The Parkes Musical & Dramatic Society’s production of Anne of Green Gables The musical has Forbes local and rising star, Krystal-Lee McMurray starring in the lead role as Anne.

First time director, Lisa Ramsay said 17-year-old Krystal-Lee had really stepped up in her role, as did the rest of the cast.

With a cast of 31 amateur actors with half of them teens and children, a lot of energy went into the production and managing everyone.

Although it’s been a very popular story for many people growing up, the musical has rarely been done in Australia.

Lisa wanted to do something different and said she had found her first directing experience very fulfilling. “It’s been an amazing learning process to take what I’ve learned at university, the experience from watching Lyn Townsend as director and adapting it into my own process.”

Lisa is also grateful for musical director James Walan for putting together a great band, for Jenny Kingham taking on the costumes and Ray Brown for the set construction.

The heart-warming tale of Anne is suitable for all ages and told with lots of humour and tongue-in-cheek lines about small country towns.

Tickets are available at www.parkesmandd.com.au or Regional Business Supplies. The remaining show dates are 12th, 13th, 14th, 24th, 26th and 28th April with afternoon and evening shows.

By Maggi Barnard

The Forbes Diggers Harness Racing Club is getting set for another big year of racing!

First up, will be the Anzac Day Race Meeting held on Thursday, 25th April. This will feature the Forbes RSL Subbranch Diggers Cup as well as the Les Findley Memorial Pace, the Clarrie and Val Robb Memorial Pace, the Pud Woods Memorial Pace, the Neville Pellow Memorial Pace and the Colin Ware Memorial.

On the day, Forbes Harness will hold an Anzac Day Ceremony on course to honour those that served or died in the war. It is a great day out for the family and perfect for kids with a free jumping castle and oncourse facilities available.

Forbes Harness will also host the Tab Carnival of Cups on Sunday, 5th May. This will be done with the Forbes Services Memorial Club, who continually supports the Forbes Diggers Harness Racing Club, on board as major sponsors again this year.

The Forbes Services Memorial Club Final will be the feature race on the day, with the heats to be held on Anzac Day. Forbes Harness are extremely grateful for their sponsors and the support they receive to host both of these race meetings each year.

After months of planning, fundraising and dance lessons five gorgeous young ladies and their equally handsome partners impressed and delighted their invited guests at a Charity Deb Ball held last weekend.

The group consisting of Ebony O’Malley and Billie Dukes, Abbey and Jack Hodges- Lockwood, Whitney Duffy and Tom McEwen, Kaitlin Turner and Ben Quigley and Amy Gallagher and Connor Greenhalgh were presented to Kimberley Jackson, Year 11 Advisor and English teacher of Forbes High School.

Charlie Acheson and Jake Duffy led the nervous duos out before they performed their feature dance to ‘You are the Reason’ by Callum Scott, which was choreographed by Kate Ralph. The young ladies looked spectacular in their exquisite gowns and the young gents wore smart singlebreasted black suits, crisp white shirts and light blue accessories which matched the colour theme for the evening.

The tireless efforts of each and every one of the debutantes and their partners through cooking barbeques and selling raffle tickets was awarded with a profit of over $1,300 being raised which will directly benefit Beyond Blue.

Beyond Blue provides information and support to help everyone in Australia achieve their best possible mental health, whatever their age and wherever they live.

Beyond Blue has been doing as much work as possible to encourage people to learn about the symptoms and types of stress, anxiety and depression, which they could face or may already be experiencing. In Australia, it’s estimated that 45 percent of people will experience a mental health condition in their lifetime.

The Easter raffle was drawn on the night, with first prize being won by Emma Gardiner and second place by John Crone.

Event coordinator, Anita Morrison commends the group on their efforts and congratulates their family and friends for their influences in molding these young people who are the future of our great community.

This April, Forbes will celebrate what’s great about our young people with a series of events planned to bring the whole community together to celebrate Youth Week. This will be Australia’s largest celebration of young people.

The festival begins on Thursday, 11th April with an all inclusive mural being painted at the Youth and Community Centre. The painting will take place between 11am and 2pm. With the young artists completing the mural to represent the inclusive environment Forbes possess, as designed by local creatives, Made of Fridays.

This year’s Youth Week celebrations will also see Red Bend hosting a “Colour Run” at their school. These have been incredibly popular in the past and this year will be no exception.

On Friday, 12th April between 6pm to 8pm the outdoor movie screening of “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them” will be held at Nelson Park. A barbeque, popcorn and drinks will be available, bring your friends and a picnic blanket or chair to celebrate the start of the school holidays.

To complete the celebrations a Youth Concert will be held at Lions Park on Saturday, 13th April from 2pm to 7pm. The park will be filled with entertainment such as rock climbing walls, paddleboats, giant games and food vans. The announcement of the official Youth Week Awards will also take place during the day. Bring along the whole family, a chair or blanket and sit back and enjoy the amazing line up of artists performing.

“Our youth are the future of this community and it is important we interact with them to provide fun events such as these,” said Mayor, Phyllis Miller. “Celebrating Youth Week with great events like we have planned is a great way we can all come together. The free Youth Concert at Lions Park will be amazing, and who doesn’t love a Colour Run?”

For further information email sarah.williams@forbes.nsw.gov.au.

Trundle will come alive on 4th May to the only ABBA music festival in Australia. The festival is one of the most iconic events in NSW with ABBA fans arriving by car, bus and the famous ABBA train to enjoy the music of ABBA, performed by the world famous ABBA tribute band Bjorn Again.

There will be plenty of entertainment throughout the day with Australian artists including Ben Ransom, Ingrid Mae, Amitie and MRQ. The festival also features a range of fun activities including market stalls, fashion competitions and activities for kids.

It’s a great opportunity for ABBA fans, old and new, some wearing their best ABBA outfits from the 1970’s and singing along to the music that has captivated the world for many years.

Special guests, Alana Prentice and Tristan MacManus, known from Dancing with the Stars will be there teaching a few moves and judging the Fashion of the Festival.

If you are looking for a fun day nearby and searching for a memorable experience, then the 2019 Trundle ABBA festival is it!

Kate Small recently caught and released this 51cm Cod at “Cottons” in Forbes.

The Sydney Royal Easter Show is Australia’s largest ticketed event, with 850,000 guests through its gates each year, bringing the country to the city for 12 days (12th to 23rd April) of new experiences and nostalgic memories.

The Easter show offers a wide range of attractions from the Greatest Show Spectacular to the Heritage Pavilion and after you’ve worked up an appetite you can treat yourself on some of the trendiest most outlandish food options. Some of this year’s new attractions include:

• World’s Largest Sphere of Fear: Featuring six motorbike riders and has never been seen before in Australia!

• Professional Bull Riding Spectacular: Featuring international riders from Brazil and the US.

• Jurassic World 2: Step back in time as you make your way through the Jurassic World 2 – The Fallen Kingdom. Watch more than 30 animatronic dinosaurs coming to life.

• Clydesdale Country: Taking you back in time, come and visit a classic Clydesdale village.

The Show has the biggest collection of rides in Australia and one of the best collections of rides you’ll find anywhere in the world. This year’s Show presents three new rides including the Race O’Rama car ride, the Fiesta Balloon Ferris Wheel and the Enchanted Circus.

Join Sesame Street’s special guest Elmo and Hello Kitty characters as they take the stage at the Little Big Top Amphitheatre. Multiple sessions on daily.

The Sydney Royal Easter Show is the best value day out in Sydney with 12 hours of free entertainment every day. Get online, buy your tickets and plan your day at www.eastershow.com.au. Enter our competition on page 7 for a chance to win four tickets.

Each year the Works team from Forbes Shire Council collects donations during their annual Picnic Day for a worthy charity and this year’s recipient was the Forbes Riding for the Disabled.

“We very much appreciate this support,” said the Riding for the Disabled Treasurer, Debbie Roylance. “These funds will go toward upgrades to the buggy.”

The Riding for the Disabled branch recently purchased a four wheel horse drawn buggy. The goal of the organisers is to raise funds to buy an enclosed trailer to store and transport the buggy, as well as a canopy to go over for sun and rain protection.

This important resource gives children with a disability the chance to ride a horse and experience safe, healthy, stimulating, therapeutic, horse-related activities.

The Forbes Riding for the Disabled Association is seeking three to four volunteers for an hour a week or fortnight to help assist disabled riders. The children require one on one support whilst on the buggy. They are also looking for qualified trainers and coaches. If interested and you are not qualified the Forbes Riding for the Disabled is willing to assist with these expenses. Contact the secretary, Kylie Ryan at forbes@rdansw.org.au.

Minister for Agriculture, David Littleproud has announced new programs which would see farmers receive incentives for a range of projects to improve biodiversity on farms, incorporating payment for carbon if appropriate.

A $30 million pilot Agriculture Biodiversity Stewardship Program would see farmers receive incentives for projects that boost biodiversity and also, if appropriate, absorb carbon. Projects such as maintaining or enhancing remnant forest, regeneration of gullies or waterways, or mixed species native tree plantings could be examples of projects.

Additionally, $4 million will go towards creating a national and internationally recognised biodiversity certification scheme to help biodiversity-friendly farmers get an extra premium for their product at the checkout and when they trade with other countries.

The NFF will help develop this certification scheme so farm groups have ownership of and invest in it.

“I’ve always thought farmers should see the benefits managing the biodiversity on their properties, and a market based system can become a drought-proof income stream for them,” said David.

“These programs will be trailed across different commodities and in different regions and if successful, I hope it will be expanded as national policy following the trial.

“An on-farm biodiversity policy and methodology will need to be developed and we’ll be consulting with Australian National University and farm groups on this.

“Farmers are already making money from carbon payments and in the future we could potentially see farmers receiving payment for both biodiversity and carbon benefits from the same project.

“This pilot program is not part of the Carbon Solutions Fund – this is a dedicated trial aimed at biodiversity, although of course projects will likely have a carbon benefit also which farmers deserve recognition for.

“Farmers should be rewarded for having plants and animals on their farm, not penalised through banning them using that land and offering no compensation,” said David.