Steel supplies in Parkes is not going to run out following the recent closure of Handi Steel. Power Tools Plus has announced it has purchased the stock and will be temporarily operating from the business site.

“The good news is Parkes will not be without a steel supplier, and it will be business as usual at the 32 Woodward Street premises for the next two months,” said Power Tools Plus Marketing Manager Marianne Casey.

This new purchase is just the start of some very exciting changes for this Central West business, which has three more stores operating in Forbes, Cowra and Mudgee .

Many people would have noticed the signs on the Forbes road of the new premises under construction for Power Tools Plus over the past year. The long wait is over and in the new year the steel yard, as well as the industrial supplies store currently located in Currajong Street, will be moving into a brand new and much bigger space.

While a grand opening is planned for March 2022, the industrial supplies section will start operating from 24th January and the steel yard from 4th February next year.

The new premises has created four new roles, which have all been filled by Parkes locals.

The new store was built mostly using contractors who have been customers of the business. “It was great to broaden our relationship with our customers and swap around the roles,” said Marianne.

With Parkes set to grow into a major hub, the new Power Tools Plus store could not have come at a better time to provide a much-needed service in the region.

Laura Rusten and her sister Jorja at the show jump she designed for her HSC major work. The jump has butterfly wings on both sides to honour the Dolly’s Dream butterfly. Laura created the wings by welding together horse shoes.

A Year 12 student spent hours working on her HSC major work this year and then decided to auction it off for a charity.

Parkes Christian School student Laura Rusten created a very special show jump for her major works in Design and Technology.

“As an avid equestrian I know how hard it is when practicing show jumping on your own to have to get off the horse to lift or lower the pole, so I decided to create a jump that would allow me to automatically lift or lower the pole while still mounted.”

With some input from her dad, Laura spent countless hours over six months to build an automatic pole lifting show jump with a motion sensor camera.

“My show jump is designed to be used by the rider solo, with two electric winches remote controlled to either lift or lower the pole, a motion sensor camera that can record your movement with an SD card or a second party can access the camera with their phone and control the movement of the camera to give direct feedback.” Laura said the jump was not only designed as a training jump but could also be used in competition.

As a keen supporter of Dolly’s Dream, a charity set up to care for children who have experienced or witnessed serious violence, bullying, cyberbullying or other safety and well-being risks, Laura decided a great way of raising funds for the charity would be to sell the show jump on auction. “With the approval from Dolly’s Dream this became my inspiration.”

The auction kicked off on Monday and by Tuesday she had already raised over $500. “I don’t really have a final figure and only hope it goes well,” said Laura, who has been accepted at Wagga CSU to study a Bachelor of Equine Science next year.

The auction includes other smaller items and is open until 12pm today at: https://fundraise.dollysdream.org.au/fundraisers/laurarusten

Laura Rusten.

The Parkes Shire Concert Band will be playing Christmas Carol in Cooke Park from 11am tomorrow.

The annual Nine Lessons and Carols will again enthral those who gather on Sunday night (19th December) at St George’s Anglican Church at 7:30pm.

The event features songs and carols based around nine readings that tell the story of the prophecies of Jesus, through to his incarnation or birth as God on earth.

The event also foreshadows his death and resurrection which is commemorated at Easter.

Rev Natalie Quince said: “There is a dignified purpose and simplicity in this service that enables people to hear about God’s promises and their fulfilment for us in Jesus. It is the beginning of the Christmas season.”

And the best bit is – everyone can join in singing!

Richard Morgan will be accompanying the congregation in many favourite carols. He is an accomplished organist from Sydney and a regular at this event.

Local Belinda Boland will be performing a solo, as will Keola Aho, while A Capella group Tapestry will lead the congregation in singing and will perform two items.

Please get in early as it will begin promptly at 7:30pm. Richard will be playing the organ from 7pm.

Carols In The Park

If you cannot make the service at St George’s on Sunday, the Parkes Shire Concert Band will be playing Christmas Carols tomorrow (18th December) from 11am at the Cooke Park Pavilion. Bring your picnic rug or chair and enjoy some Christmas cheer in the open.

The final result of the Local Government election will be made known on Tuesday when the ten councillors for the new term will be confirmed. The Mayor and Deputy Mayor will be elected by the councillors on Thursday, 23rd December.

The much anticipated election with a total of 19 candidates (includes the group of six) resulted in many conversations, predictions, debates and some accusations.

The total number of votes counted are 8,689 according to the NSW Electoral Commission web page and the quota is 739 per candidate for Proportional Representation (PR). This means any surplus votes of the elected candidates (that is, votes in excess of the quota they needed) are transferred to the candidates who were the second choice of voters. However, they are transferred as a reduced value. This is why it takes so much time to finalise the results.

The latest vote count for the top ten councillors according to the NSW Electoral Commission web page for the Parkes Shire are: Ken Keith 1,165; Glenn Wilson 946; Louise O’Leary 777; Bill Jayet 708; Neil Westcott 706; Jacob Cass 661; Marg Applebee 577; Kenny McGrath 492; George Pratt 428 and John Southon 335.

There were five very excited young Parkes residents this week when they were told they had won a prize in our very popular Christmas Colouring-In Competition. Thank you to Packed Cones for your generous sponsorship! The winner of the lucky dip prize is Laura Brooker (9).

A very happy winner 11 – 15 years: Errin Waters.

The winner of the 7 – 10 years category, Oden Greef (8).

The smiling 0 – 3 years winner Lillian Mulligan (3).

Abbey Lovell (5) with her prize for the 4 – 6 years category.

It really felt like 2021 was trying its best to beat 2020 for the worst year trophy. Little did we know the super cell storm event on the second day of 2021 was an indication of what was to come.

It was a trying year for many, especially for Year 12 students, health care workers, business owners, farmers, and everyone who faced personal challenges and experienced loss.

At least the sun cracked open those dark clouds and we still found lots to celebrate as life went on, albeit not always as planned.

As the sun shone on us, so did our indomitable community spirit that kept on sparkling when we needed it most.

How can we forget the long queue of cars lining up all the way from Northparkes Oval to the highway the first day of the pop-up vaccination clinic, or the overwhelming support recently for the opening of the Safe Haven for people experiencing suicidal thoughts or distress.

There are so many heart-warming, inspiring and precious stories in our community and it was a privilege to bring them to you our readers this year.

Thank you to everyone who sent in contributions, and a huge thank you to our advertisers who ensured we remained in print every week.

We are very excited to end the year with a bumper 16-page edition packed with festive stories. Thank you Roxane for your mammoth effort to make this happen!

Wishing you all a peaceful festive season and a wonderful 2022!

Maggi

TAKE A BOW… Parkes School of Dance students at the end of their acro dance performance for the Performance at the Pavilion concert on Sunday.

Parkes School of Dance students literally danced with joy on Sunday having the privilege of being the very first performers to inaugurate the brand-new Cooke Park Pavilion.

The school’s annual end-of-year concert showcased different dance types from classical ballet, tap dance and jazz to contemporary, lyrical and acro with more than 70 dancers presenting a program of 15 different items.

“We were pretty privileged and it was wonderful that we could share our love of dance in the open air,” said Natalie Williams.

As the sound travels well outside, they acquired more spectators on Sunday and during rehearsals from people in the park and bystanders.

Being the guinea pigs testing out the new venue, Natalie said everything went pretty seamless. “Not having to hire someone to do the lights was huge for us, and backstage we could iron costumes and do everything we needed.”

It was a great way to end a tumultuous year of COVID interruptions, the sad loss of teacher Cathy Acret in March to cancer, the return to online learning in term 3, and having to film students for their Royal Academy of Dance exams.

“We are so proud of the students showing so much resilience, determination and grit to get through this year,” said Natalie.

“The students were thrilled to be back on stage, and for many it was their first time with 20 pre-schoolers also performing.” Despite the extra level of organisation required to ensure a COVID-safe event, “it all came together in the end on a sunny day!”

By Maggi Barnard