The Forbes farmer who used his love of flying and photography to bring national and even international awareness of the devastating floods, has produced a flood relief calendar for 2017. Brad Shephard compiled twelve photos of
the floods around Forbes, Condobolin, Lake Cowal and towards Eugowra for the calendar of which 50% of proceeds will be going to the Lions Club Flood Appeal.

He thought of compiling the calendar after his flood photos created so much awareness on social media and people encouraged him to do something to help raise funds. Brad was one of the farmers who suffered severe crop losses when up to 90% of his barley and wheat crops went under water. He said of the 300 acres of barley he had left, half of it was later destroyed by a hailstorm. He said he still had floodwater covering a couple of 1,000 acres on his farm. “At the moment I am just contracting and thinking of share farming for the future.”

With losses estimated to be more than $500 million for farmers, Brad said it was going to be a tough Christmas for many. “At the moment most of them are getting on with the job doing contract work or stripping what was left of their crops, but after the harvest things will quiet down.” As a survivor of depression, Brad had expressed concern for the mental well being of affected farmers after the floods. He said there were a lot of sad stories and the community
needed all the help they could get.

You can help by purchasing a calendar for $25 online at http://www.farmerfromdownunder.photography.com.au Calendars are also available at AgNVet stores in Forbes, Condobolin and West Wyalong, Esme’s Coffee Shop, Kenny’s Baa Moo Oink Meats in Forbes and Sprayer Barn in Parkes.

By Maggi Barnard

Ron Turner has been greeting customers for more than 36 years at Bernardi’s and last Saturday hundreds of customers came to say goodbye to him. CEO of Bernardi’s Supermarkets, Joe Bernardi said at the official farewell: “Ron started at Bernardi’s the year I was born. He was one of the original 20 staff members who came to work for Bernardi’s and outlasted them all. He has seen hundreds of young team members come and go and was always willing to offer his advice and support to them. He is such a valued part of the Bernardi’s family and will be sorely missed by not only us, but also the Forbes community, who have come to know and love Ron.”

This was echoed on the company’s Facebook page with loads of comments made by members of the public saying the
store won’t be the same without him. “Sad to see you go, I can remember you from when I was a little girl,” said one. Ron said the best part of his job was meeting people and watching kids grow up to become adults. “I will miss talking to everyone the most.”

Ron said he did not have any plans for the future, but looked forward to spending time with his wife Christine and visiting his grandchildren in Queanbeyan.

This week has seen the opening of the new Betta Store at 165 Lachlan Street, Forbes. With over six and a half times
the floor space of the old store, which was just across the road, the new store now not only includes electrical and whitegoods, but bedding, unique furniture and Christmas decorations.

Ian Westcott said, “After many conversations with our local customers here in Forbes requesting us to stock furniture and bedding, we decided that the time was right to expand our store and offer the Forbes community and district a ‘betta’ offering in electrical and whitegoods as well. This is the only shop of it’s kind located in Forbes and it shows our commitment and investment to the community.”

Ian and Mandy Westcott, first invested in the Forbes business community when they purchased the store in Lachlan Street, on lst July 2002. Now, some 14 years later, they have made the move across the street into bigger and brighter premises, located on the corner of Brown’s Lane and Lachlan Street, in the old Bernardi’s supermarket
building.

“Come 2017 we will have an even wider range of goods with a full range of entry and high end cooking appliances displayed as built in cooking displays. We will be featuring cooking launches, guest chefs, vip nights and as always, we continue to deliver to all areas”, Ian said. With the expansion into the new premises Ian and his team are on the lookout for new staff as well.

Mandy has spent quite a few months buying the furniture and bedding ranges, which cater for every room in the house as well as outdoor furniture to cater to everybody’s budget. New stock will be arriving all the time and of course, special orders can be sourced for the discerning customer. Ian wanted to thank his wonderful staff who have worked so incredibly hard to pull this together, as well as suppliers, tradesmen and the people of Forbes who have
been so supportive.

Make sure you drop in and see them, and with all sorts of finance offers available to customers, this is the place to go
for your Christmas shopping. Go Local,

That’s Betta!

Dianne Collie is our new Reporter at the Forbes Phoenix. She has worked and lived in Forbes for the past seven years with her husband Fred (Brian when he has played golf badly). Dianne moved to Forbes from Broken Hill and she worked as a human resources manager with the Bernardi Group. When the focus of the HR team shifted to an operational role her position was made redundant.

Prior to living in Broken Hill, Dianne lived in Adelaide for 15 years. In addition to raising her two children, Lachlan and Bonnie, she was partner in a book keeping and taxation franchise. Dianne has almost gone full circle when she moved to Forbes as she attended Saint Raphael’s in Cowra until Year 10, and then relocated to the Blue Mountains.

Although Dianne’s past work experience has been primarily in human resources her love of people as well as writing, lead her to apply for the role of reporter. She is excited about her new position and is looking forward to meeting
the Forbes community with her notebook and pen in hand. She would love you to contact her with your good news, your heart-warming news, your record-breaking stories, your unique stories, your events, your news tips and your photos, whether social, funny or just of interest.

You can contact Dianne on 0414 643 250 or reporter@forbesphoenix.com.au

When it was difficult to find a car park in the Jemalong Residential Village (JRV) on Tuesday, it was a good sign that the inaugural Market Day was going to be a great success! JRV locals Cynthia Green and Gladys Johnson said the residents initiated the idea of the Market Day. They were happy with the number of people in attendance and agreed
that it would hopefully make it possible to buy two special chairs that would make the residents lives easier.

The wet weather didn’t appear to dampen anyone’s spirits as there were people milling around smiling, greeting each other, and perusing the various stalls. There was so much to see and fabulous things to buy including plants grown from both seed and cuttings by the residents with the help of Zac who volunteers twice a week.

In addition, there was also pre-loved toys, an array of delicious homemade cakes, slices, jams and what seemed to be everyone’s favourite – donuts! The too familiar Aussie bbq aroma enticed everyone to tuck into the sausages, rissoles and steak with a hint of onion. Just when you thought there couldn’t possibly be any more, a group of carolers passed by singing ‘Oh Come All Ye Faithful’.

The residents all commented that they were thrilled to see local businesses at the Market Day with fantastic gift ideas. They gave a big thank you to Blush, Flannery’s Chemist, Little Extras, News on Rankin and Scrapbox Patchwork Designs for attending. If I could have one wish said resident Barbara Cowled, “it would be for every resident of Forbes to visit Jemalong Retirement Village so they could see what a wonderful place it is to live”.

By Dianne Collie