Maggi Barnard

Maggi Barnard has been with the Parkes Phoenix since it was established in March 2016 and loves writing about her community.

Special Students Chase Cricket Dream

November 11, 2016 By Maggi Barnard

The first Thursday in November was a special day for around 50 special class students from Parkes and Forbes public schools when they participated in Dream- Cricket at Parkes Pubic School. DreamCricket brings together children with a disability from years three to six. It was originally developed in the NSW Central Highlands as the result of a partnership between Rotary, the Bradman Foundation and the Movement Disorder Foundation.

The day was made super special when 18 Year 7 students from Parkes High joined in with their teacher Mark Ranger to help organise the games and cook lunch. About half the high school students completed Year 6 at Parkes Public School in 2015. The DreamCricket program allows the students to develop their hand-eye coordination, movement skills and balance in a team environment, while at the same time enjoying sport.

Students enjoyed the sporting challenges, which involved groups rotating around four specially adapted cricket-based activities. The participation and smiles on faces said it all. DreamCricket gives students that normally
would not participate in sport a chance to be involved. It gives participants a chance to enjoy physical activity while developing self-confidence, self-esteem, levels of behaviour and citizenship.

The DreamCricket program has grown to schools and children throughout Australia and internationally. The day was organised as a joint effort by the Rotary Clubs of Dubbo East, Forbes, Parkes and Orange Daybreak. It was coordinated by Don Stephens, Chair of Dream-Cricket Australia and member of the Rotary Club of Dubbo West.

By Ken Engsmyr

Pybar Mining Handicap Has Interesting Field

November 11, 2016 By Maggi Barnard

The 12th annual Pybar Mining Handicap Golf Shootout on Sunday has a majority field who have never contested this type of event. This will give the old heads plenty of leverage. The logical favourite appears to be the tried and tested Joey Van Opynen, a player who has encountered plenty of tough players in his day.

With the Cunninghams IGA Scratch Shoot under his belt from earlier in the year, Joey is aiming to be the first member to win both the scratch and handicap sections. His major opposition appears to be renowned fighter, big game player and one of the club’s most consistent putters Ian Phipps, while the tough and experienced Chris Goodie will be in the firing line too. The defending titleholder Ross Smith will find this a tougher field. Number 1 qualifier
Brian L. Hogan has finally achieved his aim in qualifying.

Players had to qualify from the six designated rounds that ultimately saw the leading 19 players reach the play off final. The final will start at 9am with one player eliminated at each hole – handicaps play a big part. If more than one player records the worst net score on a hole those players then contest a chip off that determines who stays or who goes and it is the player who finishes furthest from the nominated target who departs.

Players will enjoy a delicious sit down meal, courtesy of Pybar Mining, after the initial nine holes.

By Paul Thomas

Memory Van In Peak Hill Today

November 11, 2016 By Maggi Barnard

The Alzheimer’s Australia NSW Memory Van is in Peak Hill today from 10am to 2pm at Commercial Gardens, Caswell Street. The Memory Van is a mobile education resource that travels statewide to help raise awareness on the importance of brain health and dementia risk reduction.

Friendly Memory Van staff can help if you are worried about your own or someone else’s memory, interested in finding out more about memory and ageing and what you can do to lead a brain-healthy lifestyle. The Memory Van is fully equipped with FREE help sheets and fact sheets and also provides communities with information designed to help educate and assist people living with dementia, their carers and health professionals. Staff can also assist with enquiries about memory loss, local dementia services and support.

For further information, call (02) 9805 0100 or email nsw.education@alznsw.asn.au. National Dementia Helpline 1800 100 500.

Eyes On Diabetes At Canowindra

November 11, 2016 By Maggi Barnard

Have you heard that one in four adults are either living with diabetes or pre-diabetes? Did you know that Type Two Diabetes accounts for 85% of all diabetes and is increasing? Eyes on Diabetes is the theme for this year’s World Diabetes Day, which will be celebrated in Canowindra on 14th November with a display on Gaskill Street from 10am to 1pm. The stall will be offering blood sugar checks, dietary advice and general information.

Last Day To Enrol For Adult Swimming

November 11, 2016 By Maggi Barnard

It’s never too late to learn to swim. Adult swimming lessons kick off on Tuesday at 7pm. The five-week program is tailored specifically for adults to learn the skill at their own pace. Parkes Shire Council’s Manager of Support Services, Sharon Ross said the lessons provided the perfect springboard into independent swimming. “Our adult swimming lessons will develop an individual’s confidence, ability and skill in an aquatic environment. Learning how to swim is a life-skill, which can enhance quality of life through physical activity.”

On average, each year in NSW, 103 people lose their life to drowning. Over half of those people are aged 45 years and over. Inland waterways, including rivers, lakes and dams, are the leading locations for drowning. “Our programs seek to increase water confidence and safety skills in order to prevent drowning and increase participation in safe aquatic activity and swimming technique,” Sharon said.

Lessons are $75 for the five-week programme, and payment can be made at the Poolside Café. Enrolment forms are available from Council’s website at www.parkes.nsw.gov.au. Enrolments close today. For more information contact Parkes Aquatic Centre on 6862 6001.

Our Bloke – Daniel Calabro

November 11, 2016 By Maggi Barnard

Daniel Calabro

How long have you lived in Parkes? I moved here 15 months ago from Leeton with my family.

What do you enjoy the most about living in Parkes? It’s a great place to raise a family and it has great opportunities.

What do you do for work? I am a funeral director and operate JT Cock & Sons.

What do you enjoy most about your work? Every day I have the honour of being involved in a family’s life at one of their most vulnerable times. I find great pride in the trust that these families place in us.

What makes your day? Spending time with my children, going to the park for lunch.

How do you like your coffee? White with two sugars.

Who would you like to have dinner with? Richard Branson, as he is a fantastic entrepreneur and would be a great mentor if you are so lucky to be able to spend time with him.

Free Hearing Checks In Parkes

November 11, 2016 By Maggi Barnard

Australian Hearing will visit Parkes this month to offer locals better access to hearing health services. With more than half of Australians over the age of 60 suffering from hearing loss, Australian Hearing’s Janet Chapparo encourages the local community to make their hearing health a priority. “It’s fantastic to be able to join forces with local businesses and provide a convenient way for people to check their hearing and make sure they are in good hearing health,” Janet said.

“As the incidence of hearing loss increases as we get older, we encourage seniors in particular to include hearing as part of their overall health check-up. The sooner you do something about your hearing the better.” Hearing checks are a quick and easy way to find out more about your hearing health and what can be done to help. “The hearing checks are conducted by staff from Australian Hearing Orange and our team will also be on hand to guide people through what next steps they may have to take in regards to their hearing.”

Australian Hearing will provide hearing checks to any interested adults who visit on the day. More information is available by calling Australian Hearing Orange on 02 6393 0500. Australian Hearing provides subsidised hearing care for eligible people, including pensioners and most veterans. For full details visit www.hearing.com.au

Take Care On Roads During Harvest

November 11, 2016 By Maggi Barnard

Parkes Shire Council will be working with growers and heavy vehicle operators this harvest season to mitigate potential hazards on the Shire’s roads. The Shire’s Director Engineering, Ben Howard said: “Restoring the road network is our highest priority. “Council controls over 2,000 km of roads within the Shire and are in the process of
fixing the damage temporarily for harvest.

We have seven graders working six days per week to restore the truck routes and access roads.” Road users can expect to see a significant increase in heavy vehicle movement on the road network during harvest and Council is urging everyone to take extra care.

“Road users need to be aware of the limitations of these heavy vehicles in terms of stopping distances, speed limits and movement limitations,” said Ben. Report road damage to Council on 6861 2343.

Parkes Makes First Observation In Search For ET

November 10, 2016 By Maggi Barnard

The CSIRO Parkes radio telescope has made its first observation on Tuesday morning in its search for intelligent life beyond Earth. Parkes is part of Breakthrough Listen, the 10-year, $100-million project launched in 2015 by internet entrepreneur Yuri Milner and Stephen Hawking, and started observations last month. The Dish has joined two US telescopes, the Green Bank Telescope in West Virginia and the Automated Planet Finder at Lick Observatory in California, in their ongoing surveys to determine whether civilisations exist elsewhere.

Yuri Milner said the addition of Parkes was an important milestone. “These major instruments are the ears of planet Earth, and now they are listening for signs of other civilisations,” Yuri said. After 14 days of commissioning and test observations, first light for Breakthrough Listen at Parkes was achieved on Tuesday with an observation of the newly discovered Earth-size planet orbiting the nearest star to our Sun, Proxima Centauri. A red dwarf star 4.3 light years from Earth, Proxima Centauri is known to have a planet, Proxima b, orbiting within its habitable zone, the region where water could exist in liquid form on the planet’s surface.

Dr Andrew Siemion, Director of Berkeley SETI Research Center and leader of the Breakthrough Listen science program, said the chances of any particular planet hosting intelligent life-forms are probably minuscule. “But once we knew there was a planet right next door, we had to ask the question, and it was a fitting first observation for Parkes,” he said. “To find a civilisation just 4.2 light years away would change everything.” The Parkes radio telescope is perfectly positioned to observe parts of the sky that can’t be seen from the northern hemisphere, including the centre of our own Milky Way galaxy, large swaths of the Galactic plane, and numerous other galaxies in the nearby Universe.

Dr Douglas Bock, Director of CSIRO Astronomy and Space Science, said the Parkes telescope was one of the most
highly cited radio telescopes in the world. Swinburne University of Technology is working closely with Berkeley and CSIRO to design and implement a signal-processing and data-storage system for the project that will make the Breakthrough Listen data available to the science community. Professor Matthew Bailes of Swinburne University, and the Breakthrough Listen project’s Australian science coordinator, said Breakthrough Listen would do more than just hunt for ET.

“The detection system will be simultaneously searching for naturally occurring phenomena such as pulsars and fast radio bursts, which are a large part of Parkes’ present work.” He said the Australian science community welcomed the opportunity to share the Breakthrough Listen data for other ongoing research projects.

Question of the Week?

November 10, 2016 By Maggi Barnard

What is a traditional festive dish from your culture?

Nancy Cayo: There are so many dishes from Peru. One special occasion dish is Ceviche which is raw fish with raw onion, marinated in lemon salt and secret ingredients, and eaten with lettuce and sweet potato. We’re also famous for potatoes and quinoa.

Epi Sadrodro: In Fiji we do the Lovo for special occasions. We put stones in a fire, and then dig a hole for the hot rocks. We use the rocks to cook meat, fish and veggies, which are wrapped in foil or covered with special leaves to keep the dirt off, and left to cook in the hole. Lovo can feed a lot of people.

Fareeda Baig: I’m a Muslim from Pakistan. After Ramadan we have the Eid-ul-Fider, which focuses on desserts and sweet things. We eat a special breakfast called Sheer Khurma, it’s made of thin wheat slices and dried fruit cooked in milk.

Maggi Barnard

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