Three local TAFE NSW students were selected for an extraordinary opportunity to travel from Parkes to a world city with a population larger than the whole of Australia and gain unprecedented access to some of its largest global enterprises and businesses.

Jaimee Timmins, Logan Hignett and Kelly Hendry were selected from 30 applicants for a 16-day trip to Shanghai, China’s biggest city, as part of the Outbound Mobility Program giving rural and remote students the opportunity to travel abroad to enhance their industry skills and knowledge.

Jaimee, Logan and Kelly, who are also Parkes Shire Council employees, have come back with bags full of experiences, but also fresh ideas for their workplace. In Shanghai they met with industry business leaders at Wujiang Government, the Australian Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai, Renji Hospital, AustCham Shanghai and BlueScope Corporate. They also visited the world-famous China International Import Expo and Disneyland.

“It was a massive learning curve for me,” said Jaimee who also experienced her very first trip overseas. “It was amazing to see how structured and orderly everything is run in such a huge city. I gained insight into their way of life and how good their communication is for instance at the hospital where they deal with lots of international doctors.”

Ludovico Tiveron moved from Italy to Parkes in 2014. He works as a delivery man at Dominos, and teaches martial arts to a junior class. In his free time he enjoys fishing and martial arts.

Edi Sartori, who enjoys gardening, cooking and crafting, moved to Parkes from Italy in 2014.

Leonardo Tiveron who also came from Italy, has just graduated as a mechanical engineer at the University of Newcastle. His interests are cars and motorbikes.

Mohannad Islam is from Bangladesh and first arrived in Sydney in 2014. He moved to Parkes in 2018 and works as a mechanical engineer. He enjoys travelling, reading books and watching movies.

Claudia Vejrazka is from Germany and first came to Parkes in 2006 as a vacation student. She moved to Perth in 2009 and in 2011 to Parkes. She is a mining engineer and her interests are permaculture and horticulture. It was an extra special day for Claudia as it was also her daughter’s third birthday.

Kuiju Cai is from China and first arrived in Australia in 1999. She moved to Parkes in 2014 and currently works as a kitchen hand. She enjoys watching TV.

The candidates each took an oath or affirmation, and everyone sang the national anthem after the presentation of their citizenship certificates.

It is a long and often difficult journey to become a citizen making the ceremony a very special milestone day. The joy, pride and honour felt by the new citizens was evident on Tuesday with many of them saying they already felt part of the community.

“Parkes is a great community, and the people are lovely and friendly,” said Edi Sartori. “It is not only an honour to become a citizen, but also makes me feel that I am now a permanent member of the community,” said Mohanned Islam.

By Maggi Barnard

Sal and Braam both ended up contributing poems to the anthology that includes the work of 48 other writers from inland NSW and beyond.

“I’ve given up being a lawyer hoping to become a writer,” said Sal, who now works in special education at Parkes High School. She took the bold step of writing poetry for the first time. “Seeing my first work in print is a positive thing for me. I feel very good about it.” She hopes this will bring opportunities to get more of her work published. She has written four novels and some short stories since arriving in Parkes.

Braam has had his Afrikaans poems published in South Africa and the Netherlands, but seeing his very first poem written in English and published in Australia is exciting for him. “It was a very rewarding project. I liked the idea of writing about the sky. It feels good to be in the company of other poets who all experienced the same thing and wrote about it.”

He said making the switch to writing in English has not been that difficult, although he felt he was a lot more cautious in his writing. He hopes to do a lot more writing and eventually have enough material for a collection of his own.

The Dark Sky Dreamings anthology was launched in Tamworth last week, and editor Merrill Findlay plans to have a launch in Parkes too in the near future.

By Maggi Barnard

 

If 20,000 plus people can do it every year, why not an emu?

Parkes has a brand-new resident – a giant jumpsuit-clad, rockin’ emu mural to add to our town’s collection of 17 public art installations.

It took acclaimed Lightning Ridge artist, John Murray, two and a half days to transform the Caledonia Street wall of the Parkes Services Club into an Elvis-inspired emu artwork, complete with a bejewelled jumpsuit.

“I was driving through Parkes and noticed there was an opportunity for more street art. It’s great for the town as there are always grey nomads passing through, especially during Parkes Elvis Festival.”

John began painting the larger-than-life caricatures in the 1980s. His work now features in public spaces across the country. The Elvis Emu in Parkes is an exact replica of the one painted on ACDC Lane in Melbourne unveiled earlier this year.

Find out more about the Parkes Shire Public Art Trail at www.parkes.nsw.gov.au/things-todo/arts-culture/public-art/

 

A mere three years after starting out, Kerin Physio Co took out the top gong at last Friday’s The Henrys – Parkes Business Awards.

Rachel Kerin and her team not only won the prestigious Henry for Business of the Year, but also triumphed with the Excellence in Professional Services Award at the annual event.

Rachel credited her team saying: “They are a group of women who are amongst the most talented, genuine and passionate women I know. Women who I am so privileged to work alongside.”

“We are so humbled to be The Henry Parkes Business of the Year and so very grateful for everyone who has supported our business.”

Rachel Kerin collected a third award sharing the Excellence in Small Business Award with Jess Galvin and Rebecca Miller from

La Bella Medispa, who also won the Excellence in Personal and Lifestyle Services Award. Many more individuals and businesses were winners on the night as awards were given out across 14 categories.

The Parkes Phoenix won Excellence in Micro Business Award. Our Senior Advertising Executive, Sylvie Everingham-Potts said: “I would like to thank the Parkes Chamber for organising this event, and all our supporters. It is because of you we get to do what we do for our community and we appreciate every one of you. As a small business here in Parkes we feel what you feel during times of hardship, such as the current drought.”

Other double award winners on the night included Parkes PCYC and its manager Tim Watts who won the Excellence in Social Enterprise Award and Tim, the Outstanding Business Leader title.

“Congratulations to the competition team and the entire group of ERT members who train year-round to ensure they are ready to assist in case of an emergency. We are enormously proud of each and every one of you,” said Northparkes Managing Director, Hubert Lehman.

Another highlight was Northparkes ERT member Travis Carte winning the overall theory component. “We have sent members of our ERT to compete for the past 24 years and were named the overall winner in 2009, 2014 and 2015. Our consist- ent success at this competition reflects the hard work of our ERT members to stay at the leading edge of emergency response practices,” said Hubert.

“Zero Harm is our approach to every aspect of our operations and our ability to respond to emergency scenarios is a critical part of this. Competitions such as this allow us to practise our skills and benchmark ourselves against others in the industry,” said Northparkes Manager People, Safety & Environment, Stacey Kelly.

“As President of IEEE I am very honoured to join my colleagues at this occasion today,” said Toshio Fukuda, and commended the IEEE Milestone program for their tremendous effort.

Several speakers referred to that “moment in history that would stop the world” with David Cooke, who was a radio engineer at the Parkes Radio Telescope at the time of the moon landing, giving a very personal account of the historic day.

He confirmed the scene in the movie The Dish of the wind starting to gust at 110km/h, but “John Bolton who was the Director knew the system very well and he directed the driver of the telescope to keep going. So right on time as the camera was turned on, we began to receive images.”

David said it was only at the recent commemoration of 50 years since the moon landing that he really appreciated how significant it really was. “I think at the time I felt like it was just another day at work. Although afterwards I went down and outside and I looked up at the moon and I thought to myself: ‘Three people are up there and we helped put them there. How amazing is that!’”

IEEE History Committee representative David Burger said it was a very distinguished occasion and a big deal for Australia to be honoured by the IEEE.

“We are delighted to have you here celebrating such a wonderful occasion,” said Parkes Deputy Mayor Barbara Newton. “We love our Dish and we are very proud of everyone who has worked here over the years.”

The IEEE has over 400,000 members worldwide and in excess of 8,000 members in Australia, who are employed in all aspects of electrical engineering and electronics.

The IEEE Milestones Awards programme recognises the technological innovation and excellence for the benefit of humanity found in unique products, services, and patents. They honour the achievements, rather than a place or person.

By Maggi Barnard