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.

Forbes olive growers Clare and Greg Gibson of Gibson’s Grove have taken out the top gong at the Sydney Royal Fine Food Show this year.

They were awarded the Gold and Champion prize for their Manzanilla olives and they couldn’t be more thrilled about winning the 2015 competition after they took the top prize 5 years ago. “It’s not the first time we’ve entered. We actually enter every year and always get bronze, silver or gold. This is our second winning Championship,” said Greg Gibson.

The Gibson family came to their 300 acre property in 1994 and after stocking it with cattle they decided to diversify their farming interests by integrating an olive grove on their property. They planted 2,000 trees between 1996 and
2002 with equal numbers of Manzanillo, Paragon and Carraggiolla. At Gibson’s Grove they produce a range of
olive oils and table olives which are handpicked. They bottle, cask and tin their oil on the property and cover an extensive boutique market. Their olives have been sold all over the country including the Melbourne
markets, in Business and First Class on Qantas and Singapore Airlines and major hotels in the Blue Mountains.

“It’s very good because it shows that our 2010 effort wasn’t a fluke and we are consistent with our product,” said Greg. The Sydney Royal Fine Food Show is made up of ten competitions held in summer and spring and showcases the best the country has to offer in a wide range of produce.

The Forbes Show was blessed with perfect weather last weekend with many people coming through the gates to enjoy the attractions, competitions and events. The Forbes Show Society sold out of the pre-sale ride tickets they had available in the lead up to the show and they received quite a new number of members this year.

“We were very lucky weather wise,” said Jan Facey who is finishing up her final official year as the Show Secretary. “All the pavilion entries were wonderful, the rides people were very happy with the crowd and overall it was a very good show. There were no major incidents and everything went well.” “The highlight for me was working with the
handicraft stewards who helped make my job easier when I had so much to do,” said Jan. “I’m looking forward to next year when I can actually get out and enjoy the show and see things for myself.”

The dog high jump events and hay stacking events both proved to be very popular again this year, and the beef cattle numbers were up. The centre ring was full of horses all weekend with show jumping and hacks competitions.

The winner of the Forbes Showgirl (18-24) competition was Stacey Clarke, who said “it has been a great experience to be part of this and has given me a greater knowledge and understanding of the rural community, and the ability to communicate with the Forbes community.”

Following on from the Council Meeting on Tuesday 1st September, an extraordinary meeting was held on Monday 7th September at 8.30 am. At this meeting, the names of the two Councillors who were tied in the earlier vote were entered into a hat and Brian Steffen, GM, Forbes Council pulled a name from the hat, with Cr. Phyllis Miller’s name
being read out.

Prior to this happening, so that everybody present could be well informed, Cr. Graeme Miller, the other Councillor whose name was in the hat, queried the reasons behind the GM’s decision to go down this course of action.

His request was based on considerable discussion within the town about what was right and what was wrong with the process and to clarify the reasons behind the decisions made. Brian Steffen, General Manager and Returning Officer for the Mayoral Election said, “Following on from legal advice from Marsdens Lawyers, Corporate Solicitors
for the Council, the Local Government Association of NSW and the NSW Office of Local Government, there were three options available to the Council:

1. The Council could leave the decision with the vote of the lst September
2. The Council could hold another election
3. The Council could put the names in a hat and draw out the new mayor’s name.

All options were advised could be open to legal challenges, and the advice from the Lawyers was that the first two options would survive a challenge whereas with the 3rd option it would be highly unlikely that a challenge would be successful.”

Brian Steffen said, “He had to ensure that the correct procedures were undertaken at all times and this is why he needed time to seek the best advice possible. The decision to draw a name out of the hat is not one made by the Returning Officer, however is a requirement of the Local Government Act 1993 and the Local Government Regulations of 2005. It states – where there are two candidates with the same number of votes, the announcement is done by a lot draw.”

Cr. Phyllis Miller said: “This has been an extremely stressful time and was one of the most difficult in her life over the past 20 years in local government.” She commented: “Let’s move forward as a team and do the job that
we have been elected to do by our constituents. We have nine Councillors working for the town of Forbes, with a range of skills and capabilities from not only our Councillors but also the staff at the Council.”

Cr. Graeme Miller, was elected Deputy Mayor, with the other two nominees withdrawing, in Graham Faulkner and Jeff Nicolson. Cr. Graeme Miller said that he looked forward to working with Phyllis and congratulated her on
her re-election as Mayor.

The 2015 Forbes Mayoral election had a controversial outcome on Tuesday night after a procedural issue at a special meeting that was held. The Forbes Shire Council are now awaiting the legal advice that has been sought to clarify
who will be the town’s Mayor. Until then, Cr Phyllis Miller will stay in the position. There were two nominations for the Mayor’s position; Cr Phyllis Miller and Cr Graeme Miller.

Each Councillor received four votes from their fellow councillors, with one vote declared informal when it could not be determined who that particular councillor was voting for. This call was made by returning officer General
Manager Brian Steffen, who gave his view that since there were two candidates with equal votes, the two names would be placed in a hat and the name drawn from the hat would be elected as Mayor.

The Council was not in agreement with the proposition and resolved to hold another vote with the result of Cr Graeme Miller being elected as Mayor. Mr Steffen said the process of holding another vote was queried on the night of the special meeting, and the decision was made to leave the Mayor and Deputy Mayor positions as they were until legal advice can be provided on the matter. The time-frame on the legal advice is unclear.

“I am still waiting for the legal advice and once received, all Councillors will be notified in the first instance to resolve a way forward,” Mr Steffen said.