Kristin Barrass, vice-president of the Forbes Eisteddfod Committee, and Kristin Woods, the competition’s dance coordinator, certainly have something in common apart from first names. They’re both convinced that the event’s reputation as the “friendly eisteddfod” has much to do with it being able to attract more than 1500 entrants to its dance, music, speech and drama sections.

The contestants’ joy and the ease with which they’re approaching the dance section, which is currently on at the Forbes High School assembly hall, is testament to that. “Our eisteddfod is definitely seen as welcoming, comfortable, and great for building confidence and performance skills,” said Kristin Barrass. “That’s why we get so many first time competitors. They don’t feel as intimidated here as they do in some of larger, more formal eisteddfods.” And the entrants do come from far and wide — obviously many from Forbes itself, but also from Parkes, Eugowra, Grenfell, Orange, Bathurst, Leeton and Griffith, some indeed from as afar afield as southern Queensland.

“We’re all volunteers here,” said Kristin Woods. “Though we also get enormous support from the Forbes Shire Council and from sponsors such as the Northparkes Mine, the Forbes Services Club and McDonalds.” And both Kristins also have special words of praise and thanks for the guest adjudicators, Andrew Mortimer (Melbourne) and
Pamela Herring (Sydney).

In an outstanding performance for a town of its size, Forbes has scored three nominations from a total of 51 in the final countdown for the 2015 Travel In NSW Inland Tourism Awards — Forbes’ Council’s Apex Riverside Caravan Park, the Council’s Forbes in the Heart of Country promotional campaign, and independently owned Girragirra Retreat. This placed Forbes ahead of much bigger Central NSW centres such as Bathurst, with one nomination, and Orange, with two.

The Council’s General Manager, Brian Steffan, was ecstatic about the achievement, especially the nomination of the Heart of Country campaign which is very much at the centre of the town’s tourism promotional activity. “It very much takes an integrated approach which combines a strong online presence with other things such as billboards, stationery and successful ideas from previous campaigns,” he said. “The central message encourages visitors to take some time out and embrace the rural agricultural experience.”

“And then, of course, the Apex Riverside Caravan Park starts with such a glorious location on the banks of the Lachlan as its principal natural asset, but also has such efficient and friendly hands-on management from Lance and Amanda Young.” Brian and Cr Grant Clifton, Chairman of the Council’s Tourism Committee, will travel to Broken Hill on July 25 for a gala award dinner at which the overall winners will be announced and regional tourism celebrated.

Fire protection and emergency response in Forbes have received a boost with the arrival of a $310,000 fire truck.
The Mercedes Benz fire truck, referred to as a Class-2 pumper, is now in operation after being delivered to Forbes Fire Station. Orange State MP Andrew Gee said the new Class-2 fire truck had the latest equipment and technology, which will increase the capacity of Fire & Rescue NSW (FRNSW) firefighters to deal with fires, accidents, chemical
spills and other emergencies. “The NSW State Government is committed to providing firefighters with the best equipment and technology available,” he said. “The state-of-the-art Mercedes Benz truck has a larger cabin than previous trucks, providing greater comfort and safety for firefighters. The rear of the truck has also been
remounted and modified to provide more room for equipment.” “Our firefighters put themselves in harm’s way to keep our communities safe. The least we can do is give them the most up-to-date equipment. It’s great to see them getting it in Forbes.” Acting Superintendent Steven Hayes said FRNSW continued to provide its firefighters
with modern and safe vehicles for their vital work in protecting NSW families. “The new truck will help firefighters better protect the Forbes community and will help improve the overall quality of our emergency
response.” Gladly accepting the keys to the new vehicle, Brian Clarke, Captain of the Forbes Fire Brigade, praised the way that the previous truck had served his team. “But look, it’s 14 years old and it battles
to reach 100kph on a downhill run,” he said. “This one is turbo-charged and will have plenty of grunt, not to mention a smaller turning circle, which will be really useful for negotiating the town’s roundabouts.”
“And, of course, the extra comfort will be much appreciated by the boys.”

Sahara Park Riding School is run on the outskirts of Forbes by Helen Morris and Leanne Smith, who are both totally devoted to teaching children about learning to ride and, most importantly, about loving the horses that can
give them so much joy if treated properly. Their success is shown by the group of regular students who come along each week and pay $30 per hour for access to their equine wisdom. And they’re not, as Helen points, kids necessarily from a ‘horsey’ family, just kids interested in learning how to ride, and to look after the animals they care for. To that end, Helen and Leanne have invested more than $750,000 in forming a stable of about 30 horses that they can trust, even with quite inexperienced children. One of the most important tasks they have to perform is teaching the riders how to get up after their first fall and get back on the horse again.
“It happens to everyone at least once,” said Helen. “And though our set-up and choice of horses ensure there’s no physical damage, there’s inevitably a bit of lost pride.” Sahara Park also runs live-in classes during school holidays — ones that they find the students very reticent to head home from. These cost $450 for five days, including all meals, use of horses and equipment, and lectures from specialists such as vets and farriers.