Parkes Phoenix

Roxane Manley

Roxane is a true local to the Forbes and Parkes areas. Having been with the Phoenix for a number of years, she is passionate about her region and loves being involved with the local community.

Frost And Fire Under The Stars

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Head along to Frost and Fire this Saturday 21 June from 4pm to 10pm and celebrate the Winter Solstice with friendly people, hearty food, fire buckets, boutique brews, fire performances and pyrotechnics, na­tionally renowned musicians, local artists, amazing live acts.

With loads of live entertainment, the Wolfe Brothers will warm up the crowd with their high energy performance of iconic tru­ly Australian anthems. The most awarded country rock duo ever, the brothers took away three Golden Guitars at the 2024 Country Music Awards bringing their total to nine Golden Guitars to date.

We are also beyond excited to announce Mitchell Coombs as the official Ambassa­dor for Frost and Fire 2025. Mitchell is an Australian comedian hailing from the Cen­tral West, known for his quick wit, hilarious takes on everyday life, and down-to-earth charm. With a loyal following across social media, Mitchell’s unique sense of humour has made him a favorite among fans.

Keep nice and toasty during the Winter Solstice with warm clothes. Enjoy the en­tertainment in comfort by bringing your own chair guaranteeing a prime relaxing spot.

Frost & Fire is held at the Forbes Ski Dam. During our event there is no public parking onsite, but there are a variety of public transport options available.

Tickets are essential. No ticket – no en­try! It’s important to purchase tickets and parking tickets prior to the event. Under 18’s are free entry. Over 18’s are $30 per person. Buy tickets at www.123tix.com.au/events/46063/frost-and-fire

Snippets…

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Grab your jackets, round up the kids, and join us for a night that’s fun for the whole family.

Frost And Fire 2025: Bring the whole crew down for an evening of fun, music, and magical memories the kids will love! Silent disco from 4pm – 7pm and fairy floss by the amazing Forbes Youth Action Team, CirqueUm Navigate – roving entertainment to amaze and excite, bonfires, food trucks and plenty more! It’s the perfect mix of ex­citement and entertainment for all ages! Head along to the Forbes Ski Dam this Sat­urday 21 June.Tickets at: www.123tix.com.au/events/46063/frost-and-fire

Parkes Shire Libraries: Peak Quills’ writers group meet on the third Thursday monthly at the Peak Hill Library. Join us for tips on writing, put your pen to paper and listen to a reading. All welcome, tea and coffee provided.

Western NSW Local Health District: Are excited to announce DanceMoves pro­grams will commence running in Orange, Parkes, Forbes, Molong, Bathurst and Mendooran in the coming monthss. The program is a mix of seated and standing dancing, set to your favourite music. The program is designed to help build strength, balance and flexibility while staying full of energy. The program is designed for more active older adults (50+ years of age). No experience is necessary and suitable for all movement abilities! The classes are free of charge. We invite you to register by clicking this link https://www.activeandhealthy.nsw.gov.au/find-a-program

Forbes Youth Action Team: The school holiday program is live, and there is an awesome lineup of activities to keep the kids entertained these holidays – from slime workshops and painting sessions to novelty sports days and more! Spots are limited and filling fast – register now at www.forbes.nsw.gov.au/community/community-services-and-information/families-and-youth-services/youth-programs

The Healthy Communities Foundation Australia: Be part of a powerful conver­sation about mental wellbeing at our NRL Community Scrum in Forbes next Tues­day 24 June at Spooner Oval, with special guests NRL legends Bryson Goodwin and Dale Finucan.

Parkes Shire Council: Between 1 January and 30 April 2025, Parkes Shire Council has helped find loving homes for 54 dogs and 47 cats and it’s all thanks to our com­munity of adopters and supporters! Think­ing about adopting? Visit the website to meet the pets still looking for their forever homes: bit.ly/AnimalsForAdoption

That’s over 100 animals rehomed in just four months.

Be Seen @ Red Bend Catholic College Champagnat Day

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The RBCC community celebrated Champagnat Day with a whole school Mass, followed by an Awards Ceremony, where we acknowledged students and staff.

 


Champagnat Day is a memorable and enriching experi­ence that contributes to every student’s personal and spiritual growth and academic success.

 


The Day holds great significance as it allows RBCC to honour and reflect upon the values and ideals that the school is built upon.

Landholders Asked To Lookout For Rock Fern

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Plants vary between 10cm and 30cm in height and have a reddish-brown central stalk with a bright green fern leaf.

Central West Local Land Services is urging livestock owners to be on the lookout for rock or bracken fern in their grazing pad­docks, which can cause toxicity.

Found in many parts of the Central West region, rock fern is a hardy plant that sur­vives dry conditions and reshoots readily after rain in autumn and winter.

These fronds are particularly toxic to cat­tle, and less commonly sheep. While not overly palatable, stock will consume rock fern when feed is limited, or they may in­gest it incidentally when the plant is present amongst short green, or dry standing feed.

Hungry, young and naïve stock are most at risk.

Nik Cronin Central West Local Land Ser­vices District Veterinarian said, “The pro­longed dry following summer, and the late autumn break have provided ideal condi­tions for rock fern.

“The movements of young trade cattle, as well as the influx of cattle from droughtaffected areas into our region have also increased the risk. Our records show that cases most commonly occur in the months of May-July, peaking to a high in June.

“Two cases have recently been diagnosed in the last week within the Central West Local Land Services region – one case in agistment cattle near Narromine with 6 out of 48 animals affected – 4 deaths, and the other in trade weaners at Coonabarabran with 14 out of 34 affected – 3 dead.

“For now we would recommend that pro­ducers check grazing paddocks for rock fern. If rock fern is present where stock are grazing then they should be removed” Nik said.

If you have deaths or signs of toxicity in your livestock, please call your veterinarian.

Parkes Tractor Trekkers On The Road Again

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Three generations of Jefferay’s: Dick Jefferay (prostate cancer survivor), son Richard Jefferay (trek organiser) and Richard’s son Mitch.

The Parkes Tractor Trekkers, a team of nine locals including Richard Jefferay, Lind­say Wall, Brenton Trainor, Rodney Barnes, Mitch Jefferay, Dave O’Grady, Troy Parker, Al O’Grady and Daniel McIntyre, have set off on a fundraiser for the Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia.

In 2023 the group took eight 70 year old Ferguson TEA 20 tractors on a 600km journey out of Bourke over 6 days to raise almost $40,000 for prostate cancer. They had so much fun that they’re heading off again.

The team had an early morning start in Parkes on Saturday 14 June and hit the backroads to Bogan Gate via Cooks My­alls and Blow Clear Forest, at break neck speeds sometimes reaching 25 km/h.

As was to be expected with 75 year old tractors that have been saved from their rusty demise in paddocks and sheds, there was an early breakdown and Rodney Barnes ended up towing Jeremy Clark for over 50km just to achieve their day one goal.

There were 12 tractors in all and a beauti­ful fine day despite the cold. The group coordinated with the Central West Car Club who met them at the Bogan Gate pub for lunch and a few beers with some live enter­tainment and plenty of banter and chatter.

The Bogan Gate pub didn’t disappoint with great food and a great atmosphere. Plenty of merchandise was sold and there was a silent auction of sorts which was lots of fun and very successful, adding more to the fundraising for such a worthy cause.

It will be full steam ahead for the group’s departure from Bourke to Birdsville starting Monday 11 August and arriving in Birdsville Saturday 23 August.

Anybody wanting to support the Parkes Tractor Trekkers can donate at fundraise.

pcfa.org.au/tractortrek

The group before the pre-shake-down run from Parkes to Bogan Gate.


The crew on the road.


The crew lined up at the Bogan Gate pub.


The newest and youngest supporter Jack Pietsch in his element surrounded by tractors and a great bunch of blokes

Are We Facing A Mental Health Crisis For Boys?

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Kids Helpline is encouraging boys and young men to take time to prioritise their mental health. Males are shown to have significantly reduced help-seeking for men­tal health concerns compared with females.

Kids Helpline recorded 57 contacts from males on an average day in May 2025, when compared with 195 females on the same day.

Counsellors at Kids Helpline respond to 21% males and 79% females on any given day, with males aged between 19 to 25 years of age representing the largest (37%) male help-seeking group.

Kids Helpline is Australia’s only free, pri­vate and confidential 24/7 phone and on­line counselling service for young people aged 5-25, here for children and young people, anytime and for any reason. No is­sue is too big or too small.

Kids Helpline offers boys and young men a safe, inclusive space to open-up and con­nect with our free, professional, confiden­tial 24/7 service to support self-awareness, and tools to help manage strong emotions when they struggle.

Kids Helpline is Australia’s only national 24/7 counselling service specifically for children and is a free service – free call 1800 55 1800 or www.kidshelpline.com.au

Sobering Statistics Regarding Domestic Violence

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The latest NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research (BOCSAR) quarterly up­date reveals domestic violence assaults in regional parts of NSW have risen to even more alarming levels.

In the March 2025 quarterly report, do­mestic violence-related assaults increased by 3.6%, with rises recorded in 8 of 13 Regional NSW areas and 3 of 15 Greater Sydney locations. In some areas, the rate of violent crime is more than double the state average.

Shadow Minister for Police Paul Toole said the latest report gave a sobering re­minder of the reality of domestic violence in NSW.

“The lack of decisive action from the NSW Labor Government is leaving victims in regional communities vulnerable and al­lowing domestic violence incidents to in­crease,” Mr Toole said.

“We cannot continue to have innocent lives lost or permanently affected by acts of violence in their own homes.

“The cries from the bush are going unan­swered by this city centric government and this cannot go on.”

In 2024, the NSW Police Force attended 152,268 domestic and family violence inci­dents equating to on average NSW Police officers responding to 560 domestic and family violence incidents each day.

High Scores For Monthly Medals

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Saturday’s Men golf field of 50 players par­ticipated in the June Monthly Medal event sponsored by BWR Accountants and Advi­sors.

The A-Grade Winner was Caleb Hanra­han who continued his recent good form to score a nett 71. He was especially pleased with his back-9. Runner-up was Jeff House with 72 nett. He also had a better back-9.

The B-Grade was won by Liam Fraser with a nett 73. This Junior member is steadily improving and returning good re­sults. Runner-up was Cooper Byrnes with 75 nett. Refreshments from the Pro Shop after the front-9 helped to keep his game together on the back-9.

The C-Grade saw Peter Grayson over­come some difficulty to win with a 75 nett.

Runner-up was Max Haley with 77 nett. He had a rough start but improved as he went along.

The ball sweep went to 79 nett on count back. There was one visitor, being Rob Shannon (Bathurst) who was keen to get a game before attending to family affairs.

The NTP’s went to: 9th T Callaghan; 18th L Flakelar, with neither converting for a ‘2’. The 3rd hole Super Pin went to Liam Fraser with a shot to 96 cm. That made for an easy, but nervous, ‘2’.On Sunday Forbes players competed in the LVDGA Championship and Pennants held at Trundle.

The Forbes Team took out the Scratch Pennants. In the individual events Steve Betland and Caleb Hanrahan finished runners-up for the ‘Moulder Cup’ Individual Scratch.

This Saturday, 21 June will be the 4BBB Stroke Championship, it is the first Club Championship event for the year. Sunday will have a Stableford Medley.

Players are reminded to pay their Mem­bership Renewal.

By Short Putt

Community Kids Parkes Holds Biggest Morning Tea

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Community Kids Parkes educators Leanne Rawlings and Megan Barkle, cooking and preparing fresh bacon and egg rolls.

Community Kids Parkes took part in The Biggest Morning Tea Fundraiser on Friday the 23 May. It was a huge success that saw the centre raise almost $1,500 to help Aus­tralian’s who have been impacted by can­cer. The success was made possible from support of staff, centre families and local businesses.

Families baked slices, cakes, biscuits etc and donated them to the service to sell and raise money. The families attended the morning tea, generously donating and pur­chasing baked goods, fresh bacon and egg rolls and hot coffee.

This is the fourth year the service has supported the Biggest Morning Tea and so far the most successful.

A huge shout out in recognition of the do­nations from Regional Business Supplies, LP Cleaning and Woolworths Parkes. A special mention to the centre families too, who baked and donated an amazing array of sweet treats, all sold on the day. Thank you again, we can’t wait to make it bigger next year.

At Community Kids, we work closely with our families to enhance children’s devel­opment and ignite their passion for learn­ing. We operate over 70 childcare centres, providing long day-care and Government approved Kindergarten and Preschool pro­grams.

The centre has held other successful community events such as, an afternoon of fun and celebration for Mothers Day – celebrating our mothers, nan’s, aunties and all-important role models in our lives.

Easter celebrations with visits from the Easter Bunny. Celebration of Learning Evening, showcasing the amazing learning our 2026 school leavers participate in. We look forward to future events within the ser­vice such as NAIDOC week, Father’s Day, Grandparents Day, Christmas, just to name a few.

Community Kids Parkes Child Care Cen­tre is located at 1-3 High St, Parkes or can be contacted by calling 02 6863 4441 or via parkes@communitykids.com.au

Phoenix Office
7/113-127 Rankin Street, Forbes NSW 2871

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0432 337 278
editor@parkesphoenix.com.au

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0432 337 278
sales@parkesphoenix.com.au

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