The Forbes Garden Club April meeting was held in the lovely gardens at the home of John Browne. President Marg Dent wel­comed 28 present with six apologies. The guest speaker was Jan Diprose from the Weddin Community Native Nursery at Gren­fell. This volunteer nursery started under the Landcare banner, where seeds are collect­ed sorted and stored. They are grown in hot houses and sold to farmers and Shire Coun­cils. John Browne also spoke on his garden which is home to many unusual plants.

Flower of the month winners were 1st Denise Thurston (Clematis), 2nd Elvy Quirk(Dahlia) and 3rd Marlene (Huf-Rose). Raf­fle winners were Joy Hocking, Elvy Quirk, Janette Thomas, Meg Scholefield and John Browne.

The recent bus trip to visit the Tumbling Downs Olive Grove at Bogan Gate start­ed out with a bus filled with members and friends all eager for an outing in this beauti­ful autumn weather. Participants were wel­comed by Colin and Shelley Nutley with a delicious Devonshire Tea. Shelley spoke of the history of their farm and how they pick and press the olives, before tasting the oil and a variety of jams relishes.

The next stop was visiting three gar­dens at Parkes. The first garden was at the home of Leah Douglas, who had been in­undated with the 2022 floods. The garden featured numerous advanced trees, a large area to explore and tend. The next garden was that of Nancy McColl – a large cottage type garden which led visitors along lots of paths around her home filled with trees and shrubs. The last garden of the day the group visited was Fay and Kelvie Blackstock’s home. This garden featured all manor of cre­ations from old machinery made by Kelvie with succulents planted everywhere. Gar­den Club members are very appreciative of Denise Thurston for planning this fantastic day.

The Gallery Forbes site is a hive of activ­ity as work is progressing on the exterior of the cultural and arts precinct. Construction is well underway on the exterior of the sec­ond storey extension, the roof is now on and some painting preparation is happening.

Chairperson of the Forbes Arts Society Trudy Mallick said, “the exterior will be a balancing act between preserving the old and incorporating the new. Having served as a key civic hub in its former life, first as a bank and then as an ambulance station, we can appreciate the amount of interest in this project.

“It’s heartening and reassuring to see the work being done on site to bring this belov­ed, prominent building back to life. It’s been a long time coming and we’d like to thank the Forbes community for its patience as we continue to progress this very exciting pro­ject forward.”

This stage of the project will take the building to lock up.

The Forbes Cultural Centre (Gallery Forbes) development is part of the ‘Boost­ing the Lachlan Valley Economy Art Project’ which is proudly funded by the NSW Gov­ernment’s Regional Growth – Environment and Tourism Fund, the Forbes Arts Society, Forbes Shire Council, Lachlan Shire Coun­cil and Evolution Mining.

The ‘Boosting the Lachlan Valley Econ­omy Art Project’ aims to foster visual arts throughout the Forbes Shire, grow the visi­tor economy and promote the Lachlan Val­ley region as a premier tourism destination.

The project also includes the Gum Swamp redevelopment and extension of the Sculp­ture Down the Lachlan trail.

For more information about the project and to view the proposed plans, visit www.forbesartssociety.com

In recognition of National Volunteer Week (19-25 May), St Vincent de Paul Society NSW held a very special morning tea. It provided the opportunity to thank all of the Parkes volunteers and members and present some special awards.

Christine Cox, Parkes Vinnies Retail Team Leader, was award­ed the honor of NSW Vinnies Volunteer of the Year, Christine was nominated by Tanya Godden West Region Retail Manager. Chris­tine said she volunteers because: “There are plenty of rewards – the company of the volunteers and customers and the opportunity to be able to make a difference to the lives of others.”

After receiving the award Christine said “I’m a bit stunned. It was lovely. I have a very good team of volunteers and if I didn’t have them and my family, I couldn’t do it.” Christines Mum, Frances Charlton, was also a former Vinnies volunteer of 37 years before passing away recently.

Other awards were presented to:

• Krys Szabo, Parkes Conference Member and Retail Volunteer – Life Membership Award on recognition of her active and dedi­cated 30 years of service with the Society.

• Liz Jones, Parkes Conference Member and Retail Volunteer – Life Service Award on recognition of her 20 years of service with the Society.

• Christine Curteis, Parkes Retail Volunteer – 25 Year Service Award

• Marlene Freeman, Central Council Statistician – 15 Year Service Award

• Elaine Charlton, Parkes Retail Volunteer – 15 Year Service Award

• Paula Sutherland, Parkes Conference President and Retail Vol­unteer – 10 Year Service Award

• Irene Trueber, Parkes Conference Member and Retail Volunteer – 10 Year Service Award

• Brenda Davies, Parkes Retail Volunteer – 10 Year Service Award

• Ruth Beuzeville, Parkes Retail Volunteer – 5 Year Service Award

• Trish Prior, Parkes Retail Volunteer – 5 Year Service Award

Learn more about volunteering with St Vincent de Paul Society NSW at: www.vinnies.org.au