Charmander, Rhydon, Snorlax, Gastly, Jynx, Pidgeot, Ponyta, Golem… Pikachu! There is a new language in the streets and parks where people roam and congregate while staring intently at mobile phones. It is the language of Pokémon Go, the hottest game on the app store right now with millions of people playing it all over the world, including Parkes.

Released earlier this month, Pokémon creatures are popping up everywhere in the real world and the idea is that you catch them. Players go to PokeStops to collect balls and other rewards, such as eggs, and Gyms where they can battle for a team against other teams.

One avid player from Forbes, Mitch Watson very soon realised the value of getting players together and started the Forbes and Parkes Pokémon Go Community on Facebook. In just over a week the group already has 230 members. “It is a good community of people and fun to get to know each other and go for walks.” Mitch has already clocked 100km in search of Pokémon.

Cooke Park has been one of the popular PokeStops in Parkes where lure modules are set up regularly. A lure attracts multiple Pokémon to the area for 30 minutes. Other players can see it on their phones and go there to catch Pokémon. On Sunday all three PokeStops in Cooke Park were lit up with lures and more than 80 people turned up to take advantage of it. On Monday about 30 people came and went while the lure was on in Cooke Park. “I have never seen so many people on a weekday in the park,” remarked one of the players.

Some Pokémoners were very excited when they managed to catch a rare Pokémon called Hitmonchan. Other rare Pokémon caught by players so far include a Dragonair and an Aerodactyl. Some of the players in Cooke Park on
Monday had over 300 Pokémon on the tally. It is apparently harder to play Pokémon Go in rural areas as you have to walk a lot more to find Pokémon. The more people there are, like in cities, the more Pokémon are around.

There have been many reports of people putting themselves in danger when playing. Mitch cautioned players to always be alert and stay safe while playing.

By Maggi Barnard

Troy Casswell has won the 2016 Central West Astronomical Society (CWAS) Astrophotography competition for the second year in a row. The astrophotographer from Coolum Beach on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland was declared the overall winner with his entry called Smilin Orion. The image covers the entire constellation of Orion, which is rich in stellar dust and bright nebulae. The red nebulae are hydrogen rich clouds. The giant red arc is Barnard’s Loop, and is 500 light years from Earth.

Troy, who uses a Canon 60 camera, 135mm lens and an astro track tripod, enjoys astrophotography as a hobby. He said he got his first telescope for Haley’s Comet in 1996, but it was the solar eclipse in 2012 in Cairns that opened the door for him to a new world.

The astrophotography competition, with a total prize money of $10,000 and open to all amateur astronomers in Australia, received 250 entries. Dr David Malin, the worldrenowned astrophotographer, judged the entries for the 13th time this year.

The 2016 CWAS David Malin Awards were presented at a special ceremony at the AstroFest held on Saturday for the first prize overall, eight category prizes and ten honourable mentions. Dr Malin said he judged several similar
competitions around the world, and the standard of the Australian astrophotographers’ work stood up internationally. “There are some splendid examples of modern astrophotography among the finalists.”

Dr Pete Woden, Chairman, Breakthrough Prize Foundation, said he was very impressed with the work of the photographers. “Their work has given me an idea to enlist their help in detecting optical signals.” He said photographers were able to pick up flashes of laser light on camera. “These flashes could be from aliens sending signals to us.”

An exhibition of the best photographs was opened at the Parkes Observatory Visitors Centre on Sunday as part of the 2016 Astro-Fest. Parkes Mayor, Ken Keith, said it was the best festival yet and he was happy to see it going from strength to strength. All the winning entries can be viewed on the David Malin Awards web page at http:// www.parkes.atnf.csiro.au/news_events/astrofest/awards/

The CWAS AstroFest team has produced a 2017 astronomy calendar of images from the shortlisted and winning entries. The calendar is available at the Parkes Observatory Visitors Centre for $19.95.

By Maggi Barnard

The Parkes Show Society is looking for young ladies aged 18 to 24 to be in the 2016 Showgirl Competition. All entrants will be presented to the Parkes community at the Presentation Evening on Saturday, 13th August at 6pm at the Parkes Golf Club.

The 2016 Parkes Showgirl will be announced at the official opening of the Parkes Show on Tuesday, 30th August 2016. Although the title might sound like it is another pageant, the Showgirl competition is not a beauty show. The most important quality of the Showgirl is that she must have a genuine interest in and some knowledge of rural NSW.

The competition encourages the participation and subsequent awareness of rural woman’s contribution and involvement in both local communities and rural NSW as a whole. Participation in the Parkes Showgirl Competition
opens up personal, professional and networking opportunities for the winner as they will progress on to the Zone judging in Cowra in February 2017, followed by The Land Royal Showgirl Competition Finals at the Royal Easter Show in Sydney.

The 2016 Parkes Showgirl will win approximately $1,500 in prizes donated by local businesses. Contact Lisa Bicket on 0427 652 262 for more information, or check out the Parkes Show website – parkesshow.org.au.

Parkes Shire Council is inviting owners and leasees of significant land and buildings to apply for dollar for dollar matched funding under their Local Heritage Fund Program. Council’s Heritage Committee Chair, Cr Alan Ward said since the program was implemented in 2000 it has achieved great results. “The program has successfully delivered 69 heritage projects valued at more than $400,000 with $133,000 provided through local heritage funding.”

“A number of significant heritage places and items have been restored including the Old Post Office building, St George’s Anglican Church, Trundle Hotel, Bogan Gate Uniting Church and Peak Hill and Trundle Main Streets,” Cr Ward said.

Last financial year, Council’s Local Heritage Program successfully completed more than $58,000 worth of heritage projects. More than $41,000 was contributed by the applicants with $17,000 provided through local heritage funding.

Work included the repair and repointing of a brick wall at the Parkes Old Post Office, the reinstatement and repainting of Balmoral House, the reinstatement of the bar and pressed metal ceiling at Peak Hill’s Carrington Hotel, and the repainting of the Tullamore Hotel in period style colours. Applications for the 2016/17 Heritage
Fund close on Friday, 26th August 2016. Application forms, conditions and guidelines are available on Council’s website or from Council’s Administration Centre. Council encourages anyone interested in maintaining their heritage building to make an appointment with Council’s Heritage Advisor.

Free professional advice is available to owners who want to renovate or redevelop private homes or commercial buildings. The advice is of a general nature. For more information, or to make an appointment, please contact Council’s Planning & Environment Department on (02) 6861 2373.

“Isn’t the weather just horrible?” is a common greeting around Parkes these days. The deluge of rain over the past couple of weeks has pushed the total recorded over eight days of rain to 45.8mm. This is 1mm more than the long-term average of 44.8mm recorded over 12.6 days for July. The wettest day so far this month was last Friday when 17mm was recorded, according to the Weatherzone website. This lead to the closure of the Eugowra Road as the Billabong Creek was running over the road. The weir at PAC Park on East Street was flowing very fast and provided some fun for kids on holiday when the rain stopped. School children have been housebound most of the holiday so far with the wet weather. Every bit of sunshine is a good opportunity to get out for fresh air and some exercise. Although it feels like it is raining non-stop, we still need a lot more rain to reach the record of 2010 when 110.8mm fell during July.

To make the wet weather more intense, the average maximum temperature of 12.9°C for this month so far is also lower than the long-term average of 14.3°C. The highest temperature this month was 16°C on the 7th and the lowest temperature recorded this month so far was on 4th July when it dropped to -0.4°C.

According to the weather forecast we might be getting some warmer weather next week with a maximum of 18°C on Monday, hooray! Many communities in the Central West have surpassed seasonal rainfall averages including Bathurst, Orange, Dubbo, Wellington, Mudgee and Cowra. The widespread rain has increased many dam levels significantly with some even overflowing.

By Maggi Barnard

PJL Group have recently expanded their operations, adding a fifth site to their Australian footprint. PJL have purchased Parkes Heavy Mechanical Repairs, allowing them the opportunity to expand their capabilities and become a major shutdown supplier, infrastructure maintenance and construction service provider throughout NSW.

Heading up the Parkes operation is Clayton Maynard, who brings with him industry specific and managerial experience. Keen for the challenge, Clayton has worked with PJL for 7 years, previously managing PJL’s Engineering facility in Orange.

The existing operation in Parkes has been co-ordinating and running shutdowns for a number of years with various clients in the local area. This required a particularly unique skillset within management and trade based staff, therefore 90% of the existing Parkes Heavy Mechanical Repairs employees accepted roles under the new PJL business management.

“With the majority of the existing employees coming over to PJL, we hope to integrate these skills and processes throughout our other operations.” Clayton said. The Parkes operation brings with it a number of different service offerings, allowing PJL to expand their capabilities and increase efficiencies across the group. New services such as poly welding, sheet metal folding, pressing and rolling will be leveraged by PJL’s Orange, Cobar, Perth and Mt Isa facilities, allowing them to offer more fit-for-purpose services for their clients.

PJL’s existing operations and experience within them will also complement the Parkes business model and enable the group to offer a more specialised service to clients in this area. “This, combined with PJL’s scale, in house qualified engineers and internationally accredited operating systems will assist local clients with upcoming projects as well as planned maintenance events”. Clayton explained.

PJL currently have a contract in place to supply shutdown services, scaffolding and poly welding to CMOC at Northparkes Mines, which is not something any of the other operations specialise in. “Engineering opportunities into solutions is something PJL has seen great success with since its inception back in 2006, and it is something that will take us forward into the future” Clayton went on to say. “We are excited to now be a part of the Parkes community.”