At the North Pole, Santa has many helpers who make the Christmas season special! His scout elves serve as his eyes and ears in homes around the world… The Elf on the Shelf is being accepted into more and more homes each year. The children’s book The Elf on the Shelf: A Christmas Tradition came out in 2004 and tells a Christmas-themed story that explains how Santa Claus knows who is naughty and who is nice.

The story describes how Santa’s scout Elves hide in people’s homes to watch over events. But first the scout elves need to be named. Once a family has named the elf, it receives its special Christmas magic, which allows it to fly to and from the North Pole.

At night when everyone goes to bed, the scout elf flies back to the North Pole to report to Santa the activities, good and bad, that have taken place. Before the family wakes up each morning, the scout elf flies back from the North Pole and hides. By hiding in a new spot each morning, the scout elf and the family play an ongoing game of hide and seek.
The Elf on the Shelf is available at Colouby Creations in Parkes.

‘Tis the season to be merry and bright and the Parkes Shire is filled to the brim with shining things to do and brilliant gift ideas to help you enjoy the festive season as much as possible. To make the most of the longer days and good weather in December, a variety of events are on offer and Peak Hill residents can look forward to the Meet You Up the Street festival, and Carols by Candlelight in the Commercial Gardens on Sunday, 18th December from 7pm.

The Meet You Up the Street festival is next Friday, 2nd December from 8am in Caswell Street until late. The streets will come alive with music, street stalls, raffles, chocolate wheel, art on the sidewalks, fun rides for children and loads of specials in the shops. Make sure you are there to shop til you drop at the markets, admire the art in the
street, try out the Lip Sync contest, grab a bite to eat from a take away shop, hotel or club, have your photo taken with Santa at the Post Office and cheer on the competitors in the Billy Cart Derby at the gold mine.

Find out who won the best decorated house, shop and best shop window and various other prizes and competitions.
Winners of the Library Writing Contest will be announced, Peak Hill 89.5 Radio will be broadcasting live and the library is hosting a kids dress up parade. The day ends at the Bowling Club for a family night of entertainment and barefoot bowling. It all adds up to a great family day out. Contact Antonia Francis or Betty Zdan on 6869 1236 or 0407 072 813 for more information or visit www.visitparkes.com.au.

The Melbourne to Brisbane Inland Rail project is set to make tracks in 2018, according to the Australian Rail Track Corporation (ARTC). The first stages of the 1,700km long rail line will commence in 2018. It will be worth $16 billion to the Australian economy over the next 50 years. A spokesperson for ARTC said at a conference in Toowoomba recentlly: “The project is now two years into the 10 year $10.5 billion program.” The head offices for the project will be in Brisbane with satellite offices in Sydney and Toowoomba.

Parkes Shire Mayor and Chair of the Melbourne to Brisbane Inland Rail Alliance, Cr Ken Keith OAM, attended the congress and said the news was encouraging for the region. “This is a critical piece of national infrastructure and will open up a corridor of opportunity from Brisbane to Melbourne, with Parkes uniquely positioned to leverage
economically. “The Inland Rail is set to generate $1.8 billion for Northern Western and Central NSW and $2.6 billion for the whole of NSW,” the Mayor said.

New state-of-the-art equipment is set to be used in the construction process, which will require 1.6 million sleepers, 2.5 million tonnes of ballast and 138,000 tonnes of rail. It is hoped that much of these products will be sourced and procured locally enhancing local economies along the proposed route, including the Parkes Shire.

A report will be finalised by March next year regarding opportunities for investment in the Inland Rail. For more information about Inland Rail visit http://inlandrail.artc.com.au/

Forbes will be the place to be tomorrow with the annual Find it in Forbes Christmas Festival invading the CBD for a morning of festivities. It is an event not to be missed on the local calendar as there will be plenty on offer for the whole family. A super loaded morning has been planned with the popular Forbes Farmers Markets joining forces with the Forbes Business Chamber to bring a huge selection of market stalls to the CBD. There will also be live
entertainment featuring some excellent local singing talent.

Business Chamber President, Chris Roylance, said: “The morning will be an opportunity for the community to join local businesses in a showcase of what we have to offer. Everyone from across the region should get to Forbes and explore the wonderful shopping experience we have to offer. Not only will it be about the shopping, but about a morning of music and kids entertainment, including a special visit from Santa.”

In partnership with Vanfest, the Business Chamber is anticipating one of its biggest weekends on the tourism calendar with thousands of people from across the country set to flock to Forbes for the annual music festival. Chris Roylance said: “We want to make sure there are plenty for locals and visitors to do and really show why Forbes is the best place in the country to visit. Following on from the recent flood events in September and October, this is an opportunity for the community to rebuild and show our city counterparts the spirit that is alive and well in Forbes.”

There will also be chance to win prizes with over $1,500 worth of Why Leave Town dollars given away on the morning to lucky winners who have been shopping locally in the Find it in Forbes promotion, which kicked off at the end of October. Everyone making purchases in participating stores tomorrow will receive entries to win their
share in the major prize pool of $15,000 which will be drawn on 22nd December.

With a nine o’clock start tomorrow, and extended trading throughout Forbes in the lead up to Christmas, there will be lots on offer for people travelling to town, as well as local shoppers starting their Christmas shopping.

NSW Health is urging people to safeguard against mosquito bites after a marked increase in detections of the mosquito-borne Ross River and Barmah Forest viruses. Stephen Doggett, Senior Scientist at NSW Health Pathology, said recent flooding had caused a proliferation in the number of mosquitoes. With added swarms of mosquitoes
we have detected Ross River Virus and Barmah Forest Virus in mosquitoes in Forbes, Griffith, Leeton, and Moama.

“Ross River and Barmah Forest viruses are spread by bites from mosquitoes that have fed on animals that carry the virus. These viruses are not fatal to humans but they can cause persistent and debilitating symptoms such as joint aches and pains, fever, chills, headache and sometimes a rash. The rash usually disappears after seven to ten days,
but some people may experience these symptoms for weeks or even months. So far 63 cases of people with Ross River and Barmah Forest virus have been confirmed.

The best way to avoid infection is to avoid being bitten by mosquitoes.”
Simple steps to avoid mosquito bites:
• Screening all windows and doors to prevent mosquitoes from coming inside.
• Avoid being outside unprotected, particularly during dawn and dusk.
• Apply mosquito repellent regularly to exposed areas. Repellents containing DEET or Picaridin are best. Repellents
containing oil of lemon eucalyptus or p- Menthane-3.8-diol (PMD) also provides adequate protection.
• Don’t use repellents on children under the age of three months. Instead use physical barriers such as netting on prams, cots and play areas for babies.
• Light mosquito coils or use vaporising mats indoors.
• When mosquitoes are inside, use insecticide sprays, especially behind furniture and dark places.
• When camping, use flyscreens, or sleep under mosquito nets.
• Get rid of items that hold water around the house.

Some nice threads are on display at the Parkes Shire Library during November, with a discrete yet impressive exhibition of embroidery. The works are on tour from the 2015 Sydney Quilt and Craft Fair at Glebe Island, and were selected from entries around NSW. The main criterion for the works was they had to be sewn onto a white background, and they had to be the artist’s original design.

The impressive artworks represent many hours of needlework, and a closer inspection reveals the talent and skill behind the creations. Some embroiderers used a combination of stitches to create texture and dimensionality, which literally brings the design out of the fabric; a couple of ingenious stitch-work techniques were used to create three-dimensional coral reef scapes. Others used colour and design to create an image; even a simple straight stitch made some pretty pictures.

The display also includes work from the Parkes’ Embroiderer’s Guild, as well as some of their tools of trade. The Parkes Embroiderer’s Guild group meet twice a month and enjoy adding a social element to their handicraft. There is a wide range of skills within the group, and a lot of knowledge sharing. The Guild members all agree that while embroidery teaches patience and is usually calming, it can be frustrating.

The Parkes Embroiderers’ Guild Display will be at the Parkes Shire Library until Wednesday, 30th November.

Philip Donato of the Shooters, Fishers and Farmers party is the new Member for Orange. He was declared the winner nine days after the Orange by-election and a recount of votes. He took the seat by just 50 votes from his Nationals counterpart Scott Barrett. It is the first time in the party’s 21-year history to have a Member of Parliament in the Lower House. “I am humbled by the result and to be the seventh Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party representative elected nation wide,” Philip said.

He promised to be a representative for all people in the Orange electorate. “I will work hard to gain everybody’s trust.” Scott said in a press statement he met with the winner to formally concede. “I thanked him for the upstanding and respectful way in which he conducted himself during this by-election campaign,” Scott said. With the win, Philip ended the Nationals’ 69-year stranglehold on the regional electorate. The Nationals held the seat by more than 20% before the by-election. The seat of Orange became vacant when former MP Andrew Gee resigned to run for federal parliament.

It is not every day that the growing of canola results in money donated to a disability service provider, but it is exactly what happened in Parkes this week. Currajong Disability Services received $13,000 from the Manildra-based canola processing company MSM Milling. The donation formed part of a charity partnership that saw the company team up with local farmers to grow the speciality canola variety Monola.

The partnership was launched earlier this year to Parkes and Condobolin farmers as a means of helping them assist Currajong Disability Services raise funds to keep operating in the two towns. MSM Milling vowed to donate $10 per hectare of Monola planted by farmers followed by a bonus $5 per tonne payment for each tonne of Monola delivered to MSM. MSM Milling’s General Manager Commercial, Charlie Aldersey, said participating farmers sowed 1,300 hectares of Monola. “Many of the board positions at Currajong are filled by local farmers and we saw it as the logical way to help the charity,” he said.

Charlie said the $13,000 was just the beginning of the funds that would be realised as Monola seeds would be arriving soon for the next instalment. The money will be used to help establish a jujube, Chinese date, orchard in Parkes, which will provide employment to disabled clients. The Chairman of Currajong Disability Services, Neil Unger, said the jujube trees were planted in August.

“The orchard already has 500 trees and we hope to plant more. This funding will really help us get it off the ground. Without the support of businesses like MSM Milling, we wouldn’t be able to undertake new projects like this,” Neil said. Parkes district farmer, Peter Barber, planted 150 hectares of Monola. “We’re just starting harvest and already we’ve found that the oil content is very high, which is extremely pleasing.”

More than 200 people were part of a very special and inspiring afternoon in Parkes last Saturday at the Celebrating Neurodiversity event. People came from as far as Sydney and Leeton to listen to Chris Ulmer from the USA and Tim and Judy Sharp from Brisbane. Judy told the incredible story of how she was told to put her son away and forget about him when he was diagnosed with autism at age 3. “I was told he would never be able to love me and he would never speak. I was devastated, but in the car Tim was wiping my tears away.”

Judy never gave up on her son. She recalls a huge breakthrough when out of desperation to communicate with Tim, she started drawing stick figures. “As soon as I put the pencil down, he pushed my hand back to the pencil.” Tim started drawing every day and at 11 invented Laser Beak Man. Today he is an internationally acclaimed
artist with an impressive list of achievements. Judy’s message is that no one can tell the future and therefore all children must have the opportunity to reach their potential.

Chris Ulmer continued the message of love and encouragement with his talk. As a special education teacher he felt he
had stumbled down a rabbit hole and discovered a world that was beautiful after he had spent three years with the same students. He started a blog posting videos of his students explaining life from their perspective. When a video of him complimenting each student individually at the start of the day went viral, he knew this was the way to spearhead worldwide acceptance of neurodiversity. He is currently travelling the world to teach and interview
neurodiverse individuals for his blog called Special Books by Special Kids. Chris always focuses on the positive in
people and told the story of how he helped a student who could not run more then three steps without falling down to eventually finish a 5km run in 22 minutes. “Every day we celebrated the number of steps he managed to do without falling, but not once did I say a word about him falling down.”

Chris, who did eight interviews in Parkes, encourages everyone to like the videos as he firmly believes this would change the way individuals with a diagnosis are perceived in the community. One of the organisers of the event, Angela Wilson of the Central West Autism and Special Needs Support Group said the feedback had been incredible. The group’s Facebook page was flooded with messages of people saying how much the afternoon had meant to them.