One maxim in the game of bridge is ‘Cover an honour with an honour!’ The five highest cards in bridge – ace, king, queen, jack, ten – are known as honours. If an honour is led, the common rule is to play a higher honour to cover that honour.

Sometimes a player will stubbornly refuse to part with a good honour, but by looking at the bigger picture you see that you are not wasting an honour, instead you are promoting a lower ranked card to potentially take a trick. Covering an honour with an honour can work brilliantly in most situations of play.

Honourable winners the past week were: Margaret Hawken and Jill Crisp on Tuesday; Suzie McNamara with Beth Thomas, and Jenny Freeman with Barbara Hughes on Thursday; Bev Laing and Anne Berkeley on Monday.

If you are interested in bridge, go to www.parkes.bridge-club.org or call Kevin Robinson 0429 621 712.

Seventeen years ago former prime minister Gough Whitlam was part of a record breaking crowd in Parkes to celebrate Anzac Day as part of a World War II reunion.

The theme for the reunion of soldiers who trained at the RAAF base in Parkes was ‘They Were Here’.

During WW2, Parkes airport became RAAF Base Parkes, accommodating No.1 Air Navigation School, No.2 Wireless Air Gunners School, No.8 Operational Training Unit and after the war No.87 SQN operated from Parkes. The former prime minister did his training in Parkes in 1943 before serving in the Pacific.

Organiser of the reunion and secretary of the Parkes RSL at the time, Arthur Parker, still have very fond memories of the event and is wondering where they are now. He added that most of the soliders had since died, including Gough Whitlam who passed away on 21st October 2014 at age 98.

Among the hundreds of people who attended the reunion weekend were also ex Italian interns and their families.

Arthur said while the weekend took months of organising, it was all worth it. The programme ran over three days from Friday, 23rd to Sunday, 25th April 2004.

The program on Friday included a Morse Code display, a street parade and flyover and a civic reception at Council chambers with children singing wartime songs.

Saturday included visits to the Parkes Radio Telescope, Parkes cemetery with a short commemorative service and a visit to Parkes airport and barbeque lunch. There was a Catholic Anzac service before a reunion dinner at the Parkes Services Club and wartime songs performed by a group of Parkes singers.

On Sunday the Anzac Day program started with the usual dawn service at Memorial Hill, followed by a breakfast at the Parkes Services Club before the program continued in Cooke Park at the cenotaph.

While the Parkes Shire has been fortunate to come out of lockdown after five weeks, the rest of NSW will begin to reopen soon when it reaches the 70% double dose vaccination target.

Health Minister Brad Hazzard said while high vaccination rates were the key factor in the roadmap to recovery, COVID-19 would continue to circulate in the community.

Some of the key public health advice for the general community from 11th October will be:

• Everyone, vaccinated and not vaccinated, is urged to get tested if you have any symptoms and immediately self-isolate until a negative result is received.

• Whether you are vaccinated or not vaccinated, if you test positive you must self-isolate for 14 days.

• Close contacts will include household members of positive cases and close social contacts.

• If you are a close contact of a positive case and vaccinated, you must get tested and self-isolate for seven days. On day six, you must get tested again. If it is negative and you are well, you can end isolation after day seven. For the following seven days you must work from home where practicable.

• If you are a close contact and not vaccinated you must get tested and immediately self-isolate for 14 days. On day 12, you should get tested again. If it is negative, you can end isolation after day 14.

• The Service NSW QR code check-in system will remain in place in the general community.

• People aged 16 years and over will only be allowed entry into some venues if fully vaccinated, and people with emptions. Children under 16 will have to be accompanied by a fully vaccinated member of their household to enter hospitality venues, non-critical retail stores, personal services, sporting, recreation and entertainment facilities and events. Critical retail such as supermarkets and pharmacies will still be accessible to those not fully vaccinated.

Visit nsw.gov.au for the latest information.

 

 

Parkes photographer Marc Payne was out on the weekend and managed to capture the moment when the sun broke through the cloud cover and lit up the sky and the side of the Tichborne wheat silos. “The silos are a strong subject when you get the right conditions,” he said. If you have an iconic or local image for Closing Shot send it to the editor@parkesphoenix.com.au.

We are back at the bridge tables! Albeit in masks, with chairs pushed back from the table to maintain reasonable distance, which can be tricky when you need your glasses to read the bidding sheet from that distance, but your mask keeps your glasses fogged up. But despite everything COVID, it’s great to be back.

We have a change of guard on the club committee. We thank Greig Ball for his work as past president as the role passes to Kevin Robinson who is applying himself to the position with the rest of the committee who are keeping the Parkes Bridge Club in good hands.

Winners over the past week were Bev Laing and Joan Reilly on Tuesday, 28th September, Louise Payne with Peter Quin, and Jill Peterson with Lee McCabe on Thursday, 30th September, and Rosemary Morris and Anne Berkeley on Monday, 4th October.

Newcomers are welcome. We play Tues-days and Thursdays at 1pm and Mondays at 6:30pm at the Lutheran Church Hall.

Check our website www.parkes.bridge-club.org or call Kevin Robinson 0429 621 712 for more information.

By Beth Thomas

 

Two online workshops for parents and supervisors of learner drivers in the Parkes Shire will provide practical advice and information about completing the 120 hours of supervised driving.

The free ‘Helping Learner Drivers Become Safer Drivers’ work-shops are scheduled for Wednesday, 13th October and Wednesday, 27th October from 5:30pm.

“It’s unfortunate that the COVID-19 restrictions haven’t allowed us to deliver the workshops as we usually would face to face, however the online delivery will hopefully make it more easily accessible for participants to attend,” said Parkes, Forbes and Lachlan Shire Council’s Road Safety and Injury Prevention Officer, Melanie Suitor.

“Parents and supervisors of learner drivers have a crucial role to play in making our roads safer. That is why we have teamed up with Transport for NSW and other councils across the Western region to hold another one of these workshops via Zoom.”

Participants can attend from the safety and comfort of their own home. The estimated run time is around 1 hour and 15 minutes.

The workshop covers the licencing system, how to use the Learner Driver Logbook including the use of digital logbooks, licence conditions for learner and P-plate drivers, the benefits of on-road driving sessions, tips on supervising a learner driver and more.

“Parents and supervisors who have attended this workshop in the past have found that it boosted their confidence, helped them better plan driving sessions and allowed them to share their experiences with other parents and supervisors,” Melanie said.

Bookings are essential and can be made online via Eventbrite, through the Councils’ Facebook pages or by calling Melanie on 6861 2364.

I first noticed that I had a possible prostate problem about 16 years ago. I was in pain and had difficulties passing urine. I put up with this pain for a number of years and it was not getting any better.

I was having a haircut one day when I noticed on the wall a notice about a Parkes Prostate Cancer Awareness and Support Group meeting. I sat outside the meeting place for three meeting evenings, trying to get to courage to go in.

On the third evening I did go in. I was made very welcome and all my fears were put at ease. The procedures and my options were explained and I was given appropriate material to read. I was told that what decision I made, was mine to make, in consultation with my doctor.

My doctor advised me to have a PSA (Prostate-Specific-Antigen) blood test. The reading was high and I was referred to a urologist. I ended up in hospital where I had the cancerous growths of the gland removed. Apart from a little discomfort due to leakage, I never regretted my visit to that meeting with the Prostate Cancer Group.

I thank them sincerely for their advice and support and urge others on the same journey to seek their support and if you are experiencing prostate problems, visit your doctor. It may save your life’.

By Anonymous