Roxane Manley

Pictured are some of the crew you will meet at Dirty Gloves Nursery.

There’s something special about a community coming together to celebrate the people, produce and passion that make it unique.

This spring, Dirty Gloves Nursery invites you to experience exactly that at its Harvest & Handmade event on Sunday, 6 September, from 10am to 3pm at 54 Corcoran Road, Parkes.

Harvest & Handmade is a celebration of local creativity and country hospitality. Wander through the nursery and discover an incredible collection of exhibitors, including Capped Cakes, 100% Pallets, C&S Stockfeeds, Posh Knots, Micki Moo, Westview Chickens & Eggs, and many more, offering everything from handmade gifts and home décor to delicious treats and fresh local produce.

The Corcoran Road Kidz Corner will be buzzing with activities, alongside a jumping castle to keep little adventurers entertained.

Food lovers can learn the art of breadmaking at the Sourdough with Kath Workshop, while gardening enthusiasts won’t want to miss Gardening 101 with local legends Faye Blackstock and Jade Wright, sharing practical tips to help every garden thrive.

Adding to the community spirit, the Wingz4Kids Fundraising BBQ offers the perfect opportunity to enjoy a classic barbecue while supporting a wonderful local cause.

Support local, make memories, and celebrate the season with Dirty Gloves Nursery.

Parents, carers and grandparents of young children are invited to attend one of two free online workshops being held next week to provide important safety information about child car seats.

The workshops are being conducted by Parkes, Forbes and Lachlan Shire Councils in partnership with Transport for NSW. They will be held online via Microsoft Teams, on Tuesday 8 September at 11am and again at 7pm, and will run for about an hour.

The Council’s Road Safety and Injury Prevention Officer, Melanie Suitor, said the correct selection, installation and adjustment of child car seats is vital to ensure children’s safety when travelling in vehicles.

“The workshop will cover the National Child Restraint Laws, types of child car seats available, correct installation and adjustment, when to move to the next car seat, accessories, tips for secondhand car seats and much more.

“It will be a great refresher for grandparents, as child car seats and the rules have changed a lot since they had their children, but also for parents and carers as they are navigating their way through their child or children’s growth.

“Local checking day events show that around 80% of the child car seats we checked were incorrectly installed. Transport for NSW research shows that children who are not restrained correctly are seven times more likely to sustain life-threatening injuries in a crash than those who are properly secured” said Ms Suitor.

To book your place, use this link: https://bit.ly/WkshopRego visit the event listing on the Council’s Facebook pages or call Ms Suitor on (02) 6861 2364.

Pictured is Sister Florence Kinsela.

Sr Florence Kinsela, or “Flo” as she is affectionately known, recently celebrated her 103rd birthday with a lovely afternoon tea surrounded by friends and family at the Southern Cross Village in Parkes on 28 August.

Born in Parkes, or possibly Manildra, Flo has called Parkes home her whole life and she says “I’ve got a good family here.”

Very fond of her family, Flo is said to have had a great relationship with her sisters. Nephew David White spoke of being the eldest nephew of around 18 nieces and nephews, some of whom had travelled up from Sydney, the South Coast and even as far as Melbourne to help celebrate with Flo.

Flo left school and helped out at the convent until becoming a nun at the age of 17 and has dedicated her entire life to helping others since then. In fact, Sister Florence Kinsela is the oldest living nun from the Sisters of Mercy College.

By all accounts, Flo is well travelled and is a fantastic cook, spending a lot of time in Broken Hill, Wilcannia and Sans Souci, where her main duties were cooking and ordering food for the boarding students that they looked after. Her favorite place is said to be Wilcannia, where she spent a lot of time and developed a great relationship to the indigenous people. When Flo celebrated her 100th birthday her pride of joy on the day was a card that she received from the people of Wilcannia that she was so fond of.

Flo is an amazing lady and still keeps herself as busy as can be even at 103.

The Parkes Shire Council fleet team are at the back Thomas Barnes and Ariston Bartley.

Parkes Shire Council has been named a finalist in the Fleet of the Year category of the inaugural 2026 Fleet News Group Awards.

Managing a diverse fleet across approximately 5,000 square kilometres, Council has developed a comprehensive fleet management framework that combines long-term asset planning, detailed cost analysis, preventative maintenance, telematics and technology to improve the performance and efficiency of its fleet.

Parkes Shire Councillor Kenny McGrath said being named a finalist was recognition of the work undertaken by Council staff to continually improve the way Council manages its fleet.

“Council operates a large and diverse fleet across a very large rural area, so making sure our vehicles and machinery are safe, reliable and being used efficiently is extremely important,” Cr McGrath said.

“Our fleet team has embraced technology and data to find better ways of doing things, while continuing to focus on value for money and providing reliable services to our community.

“It is fantastic to see this work recognised at a national industry level and we congratulate the team on being named a finalist.”

The voting stage is now open, and the Parkes Shire Council would love your support. You can vote here: bit.ly/VotePSCFleet Voting closes 22 September 2026.