A group of 13 community members from Forbes and Parkes were treated to an engaging and thought-provoking discussion with Blue Mountains-based author Julie Ankers at the Forbes Library on Tuesday.

Julie is currently touring New South Wales promoting her first book, Feisty, Fabulous and 50+. It is a collection of candid and compelling autobiographical stories of Australian women.

This was Julie’s first visit to Forbes and in opening she spoke of her journey to be- coming a self-published author after facing feelings of loss and isolation in semi-retirement.

Julie read moving excerpts from the book to the group, including verses from Young’s Rhonda Daly, recounting her exposure to toxic farm chemicals as a child and the resultant health battles. Another passage came from a woman who left her unfulfilling inner-city life and now offers garden maintenance services, driving a ute and wielding chainsaws, whipper snippers and secateurs.

The book took two years to complete and features diverse, down-to-earth, fabulous women. “It is an honour to be the curator of their stories,” Julie said. “These are ordinary women, just like you and I”.

Travelling with Julie is the book’s editor, Kerry Chater, whose story is one of the 21 featured in the book.

“These events give a rare opportunity to hear about a book from the author themselves,” said one guest, while others enjoyed the opportunity to make new connections in the community.

On the back of the success of this book, Julie is now working on the companion piece, the much-anticipated untold stories of men, which is set to be released in early 2018.

By Carrie Olsen

Forbes North Public School (FNPS) is now the proud owner of a buddy bench helping to make its playground a friendlier place for students.

FNPS is one of ten schools in Forbes and Parkes to benefit from the Buddy Bench Initiative of the Currajong Autism & Special Needs Group.

Angela Wilson, facilitator of Currajong Au- tism & Special Needs Group, visited Forbes North last Friday for the official handover of the bench. She was invited to explain to stu- dents at the school assembly what a buddy bench is.

It is a place where students can sit and send out a visual signal to other students that they would like friendship, or somebody to play with.

According to Michele Morley, Principal of FNPS students who have started using the bench have been included into games and activities in the playground that helped them to connect with friends.

The Buddy Bench Initiative started last year as a dream of Angela and her colleague Deb Collier to provide a buddy bench for every primary school in and around Parkes. The John Holland Group came on board and found local businesses and suppliers to donate benches. The FNPS bench was donated by Millcon Engineering.

The Forbes State Emergency Service (SES) will be able to double its efforts in future floods thanks to the generosity of service clubs in the Central West.

CEO of the Forbes Services Memorial Club, David Fitzgerald handed over a brand new sand bagging machine worth $40,000 to Robert Walshaw, Local Controller of the Forbes SES last Thursday.

“It is a big help for the whole Shire,” said Robert. “The new ma- chines will supplement our existing one, which means we would be able to get double the amount of sand bags in case of a flood event. We would also be able to have the machines at different locations, such as Bedgerabong to get sand bags quicker to outlying town- ships.” Robert said more than 20,000 sand bags were filled last year during the floods.

The funds were raised at a charity auction in November last year when 85 delegates
from Central West Region Clubs attended a conference in Forbes. They came from FSMC, Bathurst RSL, Dubbo RSL, Orange Ex Ser- vices, Gilgandra Ser- vices, Club Mudgee and Parkes Services Club. The Bankstown Sports Club and Forbes Country Music Club also contributed to the Forbes Flood Recovery effort.