Wednesday was a day of celebration for the LBGTIQ community of Parkes when the results of the Marriage Law Postal Survey came out as an overwhelming yes. For Parkes couple Kasie Ferguson and Bianca Sheridan it was a joyous day. Although they were married in New York City in 2013, they were celebrating in Sydney as their marriage would now be legal in Australia too.

Other Parkes residents with family members in same-sex relationships were also ecstatic by the result, saying they were very happy for them. The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) announced that 61.6% of the 16 million
eligible Australians supported changing the law to allow same-sex couples to marry and 38.4% did not.

In the Riverina electorate, which includes Parkes, a total of 47,333 people voted yes accounting for 54.6%, while 39,308 voted no (45.4%). A total of 77.4% of eligible voters in the Riverina took part in the survey, compared to 79.5% countrywide.

Riverina MP Michael McCormack said the vote showed democracy at work. “I am pleased nearly 80 percent of people voted, I think that shows that people wanted to have their say and now they have it is now up to the Parliament to uphold the will of the people and change the act accordingly.”

All states and territories recorded a majority Yes response. Of the 150 Federal Electoral Divisions, 133 recorded a majority Yes response, and 17 Federal Electoral Divisions recorded a majority No response. Australian Statistician, David W. Kalisch, said the participation rate was high for a voluntary survey.

“This high response rate far exceeds expectations and compares extremely favourably with other voluntary exercises conducted around the world thanks to the strong interest and engagement of eligible Australians in this topic,” he said.

Ladies it’s time to heat those lash curlers and get the hairspray cans out – the Miss Priscilla competition is back for a glamorous night of big entertainment and even bigger hairstyles at the 2018 Parkes Elvis Festival from 10-14 January.

Returning for the 11th year, this shimmering showdown sees women from all walks of life pulling out the stops to resemble The King’s one and only Queen Priscilla Presley, with one lucky lady to be crowned the Face of the Festival at the Goodsell Machinery Miss Priscilla Dinner on Thursday, 11th January 2018.

Tickets to the Miss Priscilla Dinner are on sale now at www.parkeselvisfestival.com.au. While enjoying a delicious dinner and witnessing the crowning of the 2018 Miss Priscilla winner, guests will be entertained by Parkes’ 2016 Ultimate Elvis Tribute Artist winner Jack Gatto, and local group Amitie.

The 2018 Miss Priscilla winner will enjoy all the perks of being crowned the King of Rock and Roll’s leading lady for the weekend – instant celebrity status, plus special guest appearances at plenty of the Festival’s spectacular events.
Festival Director Cathy Treasure said: “It’s not too late to sign up for Miss Priscilla. Applications are still open. We encourage all ladies to enter, whether you’re a professional hair and makeup artist, beauty queen or just a passionate Priscilla fan out to enjoy one of the best nights of the festival every year!”

Can’t commit to going full Priscilla? Don’t pack up the hairspray cans yet – recreate a rockin’ beehive for the Hairstyles of ’60’s competition, or let the hemlines do the talking for title of Miss ’68. Applications can be
downloaded from the Parkes Elvis Festival website – www.parkeselvisfestival.com.au

If you would like to enter Miss Priscilla – complete the form on the website. For all programming and ticketing information, visit www.parkeselvisfestival.com.au

Almost 400 people attended the Remembrance Day ceremony in Cooke Park last Saturday. Captains of all the local schools participated in the ceremony too and at the end Paul Thomas of the RSL Sub-Branch Committee rounded them all up to sing the National Anthem. Parkes East Public School was represented by Archie Rix, Principal Michael Ostler and Madeline Blackstock.

With the weather finally warming up swimming is an ideal way to get a full body workout. Due to the repetitive nature of swimming, overuse injuries in the shoulder and neck are common.

The shoulder is a ball and socket joint with a ring of cartilage around the socket to make the joint more stable. Around this is a loose joint capsule that is reinforced with ligaments and muscles. Because the shoulder is a very mobile joint it relies on the action of these muscles and ligaments to maintain stability. These muscles are called the rotator cuff and consist of four muscles that work together to keep your shoulder centred in its socket.

So if swimming strengthens the shoulder muscles why do so many swimmers have shoulder problems? The simple answer is due to the repetitive nature of swimming. The more complex answer lies in the fact that many swimmers don’t have good stroke technique, while those that do, can still have problems because the swim stroke (in particular freestyle) mainly strengthens the shoulder internal rotators and adductors. This causes muscle imbalance, leaving the scapular stabilisers and external rotators relatively weak and joint laxity increases. The rotator cuff must work harder to keep the shoulder centred in the socket. When the already relatively weakened external rotators fatigue,
the ball of the shoulder joint moves forward and the tendon of the rotator cuff muscles is pinched between the bones as the hand is raised above shoulder height.

Next column I will cover some practical ways to prevent this from happening and what to do if you already have problems.

For the fitness of you.
Linda Reilly

We are all collectors, but Ian and Judy Chambers have set themselves apart over 50 years of working together as professional treasurers. They have not only owned a collection of businesses, but Ian the hobbyist has amassed an amazing treasure trove of old Australian comics, corner shop items and tin toys.

The entrepreneurial and industrious couple was recently recognised for their life’s work by being awarded the Ken Birch Memorial trophy at The Henrys business awards. “We have lived in Parkes all our lives, and we both started work at the then Central West County Council in 1966.”

In 1978 they bought Coulston’s Jewellers, changed the name to Reflection Jewellers, and nine years later installed the first onehour photo lab in Parkes. In 1997 they sold the jewellery shop, only to get back into business about 15 months later purchasing the Video Ezy stores in Parkes and Forbes, which Ian said had been the most enjoyable business to run.

“People always came into the shop in a happy mood.” In 2000 their son Dave and his partner Tracey took over the management of the two stores and incorporated both stores shortly after as Discount Tobacconists. The sad news is that the video part of the shop is closing down, but the good news is the business is moving back full circle to
where the jeweller shop used to be at 225- 227 Clarinda street, and will be expanded to include a men’s gift ware section. Next door is Dad and Daves – father and son’s collection hobbies turned into business.

Ian and Judy continue to fill in as required, while also being very active in the community. Ian served as a Councillor for 12 years among other things, has a keen interest in the history of Parkes photographing the shops and businesses for the past 40 years and published a book in 1988.

“We feel pretty privileged and lucky with what we have done in Parkes.” They have not only preserved history but
have accumulated a treasure trove of stories too as every item in their vast collection has a wonderful tale attached to it.

By Maggi Barnard

The Parkes College for Seniors joined knitters from around Australia to help create 60,000 poppies to mark the centenary of the end of World War I in November next year. About 20 members and guests held a special session last week to create the poppies to be sent to Canberra. The group has done close to 500 poppies to contribute to the centenary that will see a carpet of poppies at the Australian War Memorial. Each poppy knitted will represent an Australian life lost in World War I – the costliest conflict to Australia in terms of deaths. Out of the 416,809 men who enlisted, 60,000 were killed and 156,000 were wounded, gassed or taken prisoner.