By all accounts the Forbes seniors put in a great effort to do more together during the NSW Seniors Festival with many different events on offer around town.

The theme for the this year’s festival was Let’s Do More Together. Tanya Davies, Minister of Ageing said it was about celebrating our seniors for their energy, experience and unique ability to know what inspires and makes them happy.

The festival kicked off last Friday with more than 100 people enjoying a community barbeque at Jemalong Residential Village. The consensus was “it was a lovely lunch” and the sing along with Paddy Mol- loy and Ray Lassere was “really great”.

Neil Gilmour, organiser of the seniors variety concert in the Forbes Town Hall on Sunday estimated there were over 150 audience members. “They were very receptive to all the performances, including James Janetski, Barbara Bruce, Richard Morgan and Forbes College for Seniors,” said Neil.

According to Sam Rath over 50 people enjoyed morning tea on Monday at Mater Aged Care. There were lucky door prizes, raffles and local soprano, Patricia Maxwell sang, ‘What a wonderful world it would be,’ accompanied by pianist Barbara Bruce. “I sing mainly to encourage resident’s involvement,” said Patricia.

The final event of the festival takes place today from 10am to 12pm at the Forbes Men’s Shed located at the Forbes showgrounds. Pop around to hear more about the exciting plans for Men’s Shed to open up a new premises in Union Street later in the year. President, Norm Haley said they looked forward to tripling the space, increasing their opening hours and the number of members. They currently have 47 members ranging in age from 14 to 95 years.

By Dianne Collie

St Gregory’s College is a boarding and day secondary college in the hills of the Mac- arthur region in Sydney. Founded in the Marist tradition and operating since 1926, the college remains dedicated to providing a holistic education enhancing each student academically, spiritually, socially, culturally and physically.

St Gregory’s offer full time boarding with three junior and two senior boarding hous- es with each boy having his own space and privacy in a home style environment. Boarders come from all over country NSW, ACT and NT. With a focus on academic excellence, the dedicated staff, many of whom live on site, provide guided and supervised tuition and study periods each night.

With a state of the art TAS facility, music facilities, refurbished science labs and new IMAC labs, not to mention the college’s own swimming pool, gymnasium, basketball and tennis courts, cricket and football fields and fully functioning farm, St Gregory’s facilities are of a high standard. A recent addition is the new learning centre and refurbished dining rooms.

The boarding and tuition fees combined are comparatively lower than many other independent boarding schools’ fees in NSW.

St Gregory’s offer a myriad of courses, including agriculture and primary industry, and assists students in choices for future studies. The St Gregory’s College family has a unique spirit with a sense of belonging. The challenge is to impart the qualities that will provide a source of strength to each individual, enabling them to take an active and responsible role in society in the spirit of the gospel as expressed in the college motto: “As you sow, so shall you reap”.

For more information visit: www.stgregs. nsw.edu.au

“Aboriginal kids are asking for their heritage. They want to know why their parents don’t talk to them about it.”

Peter White, founder of Wiradjuri Cultural and Environment Rangers (WCER), said it was time to forget the past and start building the future.

WCER is a non-profit organisation aiming to assist aboriginal youth and their families improve their cultural, social and economic conditions by employing them as rangers.

Youth rangers from 14 to 19 years, and rangers 20 years and older, will assist in feral pest and weed control, identifying and protecting endangered species, manage natural environments and help visitors en- joy national parks. They will also facilitate

cultural training and art groups. “The intention is also to work with job agencies and assist within the juvenile justice areas for our youth,” said Peter.

He also hopes the program will help break down cultural barriers by inviting non-aboriginals to learn about aboriginal culture.

WCER will initially be concentrating on the Parkes/Forbes region. “It is important we put boots on the ground to get things done and achieve goals to gain credibility,” said Peter.

The Council of Elders will be consulted on 10th March and the WCER inaugural meeting will be held on Monday, 13th March.

By Dianne Collie

Nearly 70 barefoot skiers from all over NSW attended a coaching clinic at the Forbes Aquatic Centre and Bundaburrah over three days last week.

The skiers came from Forbes, Parkes, Oberon, Gundagai, Narrandera and Liver- pool.

“The Forbes barefoot coaching sessions are growing and the feedback has been sensational,” said Jim Cronin. “We have al- ready taken bookings for the clinic in 2018.”

The sessions grew from one last year, to two this year, but due to high demand a third had to be added.

The Forbes Phoenix met with some participants last Friday. Toby Cox (10) said he was “feeling really good about attending the coaching clinic”. Toby is a competent water skier but was trying bare foot skiing for the first time, “because my Granddad does it”. Wes Murray (14) likes to barefoot because “it’s fun”. Wes was happy he barefooted

on Thursday using the boom bar and was looking forward to stepping up and taking the rope behind the boat.

Peter and Leanne Gosling travelled all the way from Sydney on Friday morning to bring their son Kye (15) to the clinic. “We are very proud parents,” said Leanne, and when Kye ranked third in the Junior Boys NSW Barefoot Championship last week- end they were over the moon.

There were three coaches at the clinic: Brendon Chattaway, Peter O’Neil and Brendan Paige. “Barefoot skiing is the pin- nacle!” said Brendon. “It is challenging but it is the ultimate freedom when skiing.”

Jim said all three coaches were looking forward to holding the coaching clinics again next year to take participants through their paces in a safe and fun environment.

By Dianne Collie

The Eugowra CWA branch welcomed several new members at its recent meet and greet event at the home of Yvonne and Colin Smalley. The next meeting will be in the CWA rooms on Friday, 10th March at 11am. Frances Anderson will talk about Nepal after attending a CWA of NSW study weekend in Canberra. Eyewear Specs optometrists are renting the CWA rooms once a fortnight for consultations.

Future dates to remember: The Central West Group Craft & Cooking Expo will be in Orange from 12th to 17th March. Eugowra members are putting in a selection of arti- cles.

A group barbeque will be held at Bunnings in Orange on 5th March. Money raised will off set the cost of representatives going to the annual state conference.

The Eugowra Branch will have a stall at Eugowra Country Fair on 8th April.

A free exhibition on the Spirit of Anzac Centenary Experience will be in Orange from 12th to 17th March.

International Women’s Day celebration in Boorowa on Sunday, 12th March at Boorowa RSL. Keynote speaker Ailsa Piper, writer, director and performer. Cost $25. RSVP Janene Hurley on 6835 1330 or Janene.hurley@hilltops.nsw.gov.au

Midpro has continued to expand over the years and the latest addition is a showroom and retail shop that opened just before Christmas last year.

“We felt there was a need for this, not only to service our own business by having enough items in stock for breakdowns, but also to give customers quick access to what they need,” said Bart.

The well-stocked showroom at the Midpro premises has everything from couplings, pumps, sprinklers, trailer parts, pulleys, gearboxes, drive shafts, nuts and bolts, wheels and rims, belts, a full range of hydraulic fittings and much more.

“This new addition to our business has been welcomed by many people,” said Bart. “They are pleasantly surprised by the amount and variety of our stock on hand.”

Bart said the shop meant people could walk in and out to get a job done much quicker. “Should we not have the item you are looking for, we are happy to source it for you.”

While keeping up to date with customers’ needs, the Midpro team also moved along with advances in technology. “Technology has changed a lot over the years. It has literally shaped our business and makes it more enjoyable.”

Midpro acquired extensive CAD drawing programs on computer to be able to give customers a more realistic picture of what they will build for them.

“Technology is what makes our work more enjoyable. The fact that we are able to see a job from a rough sketch on a piece of paper to designing it on computer and then manufacturing it in the workshop is very rewarding.”

This year Forbes women are invited to celebrate International Women’s Day on Wednesday with a buffet breakfast on the lake.

The breakfast celebrations in Forbes on the beautiful Lake Forbes foreshore will feature entertainment from talented young local, Maddi Collits. There will also be talks from a McGrath Foundation breast cancer nurse, Di Green, and the Forbes Business Chamber’s, Marg Duggan.

“Our women contribute so much to every aspect of life from business to volunteer- ing and everything in between,” said Mayor Graeme Miller.

“It’s fantastic to have a day where we can pause and acknowledge that contribution.” The day will also raise funds for two

important women’s causes, namely the McGrath Foundation and the Forbes Wid- ows Support Group.

Raffles will be held and donation tins available. Funds raised will be donated towards efforts to fight breast cancer and support widows in the Forbes community.

Menu options include bacon, eggs, fruit, yoghurt, muesli and pancakes. Tea and coffee will also be available.

The breakfast will be held at the Lions Park from 7.30am on Wednesday, 8th March. For catering purposes, bookings are essential.

Tickets at $10 are available from Forbes Shire Council’s administration office until close of business Monday, 6th March.

International Women’s Day is held annu- ally to celebrate the achievements of wom- en and to strive for gender equality.

This year’s theme is #BeBoldForChange and aims to encourage all of us to do all we can to accelerate gender parity and to help forge a better working world – a more inclusive, gender equal world.

It has been 25 years of continuous growth and expansion for Midpro Engineering & Irrigation.

Ian Bartholomaeus, better known as Bart, started the business when he returned to Forbes after a couple of years away in 1992, after some time away gaining experience and knowledge.

“We were only two people in the begin- ning and today we have more than 20 staff members. We fill a need in the local indus- trial and agricultural sectors, as well as a bit in the mining and transportation industries too.”

As of ten years ago, irrigation has be- come a big part of the business. “We are an engineering firm and has the ability to

design, manufacture and install just about anything. No job is too big or too small for us – from domestic needs to commercial projects, from a brainstorm to a thunder- storm,” said Bart.

Bart is also a big advocate for the train- ing of apprentices. “We have had more than 60 apprentices work with us over 25 years, mostly in the fitting and machining and metal fabrication trades.”

After 25 years Bart is proud on what Mid- pro has become: “We have a reputation as an inventive business, we are great at problem solving and with a fully equipped workshop there is not much we can’t do and aren’t able to accomplish.”