The announcement of the Showgirl and Teenage Showgirl is one of the highlights of one of the biggest agricultural shows west of the Blue Mountains.

This year the judges had a difficult job deciding on the winners after each entrant attended an interview, as well as an onstage interview at a dinner function held recently.

The winners will be announced on Tuesday at the show.

The sponsors of the competition have donated a good range of prizes and gift packs for all the entrants. Miss Teenage Showgirl entrants are 15-17 years old and Showgirl entrants 18-24 years old. The three days and two nights of the Parkes Show from Monday, 26th August to Wednesday, 28th August has plenty of entertainment, side shows and trade stands for everyone, not to forget the spectacular fireworks display on Tuesday night that can be seen from miles around.

The event also features four days of horse events as well as exhibits of sheep, cattle, birds and poultry and don’t forget the pavilion displays.

Day tickets or three-day passes are available for the show. For more information including ticket pricing and a full program, visit the Parkes Show website or their Facebook page.

This year Inland Rail is once again a proud sponsor of the Parkes Show. With construction on Inland Rail between Parkes to Narromine rolling full steam ahead, make sure to drop by the Inland Rail marquee to meet the team and find out more about the project.

Other highlights include the headline entertainment act featuring the trick riders from Showtime FMX, the demolition derby on Wednesday at 7:30pm, the Blue Mountains Reptile Encounters, and for some fun and excitement there will be circus workshops conducted by Darryl and Di from Firstlight Entertainment.

The evergreen popular sideshow alley will again attract the younger crowd, the ever popular Kid Zone and challenging mechanical bull are also on the program.

The annual Coffee with a Cop event took place on Monday morning at the Roasted Kombi café. At least 40 people braved the freezing cold conditions to meet officers from Parkes Police to discuss community issues and build relationships. “We are really happy with how it turned out,” said Senior Constable Daniel Greef.

Father’s Day is fast approaching and making it a special day for dad can sometimes be difficult. There are a lot of options to consider from what to buy, where to eat or which activity to do.

As new research has shown the significant and wide-ranging health benefits of spending time outside, why not give Dad a nature fix this year?

The Parkes Dragon Boat Club is putting on a special Father’s Day paddle and barbeque on Sunday, 1st September at Lake Endeavour from 9:30am to 2:30pm.

Everyone over 12 years is welcome to try out a paddle. Otherwise it is a wonderful outing to the lake to enjoy the peaceful environment with bird life and lots of options for some hiking. There will also be a kids’ fishing competition with a prize for a fish caught. Tackle will be provided.

Pack a picnic, chairs and utensils and spend Father’s Day at Lake Endeavour, and give the whole family a precious gift of time in nature.

The skies over Parkes are set to soar with an exciting and new event next month. AirVenture Australia will be held at Parkes Regional Airport from 20th to 22nd September attracting up to 3,000 attendees flying and driving in.

All things aviation will be on display including a high energy airshow, joy flights, kids activities, food, drinks and entertainment, trade and exhibition displays, an aviation- based STEM and careers program and a BushCat Aircraft Build project.

One of the most exciting program items is the AirVenture Australia STEM and Careers Exposition for students with the aim to encourage ongoing involvement in aviation.

The program consists of two elements: a week-long Aviation Engineering Work Experience Program with the objective of assembling a BushCat recreational aircraft from a kit, and the Aviation Careers and STEM exposition. It will be a one-day education program on 20th September for up to 150 school aged students.

The aim is to provide students with an insightful and hands on experience of the aviation Industry, plus the various career pathways available in Australia, including maintenance, design, fabrication and remotely piloted aircraft systems.

Only limited positions are available – nomination forms need to be in before 25th August. Visit airventureaustralia.com.au

The 11th very real, and at times confronting mock crash demonstration held at the Parkes High School last week once again brought home a very important message to about 500 students from three shires.

The mock crash demonstration, aimed at Year 10 students from the Forbes, Parkes and Lachlan shires, shows a realistic scenario involving a single vehicle accident and response by emergency services. It aims to improve the attitudes and behaviours of young drivers and passengers as particularly red P platers are over represented in crash statistics across the State.

“Locally, a 27% reduction has been recorded in crashes involving young drivers since the program commenced 11 years ago,” said Parkes, Forbes and Lachlan Shire Councils’ Road Safety and Injury Prevention Officer, Belinda Coe.

“We work in partnership with NSW Police, SES, and Ambulance NSW to bring home this important message.”

Central West Police District Crime Prevention Officer, Senior Constable Daniel Greef, said: “It’s vitally important to make these scenarios as realistic as possible to show young people what actually happen on roads.

“We based this scenario off actual crashes involving young people in this area.” The demonstration starts with establishing scenes to introduce the four characters, tells the audience what led to the crash, and then there is a full emergency response.