Who would have thought that some of the excitement of 1969 would reverberate in a paddock outside Parkes 50 years later? This week the Parkes Radio Observatory Visitors Discovery Centre fittingly started a year of celebrations with a big birthday cake for its 50th anniversary.

According to Operations Scientist John Sarkissian’s calculations the centre has handled more than five million visitors, making it not only the biggest tourist attraction in Parkes, but also the number one point of contact with the public in the CSIRO.

The year 1969 was marked by milestone events like the final public performance of the Beatles, the first flight of the Boeing 747 Jumbo Jet and the Concord, the launch of Apollo 9 and the moon landing, but it also saw incredible public interest in the Parkes Radio Telescope following the ABC program Astronomers of Parkes.

“People started pouring in wanting to have a look around until 6,000 visitors arrived for an open day,” said John. After some lobbying, the visitors centre was built at a cost of $50,000 and officially opened by the Science and Education Minister, Malcolm Fraser on 14 February 1969.

Visitors numbers continued to climb and sky rocketed after the release of the popular movie The Dish with numbers peaking in 2003 with 138,000 per year. The centre was upgraded in 2001 with Roy Billing, who played the Mayor of Parkes in The Dish, and the real Mayor, Robert Wilson doing the honours at the opening.

It is not only in Parkes that The Dish has become an icon. Director of Telescope Operations John Reynolds said the most successful scientific instrument ever built in Australia had been featured on banknotes and even rego stickers.

“Fifty years later it is still punching above its weight, and that is where the visitors centre comes in. It is the reason everyone knows about the telescope.”

John praised the staff saying it was easy to underestimate their importance. He said they had made the centre unclosable and encouraged them to continue their great science outreach.

On 20th and 21st July this year the visitors centre will once again feature with the 50th anniversary of Apollo 11’s moonlanding with an open weekend at the Parkes Radio Telescope.

Street Libraries have been popping up all over Australia for a number of years, and last Friday a Parkes resident ensured our town joined the movement.

Daniel Greef built a beautiful home for books and installed Parkes’ very first Street Library at the Presbyterian Church where it is accessible from the street to share the joys of reading with the community. Daniel said he got the idea from his parents who started one at their home in Sydney. “As I don’t live in town, I had to find a place to put it.”

As a member of the Presbyterian congregation, Rev Craig Bland welcomed the idea when Daniel asked him for space. Daniel constructed a beautiful little home for the books and bolted it to the boundary wall of the church on the corner of Gap and Hill Streets last Friday.

“It is a great idea,” said Craig, “and the interest in it already shows there has been a need for this in the community.”

Daniel said he put in 10 books initially and within a few days it had been filled to capacity. He has also received very positive feedback from residents commenting on what a good idea it is.

The idea is that anyone can take books, or put books in. “Anything is welcome from fiction to non-fiction and children’s books.”

He encouraged people to drop by regularly to see what’s new. He would also be happy if other Street Libraries pop up elsewhere in Parkes.

The message of the importance of a caring community by the Australia Day Ambassador in Cooke Park last Saturday touched the crowd of more than 300 people deeply. “We as a community have to be courageous and willing to care and support each other,” said Allan Sparkes. “We need to rebuild and strengthen that core of being Australian and do whatever we can to help a mate no matter what and to never give up.

That is what being Australian is all about.” Allan, who grew up in Cumnock, said as the Deputy Commissioner of the Mental Health Commission of NSW it broke his heart to see so many people struggling psychological health issues, especially farmers during times of drought.

He and Deputy Mayor Barbara Newton have agreed on a plan that he would return to Parkes to educate the community, “especially men, on what to do to regain mental health. The more we care, the stronger we will make our community, our society and our nation.”

As Riverina MP and Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack said in his message: “Communities may be built of bricks and mortar, roads and footpaths, shops and services and other vital infrastructure, but what really builds them up, what really makes them grow and thrive is the selfless work of their people”, it was clear the Parkes Shire community was no exception.

The services of three residents of the shire were recognised with Order of Australia (OAM) awards, while Pat Bailey and Emelina Lavaka were named Citizen of the Year and Young Citizen of the Year respectively. All the award recipients agreed it came as a big surprise and they felt very honoured.

“I am honoured, humbled and sad,” said Ellie Hetherington OAM, “as it should’ve had my husband’s name on it too. I could not have done it without him.” Ellie was recognised for service to the community and founding ‘Ellie’s Plants for Charity’ in 2011, raising thousands of dollars for CanAssist.

“It was never meant to be that big. I was just trying to fulfil my sister’s request. The community has been so good to me and supported me so much.”

For 91-year-old May Collier of Trundle “it is more an award for the community. I have been in this community for 90 years and had lots of opportunities to help,” said May, who is still active with whatever she can do.

“We have a wonderful and supportive community and I am very fortunate to be part of it.” May was also named Trundle’s Citizen of the Year. John Pizarro OAM, said he never ever expected to receive such an honour in his life. “It is just amazing although I don’t think I deserve it, but will take it! John was recognised for his service to motor sports since the 1970s.

Citizen of the Year Pat Bailey said the highlight of the more than 23 years of volunteering for CanAssist was the achievement of bringing chemo therapy to Parkes in 1999/2000 after starting a petition for it. “Patients had to travel to Orange and now with the new hospital we have two Oncology nurses in Parkes twice a week.”

The award is a big honour for Pat, “but I do not volunteer to win awards, I do it to help other people. She said the most rewarding part was knowing she had helped people.”

As school captain of Parkes High last year, Emeline initiated and organised many projects and events to raise awareness and funds for good causes. She felt very proud of her award.

By Maggi Barnard

Northparkes Mines started the year with good news announcing the approval of a new block cave mine with an investment of more than $200 million and creating 180 new jobs. Construction of the three-and-half year project will start this month with full production expected in mid-2022 delivering approximately 40Mt of ore over a 10-year
period.

China Molybdenum Company (CMOC) and Sumitomo made the announcement saying the new block cave mine, called E26 Lift 1 North (E26L1N), will be an 11km underground development including an underground primary crusher, conveying systems and associated infrastructure.

The 180 people employed at the peak of construction will be a mixture of employees and contractors. “We are really excited to see this project come to fruition and to watch Northparkes continue to develop and grow,” said Executive
Chairman and CEO, CMOC Group, Steele Li.

The project, covered by the current project approvals, licences and permits, will see an upgrade to the ventilation system to provide the new mine with sufficient air flow for development and production activities. The E26L1N operation will be designed to utilise an increased level of automation and digitisation, helping to deliver a safer and more productive mine.

Northparkes Acting Managing Director Hubert Lehman said: “Northparkes is the world’s most automated underground block-cave mine. This is a major investment in the future. The mine has been operating for 24 years and we have a vision of a century of mining and continuing to contribute to the local community.”

In April 1957 Elvis Presley’s song All Shook Up topped the US Billboard Hot 100 for eight weeks. Sixty-two years later Parkes is going to be All Shook Up for five days in a celebration of the 50s at the 27th Parkes Elvis Festival.

“Every year we aim to make the festival bigger and better, and we have done it again with over 200 events,” said Parkes Elvis Festival Director, Cathy Treasure of the festival that more than doubles the population of Parkes from 12,000 to 26,500.

First time festival goers and repeat visitors can look forward to all the favourite features of the festival, but also a long list of new events and highlights. These include more dancing in the street, a special Kombi display, international star Francine Bell at the Gospel Service, more fan interaction workshops, a dance workshop for
kids by former Yellow Wiggle Greg Page, a special tribute concert for Phil Emmanuel, and more free shows in Cooke Park.

“We are very excited to have Ted Torres Martin from the US as our feature artist, doing four different concerts,” said Cathy. Iconic Australian singer-songwriter and guitarist Russell Morris is The Wall of Fame recipient this year – a very fitting tribute in the year of the 50th anniversary of the moon 237 Clarinda St Parkes NSW  landing as his 1969 hit The Real Thing was the theme song for The Dish movie.

The Parkes Elvis Festival has been recognised with a string of awards over the years, but entered new territory last
November being inducted into the Hall of Fame of the NSW Tourism Awards after winning the best festival in NSW award for the third consecutive year.

Whether you have dancing shoes or not, this festival is one where ‘you’ll be in love… you’ll be All Shook Up at the 2019 Parkes Elvis Festival!

By Maggi Barnard

Parkes Christian School is celebrating its most successful HSC results to date. In just the fourth year of delivering the
HSC, the school is very proud of the results achieved by their 2018 cohort. Students achieved Band 5 and 6 results in Advanced and Extension English, Biology, Business Studies, Community and Family Studies, Design and Technology, Modern History and German Continuers.

Emma Greenland capped off a year to remember when she received her ATAR of 90.95 last Friday. Emma, named High School Dux and Best All-Rounder at the school’s Presentation Night, received a Band 6 in Community and Family Studies, and Biology. She also achieved Band 5 in Modern History and German Continuers, and Advanced English, which she completed as an accelerated student in 2017. Emma will be able to gain direct entry into a Speech Pathology Course in Sydney next year.

Elly Collins also achieved outstanding results in Design and Technology and English Extension 1, in which she received 40/50 in an extremely demanding and academic course. Elly will undertake an Occupational Therapy degree in Port Macquarie, which she had already gained entry to through the Schools Recommendation Scheme.

Madelynne Capple achieved a Band 5 in Business Studies and will enter the International College of Management on Sydney’s Northern Beaches in 2019.

High School Coordinator Greg Ballantyne was thrilled with the results. “Every student who applied for early entry to university received an offer, maintaining our 100% record over the past four years. We are really pleased for Emma, but the rest of the group have also done extremely well and have bright futures ahead of them.”

“I’m most pleased that every student seemed to be very happy throughout their HSC, enjoyed being at school, had time to pursue other interests and hobbies, and learned a lot about being people of good character and integrity. These are the things that will stay with them throughout their lives.”

Carols in the Park has been a well-established tradition in the Parkes community for a long time, and this year it is getting a makeover!

The popular event will still have all the hallmarks of Carols in the Park as you know and love it, but it was time to step outside the box and bring an increasingly engaging, entertaining and inclusive event to the community.

This Sunday, Carols in the Park will have a big screen with song words and video content, free souvenir programs and an extended event. The most exciting addition is the two-hour preshow from 4:30pm called Carols in the Arvo featuring local musical acts performing Christmas songs in their own style.

Four unique and eclectic acts will be performing including the Doug Richards Trio jazz band, the Lachlan Regional Orchestra and gospel-soul singer Belinda Boland. In addition, alt-country singer songwriter Raechel Whitchurch will be joining the preshow stage from 6pm.

Raechel and her husband, Ben, will be performing favourite Christmas songs in their signature chilled-out Americana style. “Parkes is an incredibly special place to me,” said Raechel. It is my husband’s hometown, it is where my family and I settled after years of travelling Australia, and it is where I feel most at home. Ben and I feel so lucky to have been asked to come home and perform some songs at this year’s event!”

Carols in the Park will begin at 4:30pm for the Carols in the Arvo preshow, Parkes Shire Concert Band will perform from 6:30pm and the Community Carols will start at 7:30pm. BBQ food, snow cones, barista coffee and baked goods will be on sale until 7:30pm.

Parkes Carols in the Park is sponsored by BDN Kitchens & Joinery and presented in partnership with Parkes Shire Council.

By Emma Brown

Shop Parkes has your Christmas all wrapped up this year, with the highly anticipated annual retail campaign launching this week.

Parkes Shire Council and Parkes Chamber of Commerce have joined forces again to deliver the annual Shop Parkes this Christmas retail campaign, which aims to drive spend into the local economy over the festive season. The theme this year is to ‘give a gift to the community’ by shopping locally.

Parkes Chamber of Commerce President, Geoff Rice said: “This year we are encouraging shoppers to support the local business operators who support our community.”

“For each dollar spent at a local business, 45 cents is reinvested back into our community. Being a drought-affected community, it is especially important to help keep the money flowing throughout our region where possible.”

According to Parkes Council’s Economic & Business Development Manager, Anna Wyllie it’s been made simple, more accessible and affordable for businesses to participate in order to maximise the strength of the campaign and appeal of Parkes as a place to shop this Christmas.

“Shoppers are encouraged to take advantage of 12 Days of Christmas special offers  throughout the festive season from 29th November, that can be unwrapped and accessed via the Shop Parkes Facebook and Instagram pages, or the Visit Parkes website.”

“We are opening Christmas Central in the CBD for the first time where shoppers can have their gifts wrapped for free and complete an online survey to go into the draw to win a $500 Shop Parkes Region Gift Card.” For your chance to win, simply shop at any Parkes Shire retail outlet and complete the survey online via visitparkes.com.au or drop into Christmas Central. The lucky winner will be announced on Friday, 4th January 2019.

Christmas Central at 203 Clarinda Street Opening Hours: Thursdays 4pm – 7pm Saturdays 10am – 2pm.

The iconic line-up of Australian greats at the Band Together Farmers concert in Parkes on Saturday delivered a rare experience for the 2,500 strong crowd and left them in high spirits by the end of the night. The crowd in the mosh pit was really living in the moment by the time Mark Seymour and the Undertow followed by the Hoodoo Gurus came on stage with people dancing and singing with passion and conviction.

The fundraising event for the Centre for Rural and Remote Mental Health was also meant to be a day off from all drought worries and concerns. With comments like “the best day ever” and “fantastic event” it seemed to have hit the right spot.

“It was just phenomenal and everyone had such a good time,” said Darren Jones, event director. The artists also loved Parkes and had a ball. “Although it was a hot and dusty day, it highlighted the reality of the drought, and all the comments have only been positive,” said Darren. A highlight for the artists was getting a private tour of The Dish on Saturday morning “which they all raved about”. The other important result of the event was that so much awareness had been raised about mental health. “There were loads of people who spoke to the girls of the digital mental health service Reach Out in the marquee at the concert. Even during the build-up the mental health message was getting a lot of attention,” said Darren.

The stellar cast of seven bands performing from 1:30pm on Saturday saw fans travelling from as far as Queensland, Newcastle, Sydney and all over the Central West. The addition of the RAAF Roulettes had the whole town excited as their spectacular aerial show could be seen all over.

“Thanks for an amazing show, worth the trip from Shellharbour,” said one person. “What a great day,” said another. “We never get anything like that here, and for such a worthy cause. Thank you so much to the organisers and bands for making it possible.

Everywhere I looked, everyone was having a great time! It was the best day I’ve ever had in Parkes.”

Councillor Neil Westcott opened the concert saying what a wonderful event it was for the farmers and the community, while elder Robert Clegg urged people to give farmers a friendly wave when they see them on their land, when he did the welcome to country.

Parkes was also the centre of attention on Saturday and Sunday morning when ABC Radio did a live broadcast from Cooke Park with ABC Radio Sydney presenter, Simon Marnie. ABC New England North West’s Anna Moulder and ABC Illawarra’s Drive Presenter and music legend, Lindsay ‘The Doctor’ McDougall.

By Maggi Barnard