Forbes Services Club Manager David Fitzgerald says the great interest in entertainment in Forbes is what’s attracting famous acts to town.

Famed country musician Kasey Chambers played at the club on Friday March 11, while well-known DJ ‘Jesabel’ (real name Jessica Heap) played at the Forbes Inn on Saturday March 19.

The Forbes Services Club will also host popular American/Australian entertainer ‘Diesel’ (real name Mark Lizotte) in April, while country singer Adam Harvey will visit the club in May.

The now famous ‘Vanfest’ festival will also be staged in Forbes in December, completing what should be a musical treat for the town this year. Mr Fitzgerald said that Forbes provided a warm atmosphere for acts to come to town, and this is why he felt they were happy to come.

“I think Forbes treats the acts that come to town very well,” he said. “There is a very warm and inviting atmosphere around town, but in addition to that, I believe there is a great following for live music here, and this would no doubt
attract performers to come here.”

Mr Fitzgerald said the recent Kasey Chambers concert at the Services Club
auditorium was a huge success, with around 400 people filling the club to hear
hits such as ‘Not Pretty Enough’ and ‘True Colours’. “It was her first visit to Forbes in quite a number of years, and pulling in such a big name is a great accolade to the town of Forbes,” he said.

Mr Fitzgerald said his club was looking at getting a famous act once per month
between now and the end of the year, depending on availability. He said the club was targeting former Daddy Cool and Mondo Rock front man Ross Wilson, famed country musician Troy Cassar-Daley, and fellow well-known
country act Adam Brand.

Evolution Mining (“Evolution” or the “Company”) confirmed recently it advised employees at its Cowal Gold Operation (“Cowal”) near West Wyalong in NSW of an organisational restructure necessary to support the long-term future of the mine.

Evolution acquired Cowal in July 2015, and has since undertaken a careful review of the organisational structure as part of its overall development strategy to unlock the mine’s future potential. Evolution has implemented a new organisational structure which will streamline site management and eliminate role duplication to empower staff, promote collaboration
between departments and enable more effective decision making.

An important outcome of the restructure is the creation of a new Planning and
Development Team entirely focussed on building Cowal’s future and extending the current Life of Mine. This team will be built predominantly by moving existing employees into newly created roles.

The current Life of Mine at Cowal considers closure of the mine in 2024. To
continue operating beyond this date, Evolution needs to secure the necessary environmental approvals and demonstrate the economic viability of expansion options.

Realising new levels of efficiency at the mine will become pivotal to the viability of these expansion options. The restructure incorporates changes
to the senior level of the organisation, decentralisation of the maintenance department, and the creation of an Environment & Social Responsibility (ESR) team which will leverage opportunities for collaboration between the Environment and Community Relations functions.

As a result, a number of roles will become redundant under the new structure. Evolution is aware of the impact that redundancies may have on individuals, their families and the broader community and is committed to supporting those affected through the transition.

Forbes Riding for the Disabled Committee is looking for new volunteers to take up executive positions within the committee. The current committee met last Wednesday 16th March for their AGM and with all executive positions open, there unfortunately were no nominations to replace the vacating committee members.

All attended agreed to hold a special meeting on Wednesday 30th March 2016 to allow longer to entice new faces with new ideas to the committee. Since becoming a steering committee in October 2013 only a small amount of
the original committee members remain. Coaches have been trained, agreements with Sahara Park have been settled on, volunteer days held, fundraising done for supplying specialist equipment to participants
and students from Forbes High School registered and ready to attend.

The issue is now to continue growing registered participants and to encourage volunteers to take on the lead roles such as President, Secretary and Treasurer.
There are plenty of volunteers beyond the main roles but the current vacating
committee are hoping to have their roles filled at the next meeting because if not the RDA Forbes Centre will have to fold and the funds raised will be sent to RDA NSW to be held in trust for two years. However, in that period if a committee reforms the raised funds will be accessible. After the two-year period if no interest is shown in recommencing the centre, the funds will go
to the closest RDA in our area.

The Special Meeting will be held on Wednesday 30th March at 6.00pm at the
Forbes RSL. All interested people are invited to attend to ensure the centre is able to continue.

The Lions Youth of the Year Quest is conducted annually throughout Australia. Local Lions Clubs conduct the quest for local secondary schools and the winners from these events continue on through the various levels until a national winner is declared.

Lions Australia will award all National Finalists an organised group tour to a Lions International Youth Camp at Rotorua, New Zealand, followed by a group tour to the National Winner’s home state, a total of 16 days’ duration during the summer holidays.

Each state winner will also receive $500 spending money. The National Winner receives an overseas trip to a destination of choice to the value of $4,000 plus $1,000 spending money.

The Public Speaking winner receives a trip to a destination of choice to the value of $2,000 plus $500 spending money. After a hard fought Club Final in Forbes, Kelly Yoon was declared the winner. Kelly then progressed to the Zone Final on Sunday 20th March, which she won again. She now progresses to the District Final of the Lions Youth of the Year Quest in Dubbo on 9th April.

Former Forbes High School student Isaac Wren’s 2015 HSC work is now on display at the Sydney Powerhouse Museum. Wren, a Year 12 Forbes High School Graduate, is involved with the Shape 2015 exhibition at the Museum, which started on February 27 and ends on May 8.

His Year 12 Major Works project was a seven level game with coloured cubes to be picked up and placed on corresponding colours. The project will also be displayed later in the year at the inTech 2016 exhibition at Sydney Olympic Park.

InTech 2016 is the annual exhibition of outstanding Major Design Projects developed by 2015 HSC Industrial Technology students and runs from Friday 24 June to Sunday 26 June 2016.

In 2015, over 2500 students and their teachers from across NSW visited the In-Tech exhibition in Sydney. The Powerhouse Museum exhibit features a limited number of projects from industrial technology, textiles and design, as
well as design and technology. His work was one of just 25 out of a massive 9000 projects picked for the Powerhouse Museum exhibition.

Mr Wren’s mother, Monica Wren, said it was a very exciting time for their family to be involved with such a big exhibition. “It was such a fantastic experience for all of us, not just Isaac,” she said. “To think that little Forbes High School is represented at the Powerhouse Museum, and that the Forbes community helped to raise a technological genius is just beyond words. We don’t even have ADSL at home!”

Mr Wren told The Forbes Phoenix last month it felt great to have his work on display at one of Australia’s most recognisable museums. “It’s pretty cool. I wasn’t really expecting it,” he said.

Campervan and Motorhome Club of Australia Solo Network rally organiser Rainey Parsell labeled this week’s Forbes rally a huge success.

Around 350 campervans and motorhomes rolled into town on Monday for a week’s worth of action, and they are due to hit the roads again on Monday. The Rally was held at the Forbes Showground for the Solo’s Rally, an event that members of the CMCA Solo Network, as well as some couples from the CMCA, participated in.

Solo Network members are members of the CMCA that are single. With between 30 and 40 of the 350 vans made up of couples, it is estimated that
around 400 people made it to the rally.

While the rally is still yet to feature its open and market day, which is on tomorrow for the public to enjoy, throughout the week members have engaged in activities such as dinners, morning walks, tai chi, meditation, arts and crafts, musical sessions, dance classes, seminars and regional tours.

Mrs Parsell said the support Forbes had offered to the Rally was great. “Council let us stay at the campgrounds for free while we set up the showground, and while we were there people came up to us and thanked us for coming.”

Mrs Parsell said many members of the Solo Network had suffered from depression due to being single and lonely (from losing their partners or families) and NSW Mental Health had come on board to run a seminar to help those affected by mental illness.

“It’s also great for those people to be apart of what we do as well. We spend our lives on the road and just have lots of fun together,” she said. Tomorrow’s open day will also feature vehicles for inspection, and in some cases, purchase.

Forbes and the entire Central West has sweltered through February and the start of March, as the country comes to grips of a record-breaking heat wave. Some areas have recorded their hottest start to Autumn in history, and above average temperatures are expected to hang around until April.

While the historical average maximum for March is 29 degrees, Forbes has seen daily average highs of 36 degrees so far this month. This followed a daily average of 34.1 degrees in February, up 1.5 degrees on the historical average.

While possible showers have been forecasted for Friday, the last two months have been very dry, with only 6.4mm of rain officially falling since February 1.
Bureau of Meteorology forecaster Jake Phillips said the extreme weather was due to persistent high pressure in the atmosphere. “It’s largely due to a band of high pressure, which has been very static across the region, and that’s prevented any cold fronts from moving through,” he said.

“The most extreme conditions have been across the west and the south of the state.” While above average temperatures are expected to persist through March, the current El Nino weather pattern is expected to subside come April, and this means rain could return.

There is about a 30 per cent chance of a La Nina [wetter than normal conditions] forming later this year, but with long term forecasts currently suggesting El Nino [drier than normal conditions] is unlikely to reform,
the BOM stated no bad news is good news for local farmers.

“For the next six months there is no prediction of dryness for much of the South East going through for the next three months,” seasonal risk agronomist Dale Grey said.