Articles Archives - Page 144 of 424

Amazing Group Preserves Family History

August 12, 2022 by Maggi Barnard

Forbes Family History Group members Kim Smith, Cheryl and Max Barton at the new sign to help people find rooms at the back of the library. (Photo: Forbes Shire Council)

The Forbes Family History Group is worth a visit where you will find a fascinating sanctuary of amazing records and gems capturing the history of Forbes. The rooms are open to the public every Wednesday from 10am to noon and Saturday from 11am to 3pm. The rooms are at the rear of the library, and are easy to find with the help of a new sign at Victoria Park, on the corner of Harold Street and Victoria Lane. The group is run by volunteers who deserve a big thank you for collecting and storing our Amazing history!

Exciting Restoration Project

August 12, 2022 by Brett Sale

Forbes Men’s Shed members Matt Little, Norm Haley, Dan Hurbet and Henry Mattiske were working on the park benches this week.

The Forbes Men’s Shed is excited to be working with Council in restoring the park benches from Victoria Park.

Five of the beautiful, historic custom-made benches will get a complete restoration over the next few months. Work has begun on replacing the wooden slats with a new wood able to withstand weather all year round and new nuts and bolts. Once the benches have been restored, it is hoped work will commence on the lamp posts, another feature of Victoria Park, which was originally the town reserve in 1874.

Forbes Men’s Shed President Norm Haley said they were so pleased to be working on this and they were looking forward to see the end result.

“We are always calling out for new members to join and some extra hands to assist with this restoration process would be a big help to us all, and to be part of a special community project,” said Norm.

By Brett Sale

Undiagnosed Vision Problems With Children

August 12, 2022 by Maggi Barnard

Last week was education week, with this year’s theme being “creating futures”.

Did you know that a staggering one in five children in Australia have an undiagnosed vision problem? The widespread effect of this on education can’t be understated, since vision is the preeminent sense when it comes to how a child learns. As parents, we need to be aware that not all vision problems will present as we might expect with complaints of blurred vision, sore eyes or headaches. Rather, it can often be much more subtle such as loss of concentration or a lack of motivation to read or do schoolwork. There is more to vision than simply seeing something clearly. Focusing, tracking, eye coordination and visual perception are important vision skills that also impact reading and learning.

To catch these undiagnosed vision problems that are slipping through the cracks we must ensure that we get our children’s eyes tested by an optometrist, once before starting school and then ideally every year thereafter.

To find out more, come in and talk to one of our eyecare professionals at Hansen Eyecare Plus in Parkes. #localscaringforlocals

https://www.hansenoptom.com.au/

Education Week at Forbes Public School – Creating Bright Futures and a Love for Learning

August 12, 2022 by Maggi Barnard

Both students and staff were eager to celebrate Education Week this year by promoting a love for learning and having some fun along the way.

“Inspiring students today to shine tomorrow” was the theme for primary students on Wednesday. In line with this year’s Education Week theme, Creating Brighter Futures, students had the pleasure of working with the team from Bright Future STEM Program from AREEA (Australian Resources and Energy Employer Association) in conjunction with CMOC Northparkes Mines and Howden Australia to explore the wonders of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education and career opportunities. The students were inspired and their love for learning was ignited as they engaged in plenty of hands-on activities, including the use of virtual goggles and puzzle solving that encouraged plenty of critical thinking, teamwork, imagination, and FUN!

The week started with the Forbes Public School Book Fair which encouraged many of our students from the most avid readers to those who simply enjoy listening to and/or reading along with others to purchase books for their home libraries. We were excited to welcome our community along to share in our love for books. The day proved a huge success raising over $7,000. These proceeds will go back into providing resources and activities for our students to both benefit from and engage in.

We are thrilled to know that our students have added to home libraries, their imaginations and time with loved ones at home sharing a story or two having purchased books.

The highlight of Education Week is always, the Book Character parade, where book characters are brought to life by both staff and students who proudly showed off their costumes by parading to music in front of the school community on Friday. The parade is always a welcomed opportunity to connect with our families over plenty of fun and laughter. The parade was followed by a family picnic and open classrooms where teachers, students and their families were able to share in student learning experiences and opportunities that have occurred so far this year.

It was wonderful to have our wider school community on site, joining in the fun of the book fair, the parade, picnic, and classroom activities. We are grateful during these current times to be able to come together as a whole school to not only celebrate a love for learning, but also the fun and community spirit that comes with being a part of the FPS community.

Snippets…

August 12, 2022 by Maggi Barnard

Excitement is building for the first Parkes Show in two years from 29th to 31st August. Three days of fun and competitions with Junior Judging on Wednesday, 31 August! More information on the show to follow next week.

Trishaw Open Day: The Parkes Trishaw Committee is inviting the community to come for a ride on the trishaw at Lions Park on Saturday, 17th September from 10am. This is a great day for those who have not yet given it a try to spend time in the fresh air and to feel the wind in your hair. Trained riders pilot the electrically assisted trishaw to give passengers a 20-minute ride. Go to the Cycling Without Age Parkes facebook page to find out more about this great initiative to get people who are less mobile outside in the sunshine. Bring down your parents, friends or children for a ride. For more information call 0448 166 016.

Elvis Photo Comp: Did you snap a great photo at the Parkes Elvis Festival? Entries are open for the Elvis Photography Competition and Exhibition. Categories include: best smartphone image (all ages); best digital camera image (all ages); overall champion and overall highly commended. Entries close at 5pm on 2nd September 2022. Online entries at https://bit.ly/23photo

New RFS Helicopter For Central West: A new multi-purpose NSW Rural Fire Service (RFS) helicopter was launched at Dubbo recently at the Royal Flying Doctor Service base. The $6 million helicopter is the first one for the RFS to be permanently based at Dubbo, which will significantly boost emergency response capabilities across the Central West.

Job Opportunities For Biosecurity Detector Dog Handlers: The biosecurity detector dog program is recruiting new dog handlers for Australia’s world class detector dog program at airports, seaports and mail pathways. Being a detector dog handler and working with dogs daily is a fun job that also plays an important role in Australia’s biosecurity system. Candidates need to be engaging, resilient and results driven. The new recruitment round is open to the general public and anyone interested is encouraged to apply. Successful applicants will receive biosecurity foundation training as well as detector dog handler training. For more information visit agriculture.gov.au/detector-dogs

The pergolas have been installed in the Forbes CBD and is set to transform the look of Forbes once it’s covered in greenery. The two pergolas, situated on opposite corners in Templar Street near the roundabout, are part of the CBD masterplan and funded by the Australian Government’s Building Better Regions Fund.

National Trophy And Team Selection For Toby

August 12, 2022 by Maggi Barnard

Left: Toby Collins in action in Hobart last week at the Schools Sports Nationals. Right: Toby with his gold medal and the trophy.

It was a glittering weekend for Parkes hockey with gold and silver medals for two players who shined on the national and international stage.

Sixteen-year-old Parkes High student Toby Collins came home with gold from Hobart where he was vice-captain of the NSW All Schools Team winning the national title. NSW beat Queensland 2 – 1.

Toby’s team won six from six round games and fought hard for the gold medal. Queensland went into the lead 1 – 0, but NSW equalised with a great field goal, and then took the lead with a successful penalty stroke. Toby played a brilliant game feeding the ball for attacking opportunities and some amazing defence moves, which caught the eye of the Australian selectors.

To cap off a massive week for Toby, he was selected in the U/16 Australian All Schools team with several of his teammates.

“I felt excited and proud of myself and our team that we had continued to work hard to achieve our ultimate goal of the gold medal,” said Toby, who started playing hockey when he was four years old.

He did not expect to be selected for the Australian side and said being named was a huge achievement. He has certainly taken a step closer to the honour of playing for Australia one day.

When he is not playing for the Central West Premier League Competition for Parkes United, and in the local A grade for the Crows, the Year 11 student will be preparing for the All Australian team’s European tour next year. “We will be playing in Holland, Germany and Belgium against other national teams in a four nations tournament.”

Toby said he was able to catch up with another Parkes hockey legend and ex-Olympian player Stephen Davies in Hobart last week. “He inspires me to strive to do my best.”

He was also following the Australian teams at the Commonwealth Games with the Kookaburras winning their seventh straight gold medal, and Parkes Hockeyroos star Mariah Williams claiming the silver medal with her team.

Parkes Elvis Winner Competes In Memphis

August 12, 2022 by Maggi Barnard

IT’S NOW OR NEVER…Paul Fenech won the Ultimate Elvis Tribute Artist Contest at the Parkes Elvis Festival this year and qualified to compete for the ultimate crown in Memphis this week. (Photo: Glenn Nicholls)

The Parkes Elvis Tribute Artist winner competed with the world’s best artists for the most sought-after Elvis crown in Memphis, USA this week.

Sydney’s Paul Fenech, winner of popular Ultimate Elvis Tribute Artist Contest at the Parkes Elvis Festival, took part in the semi-final round on Wednesday during Elvis Week 2022. The finals take place tonight, and at the time of going to press it was not yet known if Paul was in the final.

Paul was crowned winner of the Ultimate Elvis Tribute Artist Contest taking on 17 of the top Elvis tribute artists from Australia and overseas at the Parkes Elvis Festival in April this year.

The Parkes Ultimate Elvis Tribute Artist Contest is taken very seriously by semi-professional and professional artists and is a part of a worldwide search for artists who are the best representation of the legacy of Elvis Presley, officially endorsed by Elvis Presley Enterprises.

“Parkes Elvis festival is the one everyone wants to win. It is one of the largest Elvis festivals in the world and it is an honour to have won this year” said Paul, who has more than 19 years of international and domestic performances under his belt.

“We are super excited that Paul is representing Parkes Elvis Festival on the world stage at Elvis Week in Memphis,” said Festival Director Tiffany Steel.

“Paul has been performing at Parkes Elvis Festival for many years and is popular with our fans. His powerful vocals and energetic performance in this year’s contest was outstanding.”

Wiradjuri Artist’s Murals In High Demand

August 12, 2022 by Maggi Barnard

Left: A close up of a section of the mural at the Forbes Hospital. Right: Scott ‘Sauce’ Towney starting his mural at the Forbes Public School. (Photo: FPS facebook page)

The Tree of Life mural done by Wiradjuri artist Scott ‘Sauce’ Towney at the Forbes Hospital has elicited a lot of positive comments which is a great source of inspiration for the artist.

“All the positive feedback encourages me to do more, and keeps me motivated to continue with my art,” said Sauce.

He was commissioned by Arts OutWest to transform a drab corridor that leads to the mortuary entry with the suggestion of the tree of life theme. “I took it from there and combined it with my constellation drawing of the Emu in the Sky, and added the Lachlan River at the bottom.”

He also added contemporary Wiradjuri patterns on the emu and on the tree. “The patterns come from nature as seen in wood grains and were traditionally used for tree carvings. That is where I get my ideas and inspiration from. I keep my designs in the style of the Wiradjuri patterns as we are on Wiradjuri land.”

Sauce explained that the Wiradjuri people used to carve complex designs into trees to mark a burial site. “It was like a headstone.”

Sauce said he was very aware that his design would be leading people down the corridor on their way to the mortuary. “The limbs of the tree reach all the way down the corridor across door frames and doors.”

The Peak Hill artist completed another commission this week at the Forbes Public School where he painted two murals. He will be working in Narromine next, and then back to his home town.

Thrilling Races And Chilling Weather At Forbes Cup 2022

August 5, 2022 by Maggi Barnard

Forbes Shire Councillor Chris Roylance (right) presented the ‘Amazing’ Ben Hall Bullet to jockey Billy Owen on Free State after his thrilling run in the 1200m sprint!
(Photo: Forbes Jockey Club)

For most of us it was a day to stay indoors, but racegoers at the Forbes Cup braved the cold and wet on Sunday to enjoy a fantastic day out.

It was also a day of iconic and historic wins with the Forbes Jockey Club resurrecting the Ben Hall Bullet sprint race over 1200m after 40 years.

The first winner of the iconic Ben Hall Bullet trophy after all these years was Free State, trained by Brad Widdup with Billy Owen in the saddle!

The sought after Bankstown Sports Club Forbes Cup went to One Aye after a thrilling race over 1600m. At about 150m to go it was still anyone’s race, but then One Aye came through as the one and only champion. Coming in second was Toulon Brook. Both One Aye (#11) and Toulon Brook (#12) have qualified to contest the hot new $2M Big Dance at Royal Randwick in November. The third place went to #7 Intuition and fourth to #9 Reward Seeker.

The day also featured Fashions on the Field.

Tree Of Life Mural Transforms Hospital Corridor

August 5, 2022 by Maggi Barnard

TREE OF LIFE… The mural in the Forbes Hospital was done by Peak Hill artist Scott ‘Sauce’ Towney (right) to create a more sympathetic atmosphere for people headed to the mortuary in a time of stress.

A drab and dark corridor in the Forbes Hospital has been transformed into a wonder world of Wiradjuri skylore and trees.

A mural was created by acclaimed Wiradjuri artist Scott ‘Sauce’ Towney from Peak Hill. He was commissioned to develop a mural for the mortuary corridor at the hospital as part of the Lachlan Arts and Culture Program for the redevelopment of Parkes and Forbes hospitals.

Scott developed the design using the Yarran-Do (Yarran Tree) connecting the earth to the sky. The Yarran-Do has Wiradjuri carved tree symbols on the tree, while Wiradjuri constellation designs link the tree to the sky and flow down the corridor towards the mortuary entry. The river also flows through the image. Scott developed symbols that are relevant to the function of the mural, guiding people to the mortuary.

The unadorned mortuary corridor is in the service area of the hospital with storage spaces on each side. Staff member, Carolyn Pearce suggested that the corridor could use a makeover to be more sympathetic to people headed to the mortuary in a time of stress.

Scott is well known for his public art works in the Forbes and Parkes Shires. He has done many murals and his work is represented on footy shirts and his famous Emu in the Sky features on a $1 Australian coin. Scott has completed a series of works on Wiradjuri sky stories which has been adapted for the mural in the mortuary corridor.

The arts and health team of Arts OutWest coordinated the mural project, which was completed last month.

By Maggi Barnard

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