The Sporting House leaders can’t wait to see everyone at the annual swimming carnival.
The Year 7 students are loving the opportunity to borrow books at the library from Mr Luck.
Last week the year 11 students participated in their Senior Study Skills session.
The Central West Greens this week announced Councillor Trish Frail the candidate for Parkes and Ben Parker as the candidate for Calare at the upcoming Federal Election.
Cr Trish Frail, the Greens candidate for Parkes, is a Ngemba woman who calls Brewarrina home. Trish is a Councillor on Brewarrina Shire Council and is currently working with the Council and the community to put the Biami Ngunnhu Fish Traps on the world heritage list as the oldest man-made structure in the world. Previously, Trish led a successful campaign against the establishment of a nuclear waste facility in the shire.
“Parkes is in need of a change. We don’t need a local member from a party pushing the nuclear fantasy as a solution for our energy needs. We need someone who cares for the whole electorate, for our environment, and for our future generations,” she says.
In Calare, the Greens candidate is Ben Parker, a university student studying Information Technology at Charles Sturt University. Ben’s primary goal is to inspire young people to get involved in politics and show them how powerful their voice really is.
‘With Gen Z and Millennials set to outnumber Baby Boomers in this upcoming federal election, I believe my perspective as a young candidate makes me uniquely positioned to connect with and represent the younger voters in our electorate. By advocating for urgent action on key issues like climate change and the cost of living crisis, I am committed to fighting for policies that put people and the planet first,’ he says.
In the Senate, electors in Calare and Parkes can re-elect current Greens Senator and Deputy Greens Leader, Dr Mehreen Faruqi, for a second term. Mehreen is a civil and environmental engineer and life-long activist for social and environmental justice.
In 2013, she joined NSW State Parliament, becoming the first Muslim woman to sit in an Australian parliament. In 2018, Mehreen became Australia’s first Muslim Senator.
Mehreen is a hard-working and passionate advocate against racism and misogyny.
Parkes Squash Club Parkes hosted a record number of teams at their 2025 Doubles Tournament.
2025 Parkes Doubles Mens Open Winners.
2025 Parkes Doubles Ladies Open Winners.
2025 Parkes Doubles Mixed A Winners.
Get your friend and family together and head on down to Cooke Park on Saturday for Country Sounds.
Part of the highly successful Sounds at the Pavilion series, this event has continued to grow, attracting crowds from 500 to over 3,500 attendees and proving its immense value to the Parkes community.
Parkes Shire Council’s Events Officer, Megan Morrison, shared her excitement:
“These Sounds events are about creating lasting, impactful moments for our community. Seeing how much they’ve grown over the past three years speaks to the value they bring. There’s nothing more rewarding than watching families, friends, and even strangers singing, dancing, laughing, and sharing moments of pure joy. With an incredible lineup of national and local talent, I know this will be another great night, and our team can’t wait to share it with our community.”
The 2025 lineup features an impressive mix of both national and local talent, headlined by Robbie Mortimer, with performances from Tyla Rodrigues, Baeden Faint, Gracey Jones, and DJ Sammy.
This free community event includes live music, over a dozen delicious food vendors, a dedicated kids’ entertainment zone featuring a mechanical bull, jumping castle and giant letters, and wraps up with a spectacular fireworks display.
Tickets are free via 123Tix. For more details, visit the events page on the Parkes Shire Council’s website council@parkes.nsw.gov.au We hope to see you there!
Parkes Show Society Committee: Back row L-R Peter Unger (Past President), Michael Hocking (Vice President), Sarah Townsend (Vice President), Mitch Scott (Vice President & Treasurer). Front row L-R Bev Simmons (Secretary), Cynara Jones (President) and Steve Chester (Vice President).
Parkes Show Society: This week Parkes Show Society held their annual AGM at the Parkes Services Club. It was great to see all positions filled and a strong and vibrant committee for 2025 that are looking forward to organising the 144th annual Parkes show in August.
The Smith Family: Every child in Australia deserves the support they need to succeed n school and build a brighter future. But 1 n 6 children are living with poverty, and this imits their access to essential learning resources. When you sponsor an Australian child growing up in poverty, you’ll provide vital financial help and the extra learning support they need to create a better future for themselves. Sponsor an Australian child today. https://bit.ly/40DY6cC
Red Bend Catholic College: Applications for 2026 enrolments close on Thursday, 10 April. If you would like to enrol your child, please head to the website for information: www.redbendcc.nsw.edu.au/enrolments
Parkes Services Club: Calling all Elvis fans! Complete the Elvis 2025 survey for your chance to win a $150 Wish Gift Card. https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/6PHWHVB Survey closes 28 February at 10am.
Lachlan and Western Regional Services Inc: LWRS will be running two more Parenting for Resilience workshops. These two 1.5hr workshops will focus on Confidence Building for Teens and Promoting your Teen’s Mental Health. The workshops will be held in the LWRS office and will be conducted via Zoom with a morning tea provided. To book your spot or get more info, reach out to the team on 02 6895 3301 or at hello@lwrs.org.au.
Women NSW: The NSW Women of the Year Awards have been a powerful platform to recognise and celebrate incredible women and girls whose determination, courage, talent, and passion continue to inspire their communities and beyond. The NSW Women of the Year Awards 2025 ceremony will be held on Thursday, 6 March as part of NSW Women’s Week (2–8 March). Learn more and watch the livestream here: nsw.gov.au/wotya25
R U OK? One of the kindest things you can do is check in with someone to see how they’re going. Not just today, but any day. Imagine the impact if we all reached out to those we care about and started a meaningful conversation.
Kindness is something you can give everyday for free and it takes little to no effort. Perform an act of kindness today for someone in your community.
EPS travelled to Forbes for our Small Schools Swimming Carnival, and what a great day was had by all.
Congratulations to all our students who displayed great sportsmanship, wonderful behaviour and positive attitudes.
Thank you to all parents, family members and staff for continually supporting students and school events.
Parkes Shire Council, Stevens Group, and the NSW Government’s Regional Growth Development Corporation (RGDC) last week celebrated the commencement of construction with a sod-turning ceremony on site of the bp Highway Service Centre in Parkes. The Stevens Group development site is located in the Parkes Special Activation Precinct northern gateway, that will connect the precinct with the Parkes town centre and Newell Highway.
The first stage of the project commenced construction in late 2024, with bulk earthworks, servicing and road infrastructure underway. Once complete the Highway Service Centre will be anchored by bp with a convenience store, truck drivers lounge with showers, laundry, and diner, and 26 Heavy Vehicle parking spaces to provide a much needed rest stop on this significant transport route.
Mayor Neil Westcott said this project is more than just a service centre – it serves as the gateway to the heart of national logistics and the Parkes Special Activation Precinct.
Parkes Shire Council is proud to partner with esteemed developers like the Stevens Group and bp, whose involvement underscores the quality and national importance of this site. For more information, you can visit: https://bit.ly/4hFf1mF
You may see signage in place when you enter your local Woolworths store Monday-Friday between the hours of 10.30am-11.30am.
Woolworths has expanded its low-sensory Quiet Hour to five days a week, an experience designed to reduce anxiety and sensory stress for customers with specific needs.
During Quiet Hour, most Woolworths stores will lower lights, turn down music or radio, turn off beeps at the register and turn off oven buzzers for an hour, every Monday to Friday between 10:30am and 11:30am.
Quiet hour was developed in consultation with disability service provider Life Without Barriers and launched in 2019 one day a week to meet the need in the community for a low-sensory shopping experience.
Since then, the initiative has rolled out to over 900 stores across Australia.
Jeanette Fenske, Woolworths Director of Stores, said: “We continue to receive positive feedback from customers on the initiative, and our teams take great pride in ensuring the stores are quieter and less stressful for customers during this time.
“Quiet Hour is now an integral part of how we aim to assist independence in our stores, in addition to the opportunity provided by Direct to Boot and delivery options for many customers.
Life Without Barriers Chief Executive Claire Robbs said: “The expansion of Quiet Hour at Woolworths from one to five week days is a fantastic initiative that recognises and is actively responding to different needs in the community.
“Life Without Barriers has been delighted with Woolworths leadership to give people more options to do their shopping in store and increase their independence in an environment that is not stressful and overwhelming to them.”
Quiet Hour now runs from 10:30am – 11:30am every Monday to Friday in most stores nationally.
Meat & Livestock Australia (MLA) is launching a new Social Media Academy to create the next batch of influential red meat ambassadors to connect everyday Australians with the vital work of our producers. MLA is calling for producers to sign up to the Social Media Academy.
MLA’s Managing Director Michael Crowley said the program will help metropolitan Australians see how their favourite red meat is produced on-farm.
“MLA’s Social Media Academy will assist producers show best practice in caring for livestock and the environment so customers can continue to feel good about eating red meat. We’ll be doing this on social media where Australians are engaged in receiving and sharing information.”
Social Media Academy participants will attend workshops at TikTok’s head office and walk away with the skills they need to build a community and following, as well as insights into boosting positive community perceptions about Australian red meat production.
The first cohort of participants will be trained by TikTok in Sydney on 23 April 2025 and learn how to create best practice content. They will also connect with other Australian agriculture content creators.
Selection criteria available at www.mla.com.au/mla-social-media-academy
Team Doug: Doug, front left, and the Blue Team from Trundle’s AGnVET in a water trough that was donated by Bushmans Tanks.
Trundle’s Testicle Festival was the brainchild of customer service officers at Trundle’s AGnVET, Sharon MacDonald and Paula Wright, when one of their close co-workers, Doug, was diagnosed with prostate cancer in February 2018.
“We asked if we could do anything? And although he said that he was fine, we decided to create a fundraiser to help raise awareness. The girls in our town host a very successful pink night to raise funds for women’s cancers, so we decided to do a blue night for the fellas, and with awareness as our moto, we started the Trundle Testicle Festival to give Prostate Cancer the finger,” said Sharon.
It’s not a well known fact, but more men die of prostate cancer than women die of breast cancer, so raising awareness hopefully is key to getting men diagnosed early.
“Our town is quite proactive in getting behind a worthwhile cause. As soon as you ask for something, people get back to you and say, ‘How can I help?’. Everyone gets involved. The footy team choreographed a Full Monty for us one year, and it was on the night before the grand final.
“The blue night was popular, but with COVID, we decided to do something else, and Paula, one of the organisers, said we should play cricket on Boxing Day! “We named it the Trundle Testicle Festival to get men talking about their health and encourage people to get their PSA checked,” said Sharon.
“We host a BBQ, everyone enjoys a beer, and it’s just a lovely way to get together and raise awareness for a really important cause,” she added.
Sharon said it was eye-opening to find out how many people were impacted by prostate cancer in the region. “People don’t like to talk about prostate cancer, unfortunately.
We sadly lost Doug in 2022 at the age of 67.”
“His son was also diagnosed with prostate cancer, and he wasn’t even 40. He’s had treatment, and he’s good now, but it just goes to show how much prostate cancer impacts our lives.”
“Over the years, we’ve raised thousands of dollars for PFCA. It’s an important organisation for men and their families who need support,” Sharon concluded.
To get involved, contact the Trundle Testicle Festival’s Facebook Page or email trundletesticlefestival@gmail.com
Have you got the balls to help?
We are seeking donations of items suitable to raffle and auction for our fundraiser. We would love donations of any blue items, bloke items, boy items, any items. Donations of any type are welcome, goods, services, time, or talent.
In Australia, prostate cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in men, and more than 3,700 men dying of prostate cancer in Australia every year. To quote Doug: it doesn’t matter how “groovy cool gas far out solid and right on chickie babe” you might be, please get checked. Know your PSA. It’s no poke!
Just a few of the awesome teams who played in the 2024 Testy Festy Boxing Day match
Resting up after securing the runners-up spot was ‘Blind Leading the Blind’.
Shout out to the boys in blue from the ‘Yarrabandai Yacht Club’.
Extremely well coordinated on the day with their outfits were ‘The Wrong’uns’.
Congratulations to ‘The Wicket Warriors’ on their win in the grand final against ‘Blind Leading the Blind’.