New licensee of Parkes and Forbes McDonalds, Jenny Parfitt, spoke proudly of her daughter Lilly who has decided to follow in her mother’s footsteps by applying for her first job at Maccas. “She has really thrown herself into her job, doing four to five shifts per week,” said Jenny. 

Jenny employs over 150 staff across the two stores, including 13 managers and one supervisor, but they still need more employees. Maccas is without doubt a huge employer of youth, but there are opportunities available for older staff during the day, in the Cafe and as delivery drivers. The age of the staff at Maccas Parkes and Forbes ranges from 14 to 62 years. 

You would be perfect for a job at Maccas if you are high energy, fast paced and able to change tasks when needed. 

“One minute you might be working in the drive-thru, then you might have to swing over to help the Cafe, the mornings are all about coffee, at lunchtime the kitchens are pumping, Friday night is dinner box after dinner box, so you just have to be ready to go where you’re needed,” said Jenny. 

After months of planning, fundraising and dance lessons, eight gorgeous young ladies and their equally handsome partners impressed and delighted their invited guests at the debutante ball on Saturday, 25th March.

The group consisting of Georgia Cole and Pat Tulaga, Eliza Fahey and Austen Brown, Meg Fahey and James Edmunds, Kirby Maslin and Tom Maslin, Emily Molloy and Will Bolam, Hannah Thorpe and Ashlee Coe, Claire Turner and Brodie Gartner, Laura Vonthien and Charlie Vonthien, were present to Mrs Pat Duncan, Ambassador for the Motor Neurone Disease Association of NSW. 

The group were accompanied by flower girls Elsie Ball and Georgia Nixon, and pageboy, Lincoln Molloy. 

The nervous duos performed their feature dance to “I’ll Be There” by Foster which was choreographed by Miss Emily Jack. 

The ladies looked spectacular in their white gowns and the young gents wore smart single breasted navy suits, crisp white shirts, tan shoes and light blue accessories which complemented the colour theme.

Traditionally, debutante balls were formal occasions where young ladies were presented to society after learning manners and etiquette customary of the time. Modern debutante balls still teach participants social skills but are an opportunity to raise valuable funds for charities and not-for-profit organisations. 

The tireless efforts of the debutantes and their partners cooking barbeques, selling raffle tickets and more, were justified with a profit of almost $2,400 raised which will directly benefit the Motor Neurone Disease Association of NSW.

MND is a progressive neurological disease that results in high levels of disability. Without functioning nerves, muscles waste and no longer function which affects the neck, shoulders, hands, feet, arms, legs and breathing. There is currently no cure for MND and two people are diagnosed and a further two die with MND every day in Australia. 

The group chose to support the MND Association of NSW as it was dear to their hearts, with some of the group’s family members having been directly affected by it.

The monster raffle drawn on the night was well supported by local businesses and families who generously donated all nine of the prizes. First prize was a Malvern Star Adult bike sponsored by Bown’s Sportspower was won by Kim Maslin, second prize a garden parcel donated by Achesons Mitre 10 went to Deb Waters, June Dollar took out third prize, the REPCO vehicle cleaning kit, fourth prize a Tyreright gift voucher went to Jodie Vonthien, fifth prize a Blush Organic voucher was won by Gaye Donnelly, the Orange Tenpin Bowl voucher donated by the Fahey family went to Anthony Ireland, Eliza Fahey received the meat tray donated by Flint Street Butchery, James Edmunds took home the Merge Virtual Reality Goggles and Alex Molloy took out the final prize of the night, the Fisher Price interactive toy package. 

Event coordinator, Anita Morrison, commended the group on their efforts and congratulated family and friends for their support.

Good news for communities that were flood affected with the announcement more financial support will be made available, including Medium Size Business Support grants, as the recovery from flooding which began in August, 2022 continues. The latest round of support includes:

Funding for community and volunteer non-government-organisations (NGO) to support community-led recovery projects.

The Medium Sized Business grant will be available in the LGAs of Balranald, Berrigan, Bogan, Bourke, Brewarrina, Cabonne, Carrathool, Central Darling, Cobar, Cowra, Dubbo Regional, Edward River, Federation, Forbes, Griffith, Gunnedah, Hay, Junee, Lachlan, Leeton, Moree Plains, Murray River, Murrumbidgee, Narrabri, Narrandera, Parkes, Wagga Wagga, Walgett, Warren, Warrumbungle and Wentworth.

The Back Home grant provides payments of up to $20,000 for owner-occupiers, $15,000 for landlords and $5,000 for renters, while the Rental Support payment covers the cost of 16 weeks of rent.

The extended disaster recovery packages are jointly funded by the Australian and NSW governments under the Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements.

For more about disaster recovery assistance, contact Service NSW on 13 77 88 or visit: www.service.nsw.gov.au. Information is also available on the Commonwealth Government’s Disaster Assist website at: www.disasterassist.gov.au.

Meet the new Licensees of the Post Office Hotel (Postie) in Forbes, Elizabeth Power and Darren Phillips. Elizabeth is a Forbes local having been born and raised in the town, while Darren is from Canberra, but has lived in Forbes for the last two years.

Elizabeth (Liz) has a background in nursing and Darren (Daz) worked in Canberra for Qantas before COVID struck. 

The two have spent the last few years working in disability support, but the constant travelling was wearing them both down. That’s when Liz saw that the Postie was up for lease and they decided to go for it. 

“We’ve hit the ground running, it was such a great opportunity, the pub was really run down and needed a lot of TLC, so hopefully we are giving it that,” said Liz. 

Liz also has three sons who are all local farmers, who she is very proud of. 

Liz and Daz will be introducing more live entertainment to the hotel are interested in having a DJ/Karaoke in addition to providing the opportunity for local bands to perform. If you are in a local band and would like to perform at the Post Office Hotel, please reach out.

Chef Bee is the new head chef at the Postie and was British Army trained. She describes her experience as being “Pubs, pubs, clubs and pubs.” 

We asked her what made her relocate from Sydney to Forbes for the role, she said, “It just felt right, Liz and Darren are two of the finest people you will ever meet.”

Bee went on to say, “I’m building a great team and the locals have all been so kind. I’m extremely adamant about using local suppliers as much as we possibly can, the meat out here is astounding, I’ve never seen anything like it.”

The town of Bogan Gate celebrated its 125th anniversary on Tuesday, 11th March. The Parkes Shire Concert Band (PSCB) were invited to lead the vintage car parade. They marched, playing Colonel Bogey before setting up beside the ‘gate’ to entertain the crowd after the speeches and the unveiling of the plaque.

PSCB member Elly Tom said, “It was a privilege to be part of this historic occasion.”

PSCB is a committed community band, always ready to welcome new members. If you want to play music again, dust off that instrument, join in and give it a try. At present the band has two members who are new to Parkes and here for a work period, it’s a great way to make friends. 

Don’t fret if you no longer have an instrument, the band have a range of instruments for hire and if you’re a beginner, don’t let that stop you, as PSCB offer group beginners lessons. 

The PSCB rehearse every Tuesday during the school terms, above the Parkes Aquatic Centre. Head along to Homegrown this weekend between 10am – 11am to meet the members of the PSCB.