Forbes High School were represented at the 2015 Schools Spectacular by twelve students who performed as part of the combined dance group at the Qantas Credit Union Arena last week end.

The journey commenced early in the year with video auditions being sent to the producers of the Schools Spectacular. The item was choreographed by the students under the watchful eye of Mrs Emily Bass and Miss Emma Northam, two dedicated teachers who also organised and accompanied students to the rehearsals and performances.

For students in regional and rural areas, routines had to be learnt from online videos and two rehearsals with students from Orange High and Dubbo Senior Campus prior to leaving for Sydney last week. Preparations for the three live performances culminated last week with 3600 students from every corner of the state coming together for the first time to rehearse.

Rehearsals were held at various locations throughout Sydney on the Wednesday and again on Thursday at the Qantas Credit Union Arena. It is amazing how the whole show comes together in such a short period time with children ranging in age from 5 to 18 years. The talent of the featured artists is incredible and you have to constantly remind yourself that they are in fact only school students.

Schools Spectacular has been performing at the Qantas Credit Union Arena, formally the Sydney Entertainment Centre for 32 years and has seen many artists discovered including Human Nature and the McClymonts. The show will air on Saturday night on Chanel 9 commencing at 7pm. The Forbes High School students will feature in the
second segment after the interval, entering the stage from the right side, in red jackets to Michael Jackson’s ‘Beat It’.

The Forbes community banded together on Wednesday 25 November to say no to domestic violence for the White Ribbon Day March. 100 white balloons tied to wrists floated and bobbed through the street and the captains
of Forbes High School carried a banner with a slogan supporting victims of domestic violence. Behind them was an army of Forbes’ school students, community groups and community members walking together to put an end to domestic violence.

As the marchers arrived at Victoria Park, the piper stopped playing and the traditional Welcome to Country was performed before an introduction to the day, and a speech from Mayor Phyllis Miller. “Forbes is still ranked in the top 20 for recorded domestic violence related assault incidents by Local Government Area,” Mayor Miller said.

“Domestic violence is not just a problem in our area though. To date in 2015 there whave been 78 women killed by violence in Australia with 1 in 4 Australian women experiencing physical or sexual violence from a current or former partner.” “Children living in a relationship with abusive behaviour are considered to be at risk of harm, either directly by being abused or indirectly by witnessing the abuse of their parent or carer.”

“By being here today and getting involved in the White Ribbon Day March, you are all helping to change these statistics and by working together we can make a difference. Don’t be afraid to stand up. Together we can put a stop to violence against women.”

Forbes and Parkes have played host to His Excellency General The Honourable David Hurley AC DSC (Ret’d), Governor of New South Wales and Mrs Hurley, from the 17th to 19th November, as part of a program that
sees His Excellency visit numerous townships throughout the state.

After touching down at Parkes Regional airport on Tuesday morning, the Governor and Mrs Hurley travelled to Forbes where, accompanied by Mayor Phyllis Miller OAM, they toured the Forbes Livestock Exchange. A luncheon was held in Wheogo Park where the Governor and Mrs Hurley were guests of honour. Mayor Phyllis Miller OAM raised her glass for a speech, thanking His Excellency for the visit and welcoming both he and Mrs Hurley back in the future.

The Governor also spoke, explaining the purpose of the visits. “We have a program where we do a number of country visits during the year, visiting two or three towns for three to four days. We spend a day and a night in each town to allow us to get good feel for the community,” said the Governor. “I go back and speak to the politicians, tell them my thoughts on what I experienced.”

After lunch, the Vice Regal couple attended Red Bend Catholic College, touring the facilities and speaking to students and staff whilst also witnessing drama, dance and music performances, followed by an afternoon tea put on by hospitality students. “We’re grateful for the chance to showcase our school,” said Principal Michael Flanagan. “It’s a great opportunity to show the different elements we have as an independent school. The kids are all so excited to meet the Governor.”

After leaving the college, His Excellency and Mrs Hurley attended a few other functions in Forbes, including a private dinner, before heading to Parkes on Wednesday.

Forbes Dancing with the Stars Couple no 6, Susan Earl and Hare Laveka, may have been crowned the inaugural winners of the trophy on Saturday night but the real winner on the night was CanAssist.

Eight months ago two local women, Terese Gunn and Cassandra Tyack, decided to organise a fundraiser to benefit CanAssist after seeing firsthand the assistance they provide to local cancer patients. Dancing With The Stars Forbes was the chosen theme and the pair were hopeful that they could raise at least $10,000.00. Months of careful planning and coordination saw their dream a reality on Saturday night with nine dance couples, four prominent judges, two entertaining comperes and 353 community members attending and supporting the spectacular event.

Once again, the Forbes community has risen to the challenge and exceeded all fundraising expectations. The ladies were overwhelmed by the generosity of local businesses and the community and became quite emotional when they had well and truly exceeded their original goal.

Even though the final total has not been released it is anticipated that it will be more than $30,000. The dance routines performed on the night were of a very high standard and judges had a difficult task to come up with the overall winner with just one point separating 1st and 3rd positions. After their performances, dancers had five minutes to collect as much money as possible with the couple collecting the most money taking
out the people’s choice award.

Crowd favourites Stavros (Brian King) and Mareka (Michele Quigley) took out this coveted title with a routine that had everyone crying with laughter. CanAssist, formally known as The Cancer Patient Assistance Fund, was established in 1955 in response to concerns about country cancer patients accessing treatment in Sydney and the lack of suitably priced accommodation. Forbes began the first country branch in NSW in 1956 and provided assistance in a number of ways including transport, home visits, housework and much more. The Country branches grew and became more organised and there are currently fifty two branches in NSW.

Forbes CanAssist does not receive any government assistance and relies on fundraising and community support to provide $60,000.00 in support to local cancer patients each year. The funds raised from this event is invaluable to this organisation and will benefit many Forbes cancer patients and their families.

Forbes was a hive of activity last week with the 2015 Kalari River Arts Festival. The biennial community celebration provided a variety of activities over three days at various locations and did not disappoint.

Thursday night, the Forbes Golf and Sportsman’s Hotel hosted the first official function for the event with the Sir Francis Forbes Dinner. Guest speaker, Rob Willis, gave an enlightening presentation on Forbes and guests were entertained by local performers including Barbara Bruce, Luke & Erica Byrne, Last Call and Forbes Dancers.

Peter Ashcroft and his team catered the dinner and the organisers were blown away with the menu. Guest speaker, Elizabeth Rogers (CEO of Regional Arts NSW) shared her knowledge at the Regional Arts Symposium on Friday
before the Kate Kelly Exhibition was opened at McFeeters Motor Museum. The Wiradjuri Dreaming Centre then took the spotlight with the amazing Welcome to Country ceremony.

Children from all of our local schools came together, and although nervous, delighted crowds with their cultural performances. The Festival was officially opened on Saturday morning by Member for Orange, Andrew Gee. Mr Gee was excited by the program and expressed the importance of arts and culture to local communities.

All three areas, Arts Alley, Zen Zone & Frog Hollow provided non-stop entertainment and activities throughout the day which culminated in the Grand Finale Spectacular featuring a Combined Regional Choir, River Arts Big Drums, Dancers, Bedgerabong School Merimbas and Magical Lantern Parade complete with the incredible Brolga and Crane Lanterns circling the sky above. The weather, although threatening, held off for the weekend ensuring the success of the event.

Vice President and Artistic Director, Rosalie Burns, was pleased with attendance figures estimated to be in the vicinity of 5000. This data will now give the committee increased opportunities to access funding for future event. Rosalie was grateful to the amazing festival committee and the many volunteers for the phenomenal effort they gave to make the event so memorable.

The committee have earned a well-deserved break but will soon be commencing plans for the 2017 event.

 

On Saturday night eight young ladies and their partners traded their thongs, joggers and footy shorts for white dresses, tailored pants and dancing shoes in preparation for a night to remember.

The Forbes community has always maintained the tradition of Debutante Balls and looks certain to continue well into the future. A Debutante, which is French for “female beginner”, was generally a young lady who has reached the age of maturity and, as a new adult, is introduced to society at a formal presentation.

Originally, it meant the young women were eligible to marry, and part of the purpose was to display her to eligible bachelors and their families with a view to marriage. For many years the debutante balls were organised by the Masonic Lodge or Church Groups but are now organised within schools. It appears that debutante balls are more commonly held in regional or country areas rather than larger centres and cities.

Modern debutante balls are often charity events and money raised from the event is donated to a charity or community organisation chosen by the participants. Proceeds from Saturday’s event will benefit cancer support and research through Relay for Life.

The group donated prizes for a raffle which was drawn on the night with Cameron Greenhalgh taking out third prize (a tool package), Jonah Little claiming second prize (a pamper package) and a very happy Christine Crawford winning first prize (the gardens dream package complete with wheelbarrow).

Forbes Shire Council has been deemed “not fit for the future” by the IPART Report which was released Tuesday. This was due to scale and capacity which focuses on the population forecast for the next 20 years. The recommendation from IPART that has been given to Forbes Shire Council is to merge with Weddin Shire Council (Grenfell).

Mayor Miller said Council has until Wednesday 18 November to respond. “We will be meeting with Weddin Shire
Council to discuss the next step and then we will put in our submission,” Mayor Miller said. “There is no point burying our heads in the sand about this as we have known for a long time that amalgamations were on the agenda.”

“The fact that we meet the other criteria except for scale and capacity tells me that this is a forced amalgamation and if we don’t do it, it will be done for us.” “It is important that we keep our councils intact so that there is a democratic process for change.” “My understanding is that if there is resistance, the Government will do it with an administrator, which is taking away the democratic process.”

Mayor Miller said she reassured the community that they will be kept engaged throughout the process. “It is important to stay calm and we will keep the community informed every step of the way,” she said.

139 proposals from 144 councils in NSW made a submission to IPART to either merge or standalone. From those proposals a mere 52 councils were found to meet the criteria to be deemed “fit” and 15 councils in the Central West were deemed “unfit”, including Orange City Council, Wellington Council, Blayney Shire Council, Cabonne Council and Weddin Shire Council. Bathurst Regional Council, Dubbo City Council, Parkes Shire Council and Cowra Shire Council were among the councils in the Central West who were assessed as “fit for the future”.

With brilliant sunshine, a good crowd and some sensational fashions, Saturday turned out to be a great day for all who attended the Spring Races in Forbes. The organisers of Fashions on the Field, Leigh Bartholomaeus, Sarah West and Carmen Duffy were very pleased with how the day went.

“We wanted to thank all of our amazing sponsors who gave some great prizes and who we couldn’t have organised this day without,” said Carmen Duffy. “There was a total of $4,500 in cash and prizes awarded on the day to the many lucky winners.”

Beth Link was awarded Most Elegant Lady, Thomas Godfrey took out Best Dressed Gent, Kate Ralph won the award for Cutting Edge, Lily Bolam won Tiny Tots and Charlie Stephenson was the Junior Winner. Judges Casey Evans, Cheryl Newsom and 2015 Forbes Showgirl Stacey Clarke were impressed with the fashions with wellknown local Annabelle Green acting as MC.

The task of selecting the overall winners in each category was very difficult and there was hardly any difference between the top three finalists in the major sections. The Spring Cup feature race was sponsored by this year’s major sponsors, Lachlan Ready Mix (1100 metres.) The winner of this race was LAYNE, a horse trained by Merv Rumble from Warren and ridden by jockey Clayton Gallagher.

The race-goers were about even with last year’s numbers with just over 1500 people coming through the gates last Saturday.

It was a relaxed, family-friendly atmosphere at this year’s unveiling of the Sculpture Forbes 2015 Acquisition Prize on Thursday 1 October at Albion Park. Over 400 people turned out to see the sculptures entered into this year’s prize from artists all over the country including Melbourne, Sydney and the greater Central West region.

A number of sculptures were unveiled on Thursday evening but there could only be one winner for the $20,000 Acquisition Prize and that was Harrie Fasher whose self-portrait sculpture named “Bird and I” impressed judge
Alan Somerville, a celebrated sculpture artist. Harrie’s sculpture, depicting a horse with a bird, references her passion for horses and her experiences as an accomplished equestrian athlete, as well as describing how she perceives herself in that context.

Her artworks explore the horse and its relationships to humans on a physical, historical and mythological level. Harrie has exhibited both nationally and internationally with works shown at the National Museum of Australia in Canberra, Sydney’s Sculpture by the Sea, the Baer Art Centre in Iceland and London’s Mall Galleries. Wayne Richards, Sculpture Forbes co-ordinator and Forbes Services Memorial Club President said the quality of work this year is impressive.

The objective of the competition is to provide a platform for a sculptor to display their artistic endeavours as well as to bring tourists and locals into the main shopping centre of Forbes to view the sculptures.

Over 300 people went through the gates to meet Australian motor racing legend Allan Moffat on the weekend at Forbes Tyreright’s Grand Opening. Allan was described as a polite and gentlemanly fellow who enthusiastically signed posters and other memorabilia as well as posing for photos with excited fans.

ROK FM were broadcasting live from the event which kept the crowd rolling in and $200 was donated by Tyreright Head Office to Forbes Dancing with the Stars. “From 9 to 1 they never stopped. There was a steady flow of people through the gate the whole time,” said Jamie Walsh from Tyreright after the event.

One hundred footballs were given away, the BBQ sold out of sausages, and some GT Fords stopped in on the way to a wedding to have Allan sign their cars. For Jamie, it was a little bit of a dream come true to rub shoulders with the cream of the cream in Australian racing. “I’d seen Allan and Peter Brock race around the tracks for years so it was great to shake hands with him and have him wish me well in my business,” Jamie said. “I couldn’t believe how many people wanted to come and meet him. He was just a gentleman to everyone.”

Allan Moffat has had four wins in the Bathurst 500/1000, six wins in the Sandown 500, four wins in the Australian Touring Car Championship and was inducted into the V8 Supercar Hall of Fame in 1999. Congratulations to Andy Hardy who won $500 worth of GT Radial tyres.