With the date now set for the Boscars dinner being Friday 28th October, all businesses are being encouraged to consider nominating for one of the relevant categories. Now aligned with the NSW Business Chamber Awards the categories include the following: Excellence in Business Ethics, Excellence in Innovation, Excellence in Small Business (under 20 employees), Excellence in Business (over 20 employees), Employee of Choice, Young Entrepreneur, Business Leader of the Year and of course selected from all of these categories is the Business of the Year.

In addition there are two awards for employees, including Apprentice or Trainee of the Year and Employee of the Year. With the People’s Choice awards, there are two categories, Tradie of the Year and Most Popular Business. These awards publicly promote and reward business excellence within the Forbes Shire Council area and provide inspiration for businesses and set benchmarks for best practice. If your business is interested in being a sponsor for the Awards please call Cheryl Newsom on 0411 211 065.

The free Child Restraint Checking Day held recently discovered that 60% of the child restraints checked were incorrectly fitted. The service, offered by Forbes Shire Council and Jelbart Dawson, provided free child restraint inspections at the only RMS Authorised Child Restraint Fitting Station in Forbes. Five child restraints were brought in by parents, grandparents and carers for checking.

Forbes Shire Council’s Road Safety and Injury Prevention Officer, Logan Dolbel, said that research showed that two out of three child restraints are not being used properly and this put children at risk of sustaining injuries if they are involved in a crash.

“Most of the child restraints that were checked only had minor problems that
needed fixing to ensure the safety of the child,” said Logan. “The most common mistakes were related to the use of the lap sash seatbelt and the straps on the child restraint – they needed tightening, they were too tight, or
were incorrectly positioned. Nearly all of the restraints checked also needed additional parts like gated buckles to ensure the safety of the restraint and the child.

Logan said the correct fitting and adjustment of child restraints was vital. “Child restraints that are not correctly fitted put children at risk of injury in the event of a crash. It is important to make sure that your precious cargo is safe and buckled up every time they are in the car – whether it’s a five minute or five hour journey.” According to Logan people who attended the checking day said they had come along because they were uncertain as to whether their child restraints were correctly installed.

Information and advice was also available about the types of child restraints, the national laws and when to move children from one restraint to the next. This is the second time that free child restraint checking days have been held in Forbes as part of the I’m counting on you project. If you missed out on this great opportunity, Jelbart Dawson & Co can install and check child restraints every day for a small fee.

Winter is coming to Bathurst as part of their festival running from 2nd to 16th July. The ‘cool’ event will include an outdoor McDonalds Bathurst ice rink, a Ferris wheel and illumination elements that will be turned on every evening from sundown until 10pm.

The illuminations will feature the theme ‘fire and ice’ with the Court House, Carillon, Ribbon Gang Lane, Church Bar and TAFE building key features. Don’t miss out on the interactive element this year where you can throw snowballs at the TAFE building!

Ferris wheel tickets can be purchased at the Ferris wheel during the festival at $5 per person and ice skating tickets can be pre-booked online at www.bathurstwinterfestival.com.au. The festival will feature two key nights, the first, opening night on Saturday will be themed, ‘Ignite the Night’. The evening will create a festival atmosphere in Kings Parade with skating, the Ferris wheel and a range of other family friendly activities including a giant six lane slide, a kid’s laser maze and an infinity mirror at the ice rink.

Bathurst Youth Council will also run the YJam stage, featuring local young performers and local food and wine will be on offer. On Saturday 9th July ‘Brew and Bite’ will get underway from 4pm. The evening will again offer a range of food and entertainment for everyone including food trucks and regional brewers. A pop up bar will serve regional wines, beers and ciders and the food will take on a distinct street food feel with burgers, gourmet frankfurts, slow cooked lamb, barbecued ribs, Lebanese and more.

There will be an ice hockey exhibition and market stalls selling winter woollies, jewellery, candles and clothing and the popular silent disco will return to Court House. Sounds, brr-illiant!

Girragirra Retreat owner and Forbes local Wendy Muffet says the town and shire will benefit from TV program Sydney Weekender’s visit to town last week. The Prime7 program, which is hosted by former Australian cricket fast bowler Mike Whitney, came to Forbes last week, visiting the Central West Livestock Exchange, the McFeeters Motor Museum, and the Girragirra Retreat.

Mrs Muffet said it was a great opportunity for the Forbes Shire to get showcased, especially as Sydney Weekender had not visited the town before. “It’s great that they came and got to see that there is actually a lot of things to do in the country,” she said. “Forbes has so much to offer and the country side is so nice, and personally I’m glad they came out and got to experience it.”

“They told me they really enjoyed their stay in the region, and Mike told me it was as good a stay as what he has had in any city that he’s been to as well.” When the Sydney Weekender crew visited Girragirra, located four kilometres out of Forbes on a rural property, they showcased the best of what the countryside has to offer, with nature literally walking up to the door of their room.

At the Livestock Exchange they attended a relatively small sheep sale of about 20,000 sheep, with Presenter Whitney helping out at the sale. The crew checked out the huge range of historical motor vehicles McFeeters Museum has on display, with Mr Whitney commenting that it was as good as any metropolitan museum he has ever been to.

“This motor museum is truly world class,” he told The Forbes Phoenix last week. “I love my motor bikes, and I’m telling you, I know a lot about them, and what this place has on show is just awesome.”

The episode will go to air on July 10.

By Joshua Matic

The Positive Living Skills Early Childhood Wellbeing Program is launching in Parkes and Forbes, with thanks to NorthParkes Mines Community Investment Program. The team at Positive Living Skills has a big vision – to see the alarming and growing statistics around depression, anxiety and suicide drastically reduce within one generation.

They are moving one step closer to that vision now by launching their Positive Living Skills Early Childhood Wellbeing Program within the Forbes and Parkes communities, with support from NorthParkes Mines. Catherine Shaw, founder of the Positive Living Skills initiative and local Parkes resident, knows too well what mental health problems can do to communities.

“We have all heard about the rising rate of suicide, particularly in rural NSW, and we all know someone who has lost a loved one to such a tragedy,” she said. “Mental health problems do not discriminate, and people of all ages and backgrounds are at real risk. When I experienced my own struggles and went looking for help, I found these practical Positive Living skills in my late 40’s.

My immediate thought was, why don’t they teach this in schools? And so this journey began.” Cath Shaw is a woman on a mission; a mission that saw her form an alliance in 2012 with Dr. Terry Orlick PhD, world renowned performance expert and creator of the original Positive Living Skills concepts in Canada. Dr. Orlick is a global leader in the applied field of mental training who has dedicated over 40 years to researching the benefits and effects of positive living skills on children, young people and adults.

“I am very excited to see this Positive Living Skills Program launched in Australia and I support this program and the Positive Living Skills Australian team wholeheartedly,” said Dr Orlick.

“It is so essential to teach all children Positive Living skills from an early age, because when you think about it, the destiny of our world depends on how we support the youngest children of today.” Local psychologist Carly Fisher has also seen the benefits of the Positive Living skills program first hand. “I have seen first hand through my clients the positive effects that have been achieved via the initial pilot studies here in the Parkes Community, and I look forward to seeing this vital program reach broader communities,” she said.

As part of the latest round of funding supported by the NorthParkes Mines Community Investment Program, the Forbes Learning Ladder and Nurture One Victoria Street Children’s Centre will be the first in the area to get the opportunity to share the learning and resources with the children they serve and their families.

Raewyn Molloy, Director of Forbes Learning Ladder, has already experienced the PLS program during the product development stage “After participating in the PLS Early Childhood Program pilot in 2014 and seeing the children in our Centre benefit from the concepts and activities then, we are now excited to be implementing the final product and seeing the continued positive results,” she said.

The official opening of the Robert Wilson Terminal and the completed upgrades to the Parkes Regional Airport took place on Thursday morning at 8.30am. More than 100 dignitaries and special guests were present on the day, including Federal Member for the Riverina Hon. Michael McCormack MP, Parkes Shire Councillors and Robert Wilson’s wife and family members.

The upgrade to the Terminal is part of the $3 million redevelopment of Parkes Regional Airport which is jointly being funded by Parkes Shire Council and the Australian Government, through their Community Development Grants Programme and the New South Wales Government Community Partnership Grant. The project included replacing the existing runway lighting, terminal refurbishment and expansion for security readiness, additional car parking infrastructure and technology improvements.

The Parkes Regional Airport is located five kilometres east of Parkes and is serviced by Regional Express (REX) which provides regular passenger services between Parkes and Sydney. REX transports around 35,000 passengers annually and is vital for connecting the Central West with larger cities.