Maggi Barnard

It is a tense week ahead for first time director Lisa Ramsay until the premier night next Friday of the Parkes Musical & Dramatic Society’s production of Anne of Green Gables The Musical.

Although it’s been a very popular story for many people growing up, the musical has rarely been done in Australia.

Lisa wanted to do something different and said she had found her first directing experience very fulfilling. “It’s been an amazing learning process to take what I’ve learned at university, the experience from watching Lyn Townsend as director and adapting it into my own process.”

With a cast of 31 amateur actors with half of them teens and children, a lot of energy went into the production and managing everyone.

Lisa said 17-year-old Krystal-Lee McMurray from Forbes, who plays Anne, had really stepped up in her role, as did the rest of the cast. Lisa is also grateful for musical director James Whalan for putting together a great band, for Jenny Kingham taking on the costumes and Ray Brown for the set construction.

The heart-warming tale of Anne is suitable for all ages and told with lots of humour and tongue-in-cheek lines about small country towns. Lisa would love to see the whole community supporting local talent for the shows running until the end of April.

By Maggi Barnard

Not many people get to celebrate their 90th birthday, let alone celebrate it with the launch of their fourth published book!

Life has not slowed down for local author Margaret Dwyer when she left her family home in Elizabeth Street nine months ago to move into the retirement village at Southern Cross.

She immediately started working on the sequel to her first fiction book, A Chain of Dreams, published in 2016 after so many readers had asked when she was going to write more.

During the day Margaret has to keep a diary for her busy schedule attending VIEW Club meetings, playing the piano at the Southern Cross Village sing-a-longs and at mass, and various medical appointments while still driving herself.

“So, I write at night from 10pm to 2am when it is quiet and no one can interrupt me.”

After only nine months she finished The Unbroken Chain bringing the O’Reagan family into the 21st century where marriage is no longer a given, living together is the norm, young adults live on the streets and drug use results in the escalation of crime.

Margaret’s new book will be launched by Councillor Bill Jayet on 27th April at the Coachman Motor Inn at 2pm. Everyone is invited to see Margaret cut her 90th birthday cake at this auspicious event.

By Maggi Barnard

The Parkes Aero Club received good news from Member for Orange, Phil Donato MP, last Friday when he announced the club’s successful application for funding through the 2018 Community Building Partnership Program. “I’m thrilled to announce the Parkes Aero Club will receive $20,000 to enable them to build a new awning on the Clubhouse building,” Phil said. “The awning will provide year-round protection from the elements and give us an outdoor social space,” said Warwick Tom, public officer of the club.

Baroness Gardner of Parkes is the only Australian woman to date who has been elevated to the peerage, and only the second life peer who has taken a name from a place outside the United Kingdom.

“It was a huge battle to get Parkes in her title and Trixie Gardner even had to get permission from the Queen,” said a representative of the Baroness who visited Parkes in January doing research for her autobiography to be published later this year.

The Baroness is the daughter of Greg and Rachael McGirr and was born in Parkes as one of nine children. Her sister is Clarinda who died at a young age and the fountain in Cooke Park was erected in her memory.

“The Baroness is very passionate about the Clarinda Fountain, and I am sad to report that it is not in a good state,” said the representative who preferred not to be named.

She said it would be wonderful if it could be restored to coincide with the launch of the autobiography, as the McGirr family was so important to the history of Parkes.

The family helped with the establishment of Memorial Hill and parts of Cooke Park.

“There is this wonderful dichotomy of history in Cooke Park with the new statue of Elvis on the one side and the Clarinda Fountain on the other. It would be great to have them match in stature with the fountain restored to its original state.”

The representative said if the Baroness, who turns 92 in July, was fit enough she might travel to Parkes to launch her autobiography here.

Trixie Gardner earned a Bachelor of Dental Surgery (BDS) in 1954 from the University of Sydney and moved to the UK in 1957. She was a councillor of Westminster City Council, Lady Mayoress (when her husband was Lord Mayor), in 1970 she stood for Parliament for the Conservative Party, and he was elected as a member of the Greater London Council (GLC).