Forbes Methodist Church on 4th July 1945.

They made their home in a very roughly built cottage on the property “Glamis” and had no electricity or refrigeration. Recalling one of the many memories, was when trying to keep their butter from melting, they decided that the coolest place would be down a well. The butter was put in a hessian sugar bag and lowered down the well.

What they didn’t realize was at midday the sun shone directly down the well and the butter melted anyway.

The couple started their family and three sons were born by 1950. In 1959 their daughter arrived. Win was a devoted wife and mother. Edgar only had one hand so she was called on to help him in many ways.

From very early years, her Christian faith and a love for God influenced her life. She faithfully taught Sunday school for many years and regularly attended church services at Bedgerabong and Forbes.

Win was also involved in many community organisations including school P&C associations, CWA and Meals on Wheels, holding executive positions in these organisations.

In addition to four children, Win has 11 grandchildren and 21 great grandchildren.

She was married for 43 years until Edgar died in 1988 and has been on her own since.

The Forbes Services Club Talent Quest revealed the splendid talents hidden within the community of Forbes.

An audience of more than 300 people were astounded by the remarkable performances showcased at the Talent Quest Grand Final which was hosted by the Forbes Services Memorial Club last Friday.

The competition consisted of three heats held during May of which 25 finalists were eventually selected to battle it out during the Grand Final. To move onto the final, contenders had to score 61 points from the judges.

With $1,600 in prize money to be won, the stakes were high and contestants came from as far as Young, Ungarie and even visitors from New Zealand, to try and claim their share.

Two independent judges from 2PK and ROK FM, John Daskey and Elliott Kinsela had the very challenging task to determine the ultimate winner, with each performance being as good as the one before.

Forbes dominated the Open division results with all winners being locals. This section was of very high standard and extremely competitive. Shannen Toole took out first place; second place went to Jade McGovern and third to Amanda Williams.

In the Junior division, Birdee Sideris won first place, Gracey Denham Jones came second and Georgia Sideris was awarded third. Winner of the Sub-junior division was Anabelle Van Wyk, Ruby Markwort (second) and Gemma Ellis (third).

Event organisers and professional performers, Bill Kosseris and Kirsten Minnick from Kosmik Country, noted that the contestants were extremely talented. “The talent blew us away. The performances here were as good as what you would see on The Voice,” said Bill.

The level of judging was very strict across a broad range of criteria such as speech, diction and the audience’s reaction, to mention just a few.

Due to the immense success and popularity of this Talent Quest, the Forbes Services Club has decided to host another competition this year taking place during September and October.