Local Wiradjuri culture and history are blooming in Parkes with the opening of the Garradyang Cultural Garden at Bushman’s Hill last Friday.

The opening of the bush tucker garden, which will provide hands-on learning about Wiradjuri culture for students, formed part of NAIDOC week events in the Parkes Shire.

Garradyang, the name of the garden nominated by the working group and endorsed by students from five local Parkes schools affiliated with the NSW Aboriginal Education Consultative Group, reflects the original Wiradjuri name for the Parkes region.

Geoff Anderson from the Parkes Wiradjuri Language Group explained the word Garradyang. He said it came from the Currajong trees that feature prominently around Parkes. The trees can be used to make almost anything, from baskets to medicine.

Geoff took the opportunity to suggest that Bushman’s Hill could be renamed to include Garradyang as a joint name.

The names of the garden ties in well with the NAIDOC theme this year of ‘Always Was, Always Will Be,’ celebrating Australia’s ancient history and traditions and cultures which endure to this day.

Apart from the edible, medicinal and fibre plants in the garden, there are also heritage items on display including an ancient grinding stone and scar tree. The beautiful garden is further enhanced with totemic art by Glenn Sloane, while a natural arbour was planted that will provide shade once it has matured.

“The Wiradjuri Garden aims to increase community awareness of local Wiradjuri culture and history,” said Parkes Shire Deputy Mayor, Barbara Newton at the opening attended by representatives from the Wiradjuri working group and members of Parkes Shire schools.

“A Masterplan has been developed for the Bushman’s Hill precinct by Parkes Shire Council, and the cultural garden is included to celebrate the vision of the precinct.” The precinct already includes a Wiradjuri amphitheatre.

The garden was designed by local landscape designer Elizabeth Briton, and showcases plants commonly used by the Wiradjuri people in their day to day life for food, medicine, tool making and other purposes. The design and choice of plants was overseen by a working group compromising local Wiradjuri residents and council staff passionate about raising awareness for Wiradjuri history and culture. School students have been invited to take part in the ongoing planting and maintenance of the garden.

This project was a value-add component of The Recycled Water Scheme project that was part-funded by the Australian Government through the National Stronger Regions Fund.

By Maggi Barnard

A very special connection was made on Sunday when CSIRO’s iconic Parkes radio telescope and two smaller telescopes were given traditional names.

Murriyang, the name chosen for the 64m telescope also known as The Dish, connects the oldest scientific tradition in the world, astronomy, with the oldest continuous civilisation in the world.

Murriyang represents the ‘Skyworld’ where Biyaami (Baiame) lives – a prominent creator spirit of the Wiradjuri Dreaming.

“This is a very, very proud day for our people,” said Elder Dr Stan Grant, who revealed the names. “This is one of the biggest things ever to happen to our people. Thank you for this!”

“We’ve always had a connection to the sky, and today we have one with the telescope,” said Elder Ralph Naden, who performed in the smoking ceremony and dances, and also happened to celebrate his 75th birthday on the special day.

CSIRO’s Parkes staff worked in collaboration with Wiradjuri Elders, the NSW Aboriginal Education Consultative Group and the North West Wiradjuri Language & Culture Nest for over two years on the naming project.

CSIRO Chief Executive Dr Larry Marshall said Australia had a rich heritage of exploring the world and the stars. “It is humbling to link our early steps to connect to the Universe with that ancient wisdom,” said Larry, who was represented by John Reynolds of the CSIRO.

“We’re honoured that the Wiradjuri Elders have given traditional names to our telescopes at Parkes, to connect them with the oldest scientific tradition in the world. Giving the telescopes traditional names acknowledges and pays respect to the astronomical knowledge of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.”

“The plan affirms our commitment to reconciliation with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, the oldest living culture in the world. It recognises them as the first people of Australia and respects their enduring connection to lands, skies, waters, plants and animals. As we move forward together, we will look back to moments like these and see our footprints side by side, wherever they may be.”

John introduced the three telescopes at Parkes. The 18-metre decommissioned antenna has been named Giyalung Guluman, meaning ‘smart dish’. It had the ability to move along a railway track while observing. The antenna was originally assembled at the CSIRO Fleurs Radio Telescope site, Penrith NSW in 1960, was transported to Parkes in 1963 and became operational in 1965.

The baby of the family is the 12-metre ASKAP testing antenna that was built in 2008 and named Giyalung Miil. It means ‘Smart Eye’ and was commissioned as a testbed for a special new type of receiver technology (phased array feed – PAF) used on CSIRO’s Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder (ASKAP) antennas. The PAF is able see different parts of the sky simultaneously making it a ‘smart eye’.

John said the famous 64m ‘Dish’ had been described as the most productive scientific instrument Australia had produced. “It’s 60 years old next year, but is the perpetual youth of the family as we keep upgrading it.”

“As an astronomer I look back in time. In 2004 we discovered the double pulsar – a pair of collapsed stars locked in kind of intricate dance. The weak radio signals we picked up here were sent 4,000 years ago when the Wiradjuri ranged these lands, unhindered.”

By Maggi Barnard

An inspirational and uplifting event is planned for the Parkes Shire community to end the year with some cheer and joy.

The Arts Revival Festival will take place from Monday, 14th to Saturday, 19th December with a full program including art and craft workshops, three one act plays, an art exhibition, a craft market and various musical performances.

“It is an opportunity to revive, celebrate and foster artistic activity in our local community and use the arts to inspire and uplift people in these troubled times,” said spokesperson Lisa Ramsay. The event is being organised by the Parkes Shire Arts Advisory Council and Parkes M&D Society.

“It is all about local art and craft in our Shire. Following the drought, fires, floods and the COVID pandemic, we felt it was necessary to support the arts and encourage people to have something to work towards to see a revival of the arts.”

“There were so many events cancelled or cut short this year. With this festival we hope to raise everyone’s spirit.”

Lisa said the festival was for Shire residents with COVID safe plans in place for all events.

Artists from all over the Shire will be taking part in the exhibition that will run for the whole festival at the Coventry Room at the Parkes Library. The brand new Makerspace venue at the newly renovated library will be used for the first time for the workshops on four of the days.

The Parkes M & D Society is in full swing with the production of the three one act plays. The productions include two adult and one junior play. The two adults plays will be presented as one show and features an Australian version of Anton Chekhov’s one-act farce The Proposal/Wedding. The junior play is Mother Duck and Golden Goose, a fairy tale spoof. There will be five performances of the plays throughout the week. Under COVID rules, the theatre will have 88 seats per performance at 50% capacity.

Musical performances will take place before and after the plays at the Parkes Little Theatre, including an hour performance by popular local group Amitie on Saturday. The theatre carpark will also be the venue for the market on Saturday,19th December.

Lisa said the market would be a good opportunity to purchase some locally made Christmas gifts. The Parkes Shire Concert Band and other musicians will be spreading more Christmas cheer at the event with performances throughout the day.

Member of the organising committee Kerryn Jones said the festival was bringing together the cultural precinct idea with the Coventry Room and Makerspace venues and Little Theatre being used. “We hope to make it an annual event and include the new multi-purpose centre being built in Cooke Park in the future too.”

The committee plans to keep ticket prices and workshop costs to the minimum to make the festival accessible to everyone.

Anyone wanting to get involved or needing more information can contact Margot Jolly on 0423 938 145 or margotjolly@bigpond.com.

By Maggi Barnard

A community-led initiative called Project Sprouts was officially launched on Wednesday. As part of the launch, Royal Far West’s Clinicians-in-Community program held free health and developmental screenings for children aged 3-5 this week.

The seeds for Project Sprouts were planted in 2018, when Royal Far West held a community meeting in Parkes to discuss the confronting findings from its ‘The Invisible Children’ report about the state of children’s developmental health in rural and remote Australia, through the lens of the Parkes Shire.

Serious concerns were raised by the community around the growing rates of mental health and developmental vulnerabilities in young children in the Parkes region, coupled by the lack of access to services, teacher training and support.

Determined that no child in Parkes would be an Invisible Child, Project Sprouts was formed following the meeting as childhood development lays a critical foundation for long-term outcomes. With representatives from local schools, preschools, government, business, and community organisations, the community is keen to create a working model to screen children for developmental health before they start school, to support parents and upskill local people to better identify children needing early intervention support.

“It is very exciting. I can’t believe it is finally happening,” said Deputy Mayor Barbara Newton, who is a founder of Project Sprouts.

“The Invisible Children report was very telling about what children miss out on in rural settings, and with Project Sprouts we want to make access to services better to enable children to have the best start to life available.”

“As a parent, I certainly understand the difficulties of navigating both the health care and education systems for a child with additional needs,” said Sharon Scott, one of five women who initiated the project.

“This is why I became involved. Our wonderful working party has worked hard to provide our community with a co-ordinator who will be there to assist and guide families through the challenges of navigating the health care system; the education system and the challenges of being able to access services in our community.”

“My hope is that the parents in our shire embrace the services that Project Sprouts will provide. I hope that each time we have wonderful services like Royal Far West in our community that our families will take the opportunity to use the service. I also hope that if any of our children do need further referrals, that the Project Sprouts Coordinator, Fiona Francis, will be able to connect them to a local service provider.”

“As the coordinator I am here to support parents accessing paediatric screening and therapy, either virtually or in person, for children across the Parkes Shire,” said Fiona.

“I attended the town hall meeting in 2018 as a parent. It was such a powerful experience to be part of, and to realise I wasn’t alone in the challenges of accessing assessment and support for our children.”

She said Royal Far West Clinicians in Community program would be visiting again in March and May 2021 offering free assessments that include a dental check, a speech and language assessment, a hearing test and a motor skill assessment to give children their best start at school.

Royal Far West will also provide training for teachers, parents and service providers to increase their understanding of child development, which in turn would develop the capacity of our community to be able to identify any developmental concerns and importantly seek out early intervention prior to children starting school.

At the moment Project Sprouts has enough funding to employ Fiona for 15 hours per week at least until June next year. “We will be seeking future sponsors and funding sources so we can continue as an ongoing project,” Fiona said.

“I think the families in our community are very lucky, we have the opportunity to make a difference, to see that our kids don’t become part of the statistics of “The Invisible Children,” said Sharon.

By Maggi Barnard

The Parkes community has a new facility that is not only beautiful, but should make us all feel very proud.

This is the vision of Kerryn Jones, Parkes Shire Manager Cultural, Education and Library Services for the newly renovated and architecturally designed Parkes Library opening its doors to the public on Monday.

“We are really proud of the new space and strongly encourage our community, members or not, to come and check out this beautiful space and discover our new features.”

The $2.2 million expansion created indoor and outdoor areas in an innovative and modern expansion to deliver new dynamic art, cultural and education spaces including a Makerspace Studio.

There are also new meeting rooms, additional space for children’s programs, quiet
study spaces, and places to connect with technology.

“This project is a result of years of community consultation and feedback. More than 100 groups and organisations helped develop the concepts providing access to art and cultural experiences that are currently not available to our community,” said Parkes Shire Mayor Cr Ken Keith OAM.

Kerryn is very excited about the potential of developing it into a cultural centre. “With the Little Theatre across the road, and the new multi-purpose centre being built in Cooke Park, we will have a whole cultural precinct.”

Parkes Library staff members were equally happy to be ‘home’ starting a ‘new chapter’ in such a beautiful space, while members of the public commented on how lucky Parkes is to have such an awesome space.

An exhibition portraying the powerful mix of art and science opened at the Visitor’s Centre of the CSIRO Parkes Observatory on Wednesday.

The 17th annual Dr David Malin astrophotography competition of the Central West Astronomical Society (CWAS) went ahead in July this year despite the cancellation of the Astrofest due to COVID-19.

The opening of the permanent exhibition of the competition for amateur astronomers and photographers, which has become Australia’s largest photographic exhibition with over 200,000 visitors, was postponed until this week.

“This week is World Space Week, and today is the 75th anniversary of the birth of radio astronomy in Australia, and we thought an appropriate date to open this exhibition,” said organiser of the competition John Sarkissian.

World-renowned astrophotographer, Dr David Malin, who judged the entries in the competition, said on Wednesday the quality of images were better every year. “The mix of art and science also gets better, and this year the focus shifted to technology.” He made special mention of the overall winner Mark Polsen’s entry called Tranquility Base – a landscape image with the moon and Venus peeping through the trees at twilight. “The wonderful colours printed on glass makes it sparkle.”

The winning image was specially printed on glass by Make It Shine in a new partnership with the competition.

The permanent exhibition will be at The Dish for a year, while a second touring exhibition will travel to selected venues, beginning with Sydney Observatory.

By Maggi Barnard

News of the cancellation of next year’s Parkes Elvis Festival has gone viral around the world with more than 50,000 messages of support logged on the festival’s Facebook page earlier this week.

“It’s gone national on radio stations right across Australia, and we’ve received messages from right around the world,” Festival Director Cathy Treasure told The Parkes Phoenix.

The overwhelming sentiment from fans has been that it is very sad, but necessary under the current COVID situation, and everyone is looking forward to 2022.

“So sad, but think how great the atmosphere will be in 2022. Congratulations on doing the right thing Parkes, we will miss you,” said one fan. Another said: “We will be back in 2022 with blue suede shoes on. The King will understand. What a party it will be in 2022!”

The same sentiment came from participants in Parkes. “It is probably the best for the safety of our senior volunteers and the community, especially if there is another outbreak,” said Al(vis) Gersbach, who has transformed into Elvis for the past 16 years. “Let’s wait for 2022 and fully enjoy the spirit of Elvis as it should be, The King of rock and roll. Thank ya very much.”

Twenty years ago Sydney hosted the biggest sporting event ever held in Australia and Parkes created unique memories to be included in this exciting part of the country’s history.

Not only did the Olympic torch come through our town with the late Parkes Mayor Robert Wilson taking it on top of the Parkes Radio Telescope, and local hockey hero Stephen Davies represented Australia at his third Olympics, but IBM also broadcast an advertisement worldwide about Parkes and Stephen.

Stephen, who was known as the Maradona of hockey, scored for the Kookaburra team when they won the bronze medal. With three Olympic medals in his pocket, he announced his retirement after the Sydney Olympics having played more than 274 games in green and gold and scoring 140 goals.

Two decades later people all over the country have dug up their photos and memorabilia to revel once again in this universally uplifting event and share their glowing memories.

“I’m sure it’s one of Parkes Shire’s favourite memories how the Olympic Torch galvanised the whole community from schools, sports clubs, service groups and the general public,” said Helen Magill, who was one of the torch bearers.

Council’s promotions officer at the time, Michael Greenwood said as Parkes was lucky enough to get an overnight stop for the torch, it was decided to do something different. “We organised a procession with 35 different floats each representing an Olympic sport with Stephen Davies leading it in a chariot, just ten days before the start of the Games.”

Michael said Olympic organisers in Sydney said the event at Parkes was one of the most innovative in the whole country. According to Michael, Parkes was also the only town where the torch was handed over between twins with Ken Keith (current Mayor) handing it to his brother Tim, the town crier.

Parkes’ iconic radio telescope provided another unique opportunity and footage of the Mayor with the torch on The Dish went around the world.

That was exactly the focus of the famous IBM advertisement – two Parkes icons: Stephen Davies and The Dish that again splashed the name of Parkes around the world.

“The American film crew came for a week and had their every need looked after. We even closed the main street for them to film,” Michael recalled.

Memorable moments included the horse that went into a café and filming Stephen bouncing a ball on his hockey stick as the sun came up at The Dish. “When I saw the ad for the first time on TV, I nearly dropped my beer. It was so good!”

After all the excitement of filming the ad and hosting the torch relay, Michael and his family were lucky to watch three hockey matches at the Games in Sydney. “There were a lot of Parkes people there and it was great to feel part of it.”

Although Helen could not get any tickets, she still has very fond memories of the torch relay.

“I was so proud to be representing my community and even though we were far away from Sydney, the torch relay was our piece of the Olympics and we felt like we had contributed to the Games. I’d have to say it’s been one of the highlights of my life.”

By Maggi Barnard

Following on from the worst drought, 2020 has so far thrown several other challenging curve balls at our community.

Community health has become a priority and an exciting new collaboration between Gotcha4Life, Landcare NSW, the Rural Adversity Mental Health Program (RAMHP) and Surf Lifesaving NSW will bring new programs to the Parkes and Forbes Shires to build mental fitness.

The four organisations saw the opportunity to work together in regional, rural and coastal areas in NSW by delivering workshops and training focussed on the concept of ‘prevention through connection’.

The mayors of both Parkes and Forbes have expressed the support of their respective councils for the outlay of programs.

Marg Applebee, Coordinator for Central West Lachlan Landcare, and Di Gill, RAHMHP Consultant are pleased to be working with Gotcha4Life to help activate these programs in the Parkes and Forbes shires.

Gotcha4Life is a not-for-profit foundation dedicated to connecting corporate Australia, government, community and NFP to help prevent and reduce instances of poor mental health in Australia. “We are so excited to work alongside such powerful and purpose-driven organisations, who have local reach into communities across NSW, enabling us to build mental fitness with local relevance and sustainable impact,” said CEO Tim Hodgson.

Founder of Gotcha4Life and television and radio personality, Gus Worland said: “Our vision at Gotcha4Life is a world where people are open, honest and supportive in their relationships and comfortable to express themselves when they are not ok. We envisage a society in which everyone has a Gotcha4Life mate who they can open up to and rely on no matter what.”

“This collaboration will be vital to help engage people across NSW who are battling with the effects of drought, fire and COVID-19,” said Gus.

Dr Adrian Zammit, Chief Executive Officer at Landcare NSW said while his organisation’s mission was to continue to care for the land and environment, it was founded on a series of close-knit communities that needed support. “With over 70 local coordinators supported by their own local Landcare groups across NSW, we have the opportunity to assist with facilitation of this important program across the state.”

RAMHP Manager Tessa Caton said continuing to find new ways of building mental fitness and capacity in rural communities was absolutely essential after the challenges 2020 has brought.

“Whilst Surf Life Saving NSW isn’t an organisation that we rely on day to day in the country, they are an important link in this partnership and well-placed to provide practical support for initiatives and programs on the ground.”

The launch of Gotcha4Life in the Parkes and Forbes Shires on Zoom with Gus Worland will be on Wednesday, 23rd September at 7pm. Register via EventBrite, follow the links on Central West Lachlan Landcare’s website and social media sites. Invitations will also be sent to sporting clubs, schools and other organisations.