Parkes Shire Council raked in another award last week when Director Infrastructure, Andrew Francis, was bestowed with legendary status. He was named one of three Legends of Water by the Australian Water Association (AWA). The award recognises the achievements of water industry leaders committed to creating a more sustainable water future dedicating their careers to promoting the importance of water in their respective fields.
How long have you lived in Parkes and what do you like most about living here? I actually live between Parkes and Dubbo, close to Yeoval. I grew up in Molong, married a farmer and moved here about five years ago. I’ve worked in Parkes for the last five years and I love it. It’s got a small-town community vibe, yet the conveniences of a large centre.
Where do you work or what do you do currently and what do you enjoy about it? I own Kerin Physio Co, which I started about three years ago. We now have a team of 12 amazing ladies and we offer physiotherapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy and exercise physiology services. I absolutely LOVE what I do – I have a passion for rural healthcare and love seeing our clients receive high quality services from professionals who genuinely care.
What is your favourite thing to do when you have free time? I love a long bath with a wine and good book. Or being outside in the garden, there is nothing quite like the morning sun on your shoulders and the smell of freshly cut lawn. Or a stroll up the paddock during golden hour in the late afternoon, with my baby in the carrier, husband beside me and the dogs running around us excitedly.
What makes you proud? Seeing people go outside their comfort zones and achieve amazing things.
If you could be an animal which one would you choose, and why? I’ve always thought meerkats look like they have a lot of fun! Although if I’m being honest, all my Meerkat knowledge comes from the series, Meerkat Manor (which I was far too emotionally invested in…)
Tell us about your best holiday. South America: snorkelling with the incredible animals in the Galapagos Islands, hiking the ancient Inca Trail and overlooking Machu Picchu at sunrise, enjoying a delicious seven-course lunch with paired wines in Mendoza (Argentina) – the perfect holiday.
Luka Parkin and Tia Dunn: (Parkes Public School Captains)
Luka: The soldiers fought so we don’t have to fight in wars, and we don’t have to experience that pain. Tia: It is important to commemorate all the people who have lost their lives and delivered freedom for us.
Nicayden Greenwood and Faith Hanstock: (Parkes High School Captains)
Nicayden: It is important to continue the legacy of the fallen Diggers and pay our respects to the lost generations. Faith: To pay our respects to the fallen, especially those from the Parkes district.
Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack and Parkes East student Oscar Hendry.
Writing a letter can sometimes bring surprising results as a year 2 student at Parkes East Primary School found out this week.
Eight-year-old Oscar Hendry wrote a letter to the Deputy Prime Minister about his school and invited him to visit. He also said he wanted to be an astrophysicist one day.
The letter made a big impression and on Monday Michael McCormack came to visit Oscar at his school and spent time in his classroom.
He asked Oscar about his favourite subjects, and if the presence of the Parkes Radio Telescope has inspired Oscar to be an astrophysicist.
Michael told Oscar and the students they could be whatever they wanted to be as long as they applied themselves. “Who knows maybe one day you could be like Andy Thomas the Australian astronaut,” he said.
The Deputy Prime Minister also answered questions from the students about his role, and he handed out certificates to students who participated in an ANZAC Day writing competition earlier in the year.
Parkes Elvis Festival Director Cathy Treasure with the top gong adding to the festival’s vast collection of awards.
The fame of the Parkes Elvis Festival keeps on spreading as this major event was named the “Best of the Best” at the inaugural Grey Nomads Awards last week.
Announced at a gala dinner on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast, the Festival took out the top prize after winning the “Best Grey Nomad Festival or Event” category earlier in the evening.
The Grey Nomad Awards recognise communities, tourism operators and events that provide exemplary products, services or experiences for travellers aged over 55.
The “Best of the Best” was granted to the category winner judged as the most outstanding.
“We have an extremely hard-working team of staff and volunteers who work around the clock to deliver a five-day festival with more than 200 unique events,” said Parkes Elvis Festival Director Cathy Treasure.
“Winning this award is wonderful validation for all the blood, sweat and tears that go into delivering this event to our audiences.”
Grey Nomad Awards Director Kim Morgan, said the win was a significant feather in Parkes’ cap. “Winning a Grey Nomad Award says to these travellers that you offer a superior experience where their needs and enjoyment have been taken into special consideration, providing them with verified information that will guide their decisions on where to travel and what to experience.”
Judging was conducted by mature-age tourism and event professionals from around Australia, some of whom had experienced the grey nomad lifestyle, lending weight to Parkes Elvis Festival’s success.
Parkes Elvis Festival and Parkes Shire Council were praised for the thorough research they had conducted to attract and satisfy grey nomads. The judges were impressed that this inland town in the heart of New South Wales has found such a unique way to attract tens of thousands of visitors when much of Australia is solely focussed on seaside holidays.
CENTENARY OF GRINSTED CUP… The 2019 Parkes team was joined by Tim Keith, Bob Aitken, John Davies and Lex Hodges before the match on Saturday.
History repeated itself last Saturday in the centenary celebration of the Grinsted Cup game played at the Woodward Oval.
In 1969 Parkes staged an amazing revival to defeat Forbes by one wicket in the 50th anniversary of the Grinsted Cup. The same result was achieved last Saturday when Parkes scraped home to win by the barest margin with Forbes 10/91 off 39 overs and Parkes 9/92 off 39 overs.
After the official launch of the new LED lights at the oval by Member for Orange Phil Donato and Councillor Louise O’Leary, the match began in sensational fashion when Parkes opening bowler Phil Dunford produced a wicket off the first ball to clean bowl Jarrod Nicholson.
Forbes staged a comeback as Mitch Bayley 34 and Scott Neville 15 took the Forbes score to 51 in the 19th over. Parkes 15-year- old Harry Bayliss entered the attack with his well flighted leg spinners as he ripped through the middle order and claimed 6/29 off 10 overs.
Forbes batsman Mark Simmonds (20 no) displayed plenty of grit to boost the Forbes total to 91 off 39 overs. Phil Dunford (3/18) and Blake Smith (1/18) put Parkes in a good position for victory.
At the toss before the match were (L-R) Peter Yelland (Parkes Captain), Mitch Bayley (Forbes Captain), Glenn Pepper (Parkes) and Robert Ryan (Forbes).
In reply, the Parkes batting line-up soon found that they had a difficult task as Mark Simmonds turned in a terrific display of sustained accuracy to smash through the Parkes batting order. Parkes were reeling when their score stood at 5/27 after 12 overs with Mark Simmonds collecting four of the first five wickets to fall. Andrew Hall and Toby Hurford also bowled tightly for Forbes.
A very determined Shane Jones (33 no) and Paul Dunford (11) added useful runs, but Parkes continued to lose wickets at regular intervals. The Parkes score stood at 9/75 when the final batsmen, Ben Coultas joined Shane Jones with Parkes requiring a further 17 runs for victory.
Shane Jones survived a dropped catch that would have given Forbes victory. Ben Coultas hit the winning runs off the following over to give Parkes a memorable victory over a gallant Forbes team.
The Grinsted Cup is said to be the longest running sport competition in NSW. Michael Greenwood gave an overview of all the top historic moments of the past 100 years at the Woodward Oval. He said it was the showpiece of country sport 60 years ago, and told the Parkes team, who defended the sought after trophy last Saturday, and the Forbes team they were part of great sporting history.
Parkes Action Club members and partners at the Changeover Dinner.
Action!: The Parkes Action Club recently held its annual Changeover Dinner. Cr Alan Ward represented Parkes Shire Council, and he congratulated the Club for its volunteer work in the community. The Action Club has done in excess of 326 hours of community service over the past 12 months. The executive was returned largely unchanged with Bob Steel (President), Louden Grady (Vice-President), Mark Olson (Secretary), David Knights (Treasurer) and David Marks (Commissariat). Bob thanked members for their work particularly at the Christmas Street parade and the public speaking competition.
‘Drought’ Christmas Party: On 15th December there will be a Christmas Party for farmers, small business owners, families and all people hurting due to the drought. The free event will be at the Parkes Bowling & Sports Club from 4 – 8pm. It is open to the whole family and will have a children’s play area, jumping castle, games of futsal and bowls, and a free barbeque meal at 7pm. RSVP to ucparkes@bigpond.com for catering purposes, or contact John Carr on 6862 5526, Graham Lancastar 0439 040 327 or Julie Green 0419 725 462.
A Joyous Event: The Flourish Music Studio term 4 concert will be held on Thursday, 28th November at the Parkes Baptist Church at 7pm. The theme is Joy. You can play ‘Joy to the World’ or something similar, or a piece which brings you joy! If you would like to participate, send an email to poshandjam@outlook.com
Competition: Enter our competition on page 8 to win a double pass to The Never Ending 80s show in Parkes at the Leagues Club on 23rd November.
On A Note: We welcomed our newest member Hannah MacIntyre, who plays clarinet. Parkes Shire Concert Band (PSCB) enjoyed playing at the Rosedurnate Fete last Saturday. We really enjoy playing in the community, so if you have an event please contact us. Our next community playouts will be Christmas visits to the nursing homes, Up the Street in December, Christmas Street Parade and Christmas Carols. We are looking forward to January 2020, leading the Elvis Street Parade and Australia Day. If you would love to be part of community music please come along. Rehearsals are on Tuesday 7-9pm during school term, above the Pool Complex in Dalton Street. Contact PSCB Music Director Duncan Clement on email: duncanclement@hotmail.com or 0405 035 164.
PSCB Music Director Duncan Clement with Lila Gascoigne, Amelia Leach, Hannah McIntyre, Gracie McFadyen and Hana Kim.
By Elly Tom
Tim Cooke assisting with the colour run.
Students and families from Middleton Public School changed colour last Friday when they participated in a fundraising event.
After a picnic lunch the students donned white t-shirts and ran around an obstacle course whilst getting as much colour on them as possible. It was hard to decide who had the most fun – the students, or the teachers and parents who were in charge of throwing the colour!
With perfect weather for the colour run, many students claimed it was the most fun they had in years.
SKY WRITERS… Two of the 50 creative writers in the Dark Sky Dreamings anthology are from Parkes: Sal MacKean and Braam Smit.
The night sky over Parkes puts on a spectacular show for free every night, but when was the last time you looked up to enjoy it? Two star-gazing Parkes residents have been creatively inspired by this majestic wonder with their writing included in a collection of poetry and prose in the newly released Dark Sky Dreamings anthology.
The night sky has been a source of inspiration to both Sarah (Sal) MacKean and Braam Smit and when the Skywriters Project was launched they both embraced the opportunity to take their writing a step further.
“I liked the idea of writing about the sky because Parkes has these fantastic sky scapes,” said Sal, who moved here in 2015 from the UK. “I don’t know of any other place with such magnificent night views. It is one of Parkes’ strengths.”
For Braam, who moved to Parkes from a polluted city in South Africa only last year, it was an opportunity to embrace two of his passions: poetry and astronomy. “You can’t miss the night sky in Parkes, it is just spectacular. I’ve always enjoyed writing poetry, and as an amateur astronomer I enjoy spending time behind my telescope.”
Sal and Braam both ended up contributing poems to the anthology that includes the work of 48 other writers from inland NSW and beyond.
“I’ve given up being a lawyer hoping to become a writer,” said Sal, who now works in special education at Parkes High School. She took the bold step of writing poetry for the first time. “Seeing my first work in print is a positive thing for me. I feel very good about it.” She hopes this will bring opportunities to get more of her work published. She has written four novels and some short stories since arriving in Parkes.
Braam has had his Afrikaans poems published in South Africa and the Netherlands, but seeing his very first poem written in English and published in Australia is exciting for him. “It was a very rewarding project. I liked the idea of writing about the sky. It feels good to be in the company of other poets who all experienced the same thing and wrote about it.”
He said making the switch to writing in English has not been that difficult, although he felt he was a lot more cautious in his writing. He hopes to do a lot more writing and eventually have enough material for a collection of his own.
The Dark Sky Dreamings anthology was launched in Tamworth last week, and editor Merrill Findlay plans to have a launch in Parkes too in the near future.
By Maggi Barnard
They say every generation ‘throws a hero up the pop charts’, but Sydney-based outfit The Never Ending 80s pay tribute to a whole decade doing it bigger, bolder and better than anyone else.
Their epic three-hour show will take you back to the best of it all packed full of the biggest hits by the biggest artists of that era. As the band expertly carve their way through the music of Prince, Madonna, Cyndi Lauper, INXS, Bon Jovi, Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston, Queen and many other giants, the vibe created means there is nothing else you can do except sing along and dance!
With over 60,000 followers on Facebook they are simply bigger in profile than many major touring shows, but as singer JC Hollywood says “we just play what the punters want”.
The Never Ending 80s are performing at the Parkes Leagues Club on Saturday, 23rd Nov.
People are invited to 80s fancy dress with prizes for the best dressed on the night.
