When Marg Stirling of Forbes started frequenting the gym as part of a rehab program for her back and knees, the thought never crossed her mind that she would be so inspired to help women diagnosed with breast cancer that she would shave off all her hair.

During Marg’s physio treatments she became aware of a group of ladies also visiting the gym that were there for breast cancer exercises. She already knew quite a few of them and got to know some of the others during this time.

“Once I got involved with the ladies after seeing them as well as hearing of the others, I thought it would be nice to do something to give back to them and others that might go through the same thing.”

In that came her motivation to raise funds for women living in Forbes and surrounding areas that are going through breast cancer and who are in the care of Lachlan Health Services McGrath Breast Care Nurse, Dianne Green.

The intention of raising money is to buy material headwear (which can be quite expensive) and stock, replace and maintain wigs at the local Wig Library, run by Janice Cassidy of Cassidy’s Hair Salon in Parkes.

Dianne explains that when women go through chemotherapy, losing their hair is one of the most daunting realities. “Looking in the mirror and realising that it’s not the person down the road with breast cancer, ‘I’ve got breast cancer’, can be overwhelming. For these women being able to wear a wig or headwear is crucial.”

The Wig Library services all people living around the Central West that is losing their hair because of cancer treatment. “People come to us to find a wig that suits them.

We style it to suit their face and we also shampoo wigs that are worn very often. It’s all free of charge and they can have the wig as long as they need it,” said Janice. “It gives the majority of people more confidence. If you look good, you feel better and it also protects their tender scalp from the sun.”

Marg will be hosting her first fundraising event at the Forbes Inn on Sunday, 8th April. To purchase tickets for the event or to donate to her cause contact Marg on 0412 023 043.

 

On Saturday, 16th June at the Forbes Rugby Union Club, Marg will finally be shaving her hair, which she will then donate to make a wig from.

By Gizell van Wyk

 

Forbes Showgirl Grace Allen and Eugowra Showgirl Caitlin Herbert were selected to represent our zone at the state finals of the Land Royal Showgirl competition in Sydney at the Easter Show on Sunday, 25th March.

The two girls were selected from 17 entrants at the Zone 6 Regional Showgirl Finals held in Blayney on Saturday.

The entrants were interviewed by three judges in the morning and attended a lunch with all the other entrants and judges. Finally, a formal presentation dinner was held in the evening which completed the judging process. All the girls were interviewed on stage in front of attendees and the judges. At the conclusion of the evening, the three finalists were announced.

The Showgirls were judged on rural knowledge, presentation and speech, personality, general knowledge, confidence and ambition and life goals. Knowledge of their local community and current affairs and their involvement in and experience of rural affairs were taken into account.

Grace is a registered nurse completing her studies at Sydney University. She is now employed in the emergency department at the Orange Health Service.

Caitlin is a oral health therapist and runs a dental education program providing presentations to rural schools.

According to an excerpt from the Rules and Regulations of Showgirl Competitions, “The aim is to find a person most suited to represent young rural women of NSW. She should be able to converse intelligently about Australia in general and in particular her own district.”

The missing 110km/h link on the Newell Highway has been completed and was officially opened by the Roads, Maritime and Freight Minister last week.

The $36 million upgrade at Trewilga (just north of Alectown) means the speed limit on the Newell Highway will be 110km/h all the way from Forbes to Gilgandra.

Minister Melinda Pavey said the roads budget in the Central West had tripled since 2011. The work at Trewilga involved the widening and realigning of 6.5km to improve safety. In addition a 1.3km northbound overtaking lane was built, as well as a bus turning area at Baldry-Peak Hill Road and a truck parking area on the eastern side of the highway.

The Minister mentioned the importance of the addition of the centre space in the middle of the road to give motorists extra time for correction.

A special guest at the event was 90-yearold Laurie Narris who grew up in Trewilga and remembers when the Newell Highway was first built in 1935.

“I was seven years old and used to ride five miles to school on my bike opening seven gates along the way.” He clearly remembers how he saw a steam engine for the very first time working on the road, as well as the two teams of ten horses each driven by a man helping to build the road.

“We all laughed when our teacher said there would come a day when it would be a job trying to cross the highway…”

By Maggi Barnard

Christmas is a wonderful time of year to gather as a family and to give to those in need. That is exactly what the Toole family did.

Neil and Jenelle Toole along with their three teenage boys, Nicholas, Cameron and Harrison travelled to Kenya last year for Christmas.

Throughout their lives, Neil and Jenelle had always been involved with multiple volunteer organisations including sponsoring children in Africa.

“After travelling to Africa 20 years ago and loving it, we had always planned on returning and knew we wanted to volunteer as a family. So the next challenge was to find an appropriate project and volunteer organisation,” said Jenelle.

After some research Neil and Jenelle decided on a not for profit, non-government organisation called Marafiki (which in Swahili means ‘many friends’). Marafiki is based and operates in Kenya and drives projects for orphanages, health clinics, drug rehabilitation centres, schools and so forth.

“Our motivation for volunteering was twofold. Firstly, to be able to give back. Australiareally is ‘the lucky country’ with excellent education, stability, access to support, healthcare, services and opportunity. Our second motivation was to expose our teenage boys to how life is in a developing country. Including to impress on them how important it is to always extend a hand, no matter how small, to those less fortunate and not to take anything for granted.”

During the three weeks of volunteering, the family spent their time doing food drop offs at Rumuruti Village and assisting at an orphanage. However, the majority of their time was spent at a primary school in the village of Ripoi.

The Toole family provided 80 chairs and 20 desks, which they constructed, painted and repaired. They also supplied all curriculum requirements, educational posters and supplies such as chalk, rulers, books, pencils, pens, etc. for the whole school.

They were able to provide the Maasai kids with toothbrushes and toothpaste and treated a range of minor wounds and infections. Harrison gave some basic music lessons with 30 recorders.

“Harrison celebrated his 13th birthday at Ripoi, which was an experience for all. The Maasai don’t celebrate birthdays. So sorry Harry, no presents!

“We were also fortunate to celebrate Christmas and New Year at Ripoi. As life is very hard for these people, extravagances such as decorations, presents and timeoff are luxuries they can’t afford. However, they are happy and genuine people that celebrate the life and freedoms they do have in being with each other, talking and telling stories.”

The village itself was very remote, which meant no electricity, running water or tarred road within 200km. For the duration of their stay, the Toole’s lived in a hut constructed from sticks covered in cow manure and mud with sticks for a door.

“It didn’t smell at all and there wasn’t a fly in sight. The door’s construction raised some questions though when the hyenas and lions walked past in the night.

“On behalf of those at Ripoi, thank you to all those individuals and organisations who donated supplies or money towards this project. All donations went directly to equipment.”

By Gizell van Wyk

The Queen’s baton was warmly welcomed in Forbes on Monday, marking 35 days since arriving in Australia and its epic journey to arrive at the Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast in April 2018.

Mixing things up from traditional relay mode, the baton travelled by unique modes of transport in Forbes.

Of 40 countries, Forbes was the only place that had the Queen’s baton set off on a dragon boat. It glided down Lake Forbes with baton bearer Wendy Green on board.

The unique modes of transport continued with Ethan Markwort holding the baton whilst doing a skateboard demonstration at the Forbes Skate Park.

Australian Commonwealth Games sporting royalty Phil Adams OAM, who shares the record for the most medals collected by an athlete at the Commonwealth Games with 18 medals, was one of the 14 people nominated to carry the baton in Forbes.

Lauren Neilsen from Forbes, also carried the Queen’s baton in Parkes.

By pressing his handprint into a dedicated footpath, Forbes-born musician Nev Molloy will seal his legacy as one of the most influential music artists at the Tamworth Country Music Festival. He will be inducted into the Australian Country Music Hall of Fame and Hands of Fame Park this Saturday.

“I had my first band in Forbes at about 16 years of age. The band line-up in those days was my younger brother Bill on rhythm and vocals, Greg Cook on bass, Glenn Bentic on drums and I played lead guitar. We made the princely sum of $6 a night,” said Nev.

Today, to list the people Nev hasn’t appeared, played or toured with would be easier than listing the ones he has. Over the years Nev has been involved with most of Australia’s greats.

In the early eighties, Nev went to Tamworth and did his first show with Slim Newton, and appeared with Barry Thornton on Barry’s shows at the Oasis. He was also house guitarist for Rick (Ford) Aitchison’s Cavelcade of country, backing almost every artist that appeared.

Nev spent a lot of time on the road with music over the years. He toured Queensland with Buddy Thompson and Lyne Bennett and toured with the Brian Letton show for about 23 years on and off, to date.

He also had his own recording studio in Broken Hill, recording many award winning albums for other artists.

By Gizell van Wyk

Forbes’ first ever Amazing Elvis Breakfast held on Saturday marks a series of very successful firsts for the event.

There was a fantastic Elvis buzz around Forbes when around 300 people attended and enjoyed breakfast at the very long red checked tables in Templar Street. While indulging in Elvis pancakes, rocking rolls and coffee, visitors and locals also enjoyed listening to Elvis artist Anthony Pertrucci from Melbourne.

There was plenty of praise for Anthony who was later announced the 2018 Ultimate Elvis Tribute Artist at the Parkes Elvis Festival.

Anthony said the Amazing Elvis Breakfast in Forbes was a fantastic experience and he loved singing and performing live.

Anthony will now go on to Memphis in August to compete at the next level of the competition during the Elvis Week.

As well as live entertainment and impromptu dancing in the street, there was a quiz, sharing fun details and facts about Forbes and Elvis.

Mayor Graeme Miller said the breakfast was highly successful and it was a privilege to welcome so many visitors to our town to enjoy the breakfast and shopping event. “Forbes Shire Council staff are to be congratulated for organising the morning.

Thank you also to the many local businesses who supported the event,” said Graeme. “I can’t wait to see what we have next year. It will only be bigger and better,” he added.

Following the breakfast, a shuttle bus transported visitors to the Elvis Festival.

The Red Bend HSC class of 2017 has much to celebrate as many of the students have achieved fantastic results.

Graduates are marking the end of a anxious few months after receiving their HSC results yesterday.

“Red Bend Catholic College is pleased once again with the overall result,” said College Principal Br Michael.

The College has 20 students being recognised as distinguished achievers with a band 6. A band 6 is equivalent to a mark above 90 per cent.

A further impressive 117 students have achieved a band 5, which is equivalent to a mark between 80 and 89 per cent.

A number of individual students have done tremendously well with some receiving 3 band 6s in their results.

“Speaking to some of the higher achievers this morning, it was clear that the students in general are very happy with their personal achievements.

“Every group of Year 12’s is unique and we don’t compare the results from one year to another but look at the group on its own merits,” said Br Michael.

Br Michael said that in their opinion this group of Year 12 students should be congratulated on their results.

“I would like to congratulate as well, their dedicated teachers who have worked hard on their behalf.”

The 2017 class have also benefited from the Early Entry Scheme for university.

 

The unrelenting weather could not deter eager Christmas tree festival enthusiasts from attending the splendorous event.

The 6th Rotary Ipomoea Christmas tree Festival was held in the Forbes Town Hall last weekend while heavy rain and storms raged on outside.

The spectacular sight of colourful and innovative Christmas trees that festival goers were met with upon entering the display venue did not disappoint and the organisers are still reeling from this year’s amazing success.

“Our opening on Friday evening was unlike any we have experienced before. What a fantastic night! Then Saturday and Sunday came and also family after family! Huge numbers went through the doors. This was definitely our best response ever! My face is still sore from all the smiling, laughing and talking,” said Forbes Rotary Ipomoea Publicity Officer, Sue-Anne Nixon.

Last year Rotary members were proud to display 91 marvellously imaginative entries.

This year, they were hoping to achieve the 100 entries mark. However, all expectations were exceeded and now the organisers can boast with a spectacular 121 entries of all shapes and sizes with tinsel and baubles!

A tree displayed on stage and also making it clear that there are no rules when decorating your tree was a white tree with its xray next to it. This creative idea came from none other but the ladies of Forbes Medical Imaging, who were one of the deserving winners.

Other worthy winners were the Jemalong Retirement Village and Bright Beginnings

Early Learning Centre.

By Gizell van Wyk