Amy Shine of Forbes Preschool handed over the keys of their old school to House With No Steps on Wednesday morning.

“On behalf of the preschool, we are happy to hand over the school to another community organisation and look forward to continuing our long-standing partnership with them,” Amy said.

The school moved into new premises end of April last year and since then the old building has been vacant.

Support Manager for House With No Steps, Kim Wright, said that they were looking forward to utilising the area.

House With No Steps will be using the old school as an office and meeting space and have a few plans in mind on how to make the building suit the needs for people with disabilities. House With No Steps members did a tour of the premises and made suggestions for possible improvements.

Leanne Allegri who is the Area Manager for House With No Steps said: “We are very excited about being able to build more of a community space to support people with disability as we move towards the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS).

By Gizell van Wyk

 

 

More than 500 high school students were emotionally challenged with the realities of what happens in a serious car crash during the staging of a mock crash at the PCYC Parkes last week.

“I am still shaken by it,” said Kian Schembri, a Year 10 student from Parkes Christian School of the annual event staged for the ninth time this year.

The aim of the confronting mock crash is to bring home the message of drinking and driving. The demonstration by the Parkes, Forbes and Lachlan Shire Councils is the corner stone of the NOT A STATISTIC! Youth Driver Education Program.

Four youth actors, Krystle-Lee McMurray and Maddison Collits from Forbes and Jack McGrath and Faith Hanstock from Parkes, took the audience on a moving, tragic and at times upsetting ride from a care free birthday party to the horrors of a car crash and its long-term after effects.

“It is a really good way to teach us a lesson,” said Wally Campbell from Forbes High School, one of seven high schools attending. “It will remain with me as a reminder not to drink and drive, and to think before getting into a car with someone who’s been drinking.”

For Ella Richards from Parkes Christian School it was “really good and very confronting” as she has friends who had been in a crash. “I will definitely not drink and drive.” Melanie Suitor, Parkes, Forbes and Lachlan Shire Councils’ Road Safety and Injury Prevention Officer, said it was hard to gage the effect of the annual event, but in the Central West 25% of accidents involved young people, while the state average was 32%.

Local young drivers were involved in 207 crashes across the Parkes, Forbes and Lachlan Shire Council areas over four years from 2011, resulting in three fatalities and 228 injuries.

By Maggi Barnard

 

Sydney University was just down the road for Forbes High School students recently.

Forbes was one of four towns to take part in Sydney University’s Widening Participation and Outreach (WPO) program (formally compass), which saw Sydney University run three workshops at Forbes High School this week.

The workshops were attended by Year 11 and 12. According to year 12 student Paige Ellison, “It was very informative and really helpful, especially for preparing for the trials and early entry to university”.

Relieving Deputy Principal and Careers Advisor Daniel West said: “Forbes High School is extremely lucky to have this strong community partnership with Sydney University.”

“The Widening Participation and Outreach program has been supporting students at Forbes High School for over five years, providing opportunities to be successful learners and excel in future careers is important to us as a school”

The three workshops run were:

• Year 12 Promote Yourself – Year 12 students practiced writing persuasively about themselves.

• Year 12 HSC Exam Prep – Students developed effective approaches to prepare for senior school exams.

• Year 11/12 SMASH Essay – Year 11 and 12 students received key tips on how to improve their essay writing skills.

Forbes Public School students dressed upon Wednesday as real country kids to not only help raise money for the Year 6 farewell, but to also celebrate the start of the show season.

Students were given the opportunity to be photographed with a tractor from Forbes Machinery and the Miss Showgirl finalists holding their art entries for the show.

Students were asked what it meant to be a country kid. Sally Rout said: “What country means to me is having wide open spaces and being able to help dad when I get home from school. I love getting into my workers to feed the sheep.”

The Parkes/Forbes Cake Decorators Guild (CDG) hosted a State Rostered Day at the Parkes Baptist Church recently, along with demonstrators from the CDG of NSW State Body.

Attendees travelled from Newcastle, Wagga Wagga, Bathurst, Cabonne, Orange, Dubbo, Peak Hill, Forbes, Sydney, Camden and Mudgee. Parkes Shire councillors Patricia Smith and Bill Jayet were amongst those attending the morning session.

Guests were welcomed by CDG president, Jeanette McGregor, where after groups were formed for demonstrations by expert cake decorators.

The first demonstration was presented by Elizabeth Ivory, which was a cake topper made out of modelling paste to the exact proportions of the flower cosmos in variouscolours.

The second demonstration was presented by Cathy Rice who taught attendees how to create a zygotes cactus. Cathy was encouraging attempts at such a project.

The Third Demonstration was conducted by Connie McCartney who showed guests how to decorate elaborate chocolate cupcakes in a cool cat design with the latest chocolate modelling paste.

Renee Mutton intrigued with her Sassie Giraffe. A Giraffe that could be used as a child’s birthday cake and puppet. Renee made a story from her creations which were built upon with each demonstration group starting with a page boy giraffe, a bridesmaid giraffe, a best man giraffe, a groom and lastly the bridal giraffe made out of fondant.

The Final demonstration was a combined demonstration from the members of the State body of NSW CDG. A demonstration of a checkerboard cake by the State President, Helen Robinson, as well as Elizabeth Ivory and Narelle Wardle. The checkerboard cake consisted of two ordinary cream and jam sponges combined with two mud cakes.

The event was made possible (sponsored) through a Cultural Grant from the Parkes Shire and the Northparkes Mines Community Grant awarded to CDG.

 

 

The NSW Small Winemakers Wine Show will be returning for its 26th year at the Forbes Youth and Community Centre, with judging occurring from 28 to 30 August.

This year 524 entries have been received from 89 wineries and will be judged to select the top wines based on their appearance, aroma, body, taste and finish. Judging will be done by Chairman of Judges, Mike De luliis from De luliis Wines, Pokolbin and his team of expert wine judges and associate judges.

Following the judging and the announcement of the results, the wines will be showcased at the public tasting event from 6:30pm on Friday, 1 September at the Forbes Youth and Community Centre.

Tickets are $25, which includes finger food, and are available at the door.

The award winners are then invited to a prestigious presentation night on Saturday, 16 September at the Forbes Services Memorial Club, which is also open to the public.

It features a five course meal accompanied by the trophy winning wines. Tickets are $100 and are available at BWR Accountants or by calling 0499 180 101.

NSW Small Winemakers Wine Show President Mark Watts said: “The committee and I are excited about what this year’s show will bring and it will be a great event. Our show is continuing to defy the trend of falling entries at wine shows, essentially maintaining the number of wineries entering our show, and the number of entries are similar to the past three years.”

For more information go to www.nswwineshow.com.au or follow NSW Small Winemakers Wine Show on Facebook.

By Amy Millerd

How To Prevent Falls
It is estimated that at least 30% of people in the community aged 65 years and over fall one or more times a year. Around 10% of those falls result in a fracture so maintaining and improving your health is vital as you get older. According to the Pharmacists at Flannery’s
Pharmacy it is very important to exercise to improve balance, strength and flexibility. “Home or group exercise programs are a good way to stay active as well as social,” said Flannery’s Pharmacy

Registered Nurse, Rachel Hayes. “It is also very important to wear shoes that are comfortable and that fit well,” said Rachel. Pharmacist, Tracey Edwards advises that it’s important for people to know about any side-effects from medications that could cause dizziness or drowsiness. “If you are on a number of medications it’s a good idea to sit down with your pharmacist for a MedsCheck which is a free service,” said Tracey.

Other ways to prevent falls is to use nonslip bath mats, install hand rails, keep all areas free from clutter and power cords and ensure that there is adequate lighting in the home. “If you are experiencing balance problems, Flannery’s Pharmacy has a wide range of home health care aids that can help you,” said Rachel. The range includes walkers, walking sticks, over toilet aids, pedal exercisers, easy reachers and many more aids.

During September, Flannery’s Pharmacy is hosting free health checks, which include blood pressure and blood glucose monitoring as well as free MedsChecks. Want to know more? Call in at Flannery’s Pharmacy or give them a call on 6852 1111.

Osteoarthritis
Osteoarthritis is the most common cause of disability and decreased mobility in older people. It can also occur in younger or middle-aged people, mostly those who have injured their joint earlier in life.

It mostly affects the articular cartilage (the cartilage covering the ends of the bones) of a joint. The cause of osteoarthritis has often been attributed to “wear and tear” but this can be misleading. Joint cartilage actually requires regular movement to remain healthy. In healthy joints, there is a balance between degeneration and regeneration of the articular cartilage. When degeneration exceeds regeneration, the cartilage thins and may even crack causing the bones to rub together. Cartilage, however, needs some load to regenerate. Healthy loads
need to be applied to joints for cartilage recovery.

In the more advanced stages of osteoarthritis the articular cartilage disappears and the two bone surfaces begin to touch. This causes pain, swelling and increased heat in the joint due to inflammation. Trying to protect itself, the body produces more bone at the joint edges and osteophytes (jagged bits of bone) form. As the soft tissues around the joint, including ligaments and muscles, become affected the joints
become looser and the muscles tighten to compensate. This leads to even more pain and often joint deformity.

Currently there is no proven way of curing cartilage loss. Treatment is aimed at reducing symptoms and improving function of the joint. Regular movement and strengthening the muscles around the joint helps to reduce joint laxity and keep the remaining cartilage healthy. Maintaining a healthy weight reduces the load on weight bearing joints therefore decreasing the rate of cartilage breakdown.

For the fitness of you.
Linda Reilly