The town of Canowindra is all set for a huge influx of tourists and a massive range of events this weekend, as the town’s biggest ever October long weekend takes place. What originally started as just the annual Airing of the Quilts to take place on the October long weekend has grown to also include Charlie McCarron’s auction, tours of Canowindra, markets, exhibitions, barbeques, and live music.

The auction of Charlie McCarron’s classic car collection is expected to attract thousands of people alone, however with all of the other events taking place across the weekend, even more people are expected to travel to Canowindra.
Fiona Ferguson, a member of local community organisation ‘Canowindra@Home’ who has played a major role in organising Canowindra’s long weekend, said it was an event the entire Canowindra community could look forward to.

“Charlie McCarron’s auction at Canowindra Motors will obviously be the highlight of the weekend.” “The quilt themed window displays, which started on Wednesday, will be a great way to get visitors to see Canowindra as well.
The idea behind that is to get people to walk around the town to view the quilts- almost like a trail.”

Besides Charlie McCarron’s auction and the Airing of the Quilts, there will also be the “Roasted” exhibition at Delice, the “Past and Present” exhibition at the Old Vic Inn, various events at the Canowindra Services Club, a busking competition at Deli Lama, the Moorbel Markets, various community BBQ fundraisers, the Canowindra CWA open day, and “Blind Freddy’s” half day tours of Canowindra.

By Joshua Matic

Councillor Ken Keith had the mayoral chain hung around his neck once again when he was re-elected uncontested at the Council meeting on Tuesday.

The position of Deputy Mayor also remained in the hands of Barbara Newton. As for the rest of the newly elected Council, announced last Friday, three new faces had made the cut. They are Neil Westcott, Wally Biles and Bill Jayet.

The ten councillors in order of the position they were elected starting at number one are Ken Keith, Louise O’Leary (Ind), Neil Westcott (Ind), Kenny McGrath (Ind), Wally Biles, Barbara Newton, George Pratt, Bill Jayet, Alan Ward and Patrica Smith.

Mayor Ken Keith said he it was great to have diversity and a new variety of inspirational and enthusiastic Councillors. “I look forward to serving the next term.”

The Parkes Chamber of Commerce welcomed their new Executive Committee at their Annual General Meeting last week.

Geoff Rice, of Langlands Hanlon, will continue as President, with John Kennedy, of K&H Geotechnical Services, returning as Vice President. Local business owner Belinda McCorkell retains the Secretary role for another term. Wilbur Harris, manager of Parkes Mensland, will serve as a Publicity Officer, and is joined by Peter Martin who replaces Michael Oakley. Susie Hill is welcomed to the role of Treasure, replacing the outgoing Gregor Sammut-Paul.

Peter Martin is a Partner at Matthews Williams Solicitors and Conveyancing, and practices in Parkes and Condoblin. Susie Hill is the Chief Radiographer and Practice Manager at Parkes Diagnostic Imaging, and also runs a cattle farm with her husband.

The Parkes Chamber of Commerce is an organisation of local business people who promote the growth and prosperity of the Parkes business sector. The immediate focus for the new-look executive committee is the fast-approaching Christmas period. The SPARKLES initiative is a festive campaign by the Parkes Shire Council and the Parkes Chamber of Commerce to encourage residents to shop local. SPARKLES focusses on providing opportunities to support local businesses through a series of vibrant community events.

Students from Parkes East Public School sat in the driver’s seat as part of an initiative to teach local kids about Council’s role within the community.

More than 130 students from Kindergarten to Year 2 became familiar with some of Council’s heavy machinery, including an excavator, digger and the road roller recently.

Parkes Shire Council’s Director Infrastructure, Andrew Francis said the outdoor lessons were a great way for the students to learn a bit about Council’s work, services and major projects.

“It’s fantastic to see our local school students show an interest in what’s happeningaround our community. By taking the lesson out to the worksite, the students got to see first-hand what role Council plays in the development of our town.”

Council has been working directly across the road from Parkes East Public School for a week constructing an urban main pipeline section for the new Water Treatment Plant (WTP).

Council workers stood down for 30 minutes to answer questions about Council’s major projects, before the students got behind the wheel of a stationary piece of machinery for some hands on learning. “The students learnt about safety on a work site, environmental awareness and the broad range of careers available at Council,” Andrew said.

Council is constructing 800 metres worth of pipeline along Renshaw McGirr Way to transport raw dam water to the new WTP.

Upgrade work on the Eugowra Road at the Mugincoble Silo access has been completed in time for the upcoming harvest. The Parkes Shire Council did the improvement work at a cost of $277,000, of which $170,000 was provided by the NSW Government Fixing Country Roads program, $80,000 by the Australian Government’s Heavy Vehicle Safety and Productivity Program and the reminder was funded by Council.

Parkes Shire Council’s Director Engineering Services, Ben Howard, said the upgrade would improve safety and efficiency to vehicles accessing the largest grain receival site in the Parkes area. “The former configuration resulted in a bottleneck in the network as it did not operate efficiently or safely,” Ben said. “This project has provided an improved access road for heavy vehicles accessing and departing the terminal.”

The improved intersection includes dedicated turning and acceleration lanes, and has been designed to accommodate higher productivity vehicles including road trains if required. The turning lanes will significantly improve safety in peak receiving times by allowing heavy vehicles space to wait to turn into the facility on the road without impeding through traffic.

By Cindy Nutley

The Australian Hearing bus is stopping in Parkes on 23rd September from 10am to 3pm in Clarinda Street to offer free hearing checks and raise hearing health awareness. Hearing loss is a prevalent issue in the community, with around 60 per cent of Australians over 60 suffering from some form of hearing loss. Janet Chapparo, Manager at Australian Hearing Orange, said because age-related hearing loss develops gradually over time, it is common for people to be unaware their hearing is diminishing.

“A hearing check is a quick and easy way to measure the sounds you can and can’t hear. Our team will also be on hand to guide you through what next steps you may have to take in regards to your hearing,” said Janet. No appointment is necessary. Australian Hearing will provide hearing checks to any interested adults who visit the bus on the day.

The election is on in the Parkes, Forbes and Lachlan Shires and you will be fined if you do not vote in tomorrow’s Local Government Elections. This simple and clear warning came from Parkes Mayor Ken Keith who said there was
some confusion among residents as about half of the 70 odd councils in NSW were not in the election because of amalgamation issues and court cases. He said the approximately 9,000 eligible voters in the Parkes Shire needed to get to a polling station tomorrow.

The Mayor also wants to alert voters to a very important detail that has caused some confusion during pre-polling. There is a requirement that you have to vote for a minimum of five candidates otherwise your ballot will be invalid. “Some people misunderstood and thought they were only allowed to vote for five candidates.

I would really like to encourage voters to choose their number one candidate, but to choose another ten to 15 preferences as these could be really important in the final determination of the outcome,” he said. Twenty candidates will be contesting for the ten Parkes Shire Councillor positions.

The Mayor also encouraged voters who might be affected by flooding tomorrow, to get to the pre-polling station in the Coventry Room today to vote. Voting tomorrow will be between 8am and 6pm with pollings stations at the Alectown Hall, Bogan Gate Public School, the Peak Hill, Trundle and Tullamore Central schools, and in Parkes at Middleton Public School, Assemblies of God Hall, Parkes East Public School, and the Little Theatre.

More than a thousand festival-goers made it through hell and high-water for the Bush Tucker Day at Trundle last weekend. With roads flooded across the region, there were fears that the annual festival would be washed out, but the scores of intrepid travellers proved that nothing could rain on this parade.

Festival president Donald “Digger” Anderson said he was thrilled with the turnout. While they were expecting double the crowd, the numbers weren’t that far off last year’s turn-out. “Even with everything stacked against us, it was still a hugely successful event,” he said, “and it’s only possible thanks to the dedicated committee and volunteers”.This year marked the 30th anniversary of the festival, which is held on the first Saturday in September. It began as a grass-roots, family focused fundraiser for local charities, and is now a major highlight on the region’s calendar.

Digger suggested the entertainment is the key to its growing success. What started off as a cook-out has evolved to be a jampacked day of family-fun, with a lot of people coming to see the show. Country music legend Troy Cassar-Daley was a popular inclusion in this year’s lineup. “When the music started you could really see the full extent of the crowd,” Digger said. “Usually the crowd stirs up a bit of dust, but this year it was clear as a bell, thanks to all that rain.” While some events were called off due to stranding, there was still plenty to keep the festival-goers amused, with loads of country-themed shenanigans, such as the hilarious bushman’s relay, the billy boiling competition, and whip-cracking and sheep sheering demonstrations. But let’s not forget the food.

With bush cooking competitions, demonstrations, and free taste testing, Trundle was well and truly tuckered out.

By Raen Fraser