The Parkes Phoenix has reached its first big milestone celebrating our first anniversary today.
Over the past year we have brought you stories and photos from just about every letter that makes up the alphabet of the Parkes Shire community.
Our very first issue on 4th March 2016 featured Dean Messiter, Manager of West- pac, raising money for Queensland’s worst affected drought areas by setting up a bar- beque outside the bank to sell to passersby.
Since then we have covered numerous stories about people exerting themselves to raise money for charities and community groups, we have reported on community events, environmental initiatives, family reunions, special public holidays, festivals, shows, new developments, achievements and many more.
For Editor, Maggi Barnard who joined the paper from the second edition, the highlight has been meeting so many wonderful people in the community who all have amazing stories to tell. “People love it when you are interested in what they do, and we enjoy telling positive stories! It’s a win-win situa- tion for everybody.”
Cheryl Newsom, founder and publisher of the Phoenix Group of Newspapers, said the motivation to start the Parkes Phoenix followed on from the success of the Forbes and Canowindra Phoenix. “As this market did not have a local free newspaper, we believed the opportunity was there to portray local happenings, local news and feel good stories. “
Cheryl said the support from local businesses, the Parkes Shire Council and the readers had been fantastic. “The comments we receive vindicates the reason why we started this.”
Parkes Shire Mayor, Ken Keith said “Congratulations to the Parkes Phoenix. They have presented a new, fresh way of deliver- ing news in our community and should be commended on their approach. It has been a pleasure seeing them attending such a wide range of community events.”
For Karen Creith of Furniture One, The Parkes Phoenix has provided a breath of fresh air. “They have engaged regularly with residents to enable a greater focus on all the amazing stories and events we have in our town. It has its own personality and seems to inject an extra level of enthusiasm in its reporting that makes reading the Phoenix a pleasure.”
Luke Williams and the team at Leading Edge Computers said “Congratulations to the Parkes Phoenix on your first year of publication. It is a privilege to have been with you from the start, and is great to have such a wide reaching and easy advertising platform to work with. You have made it very easy this last year to promote our business, and we look forward to working more with you in the years to come.”