Tullamore local, Jenny Harvey, has recently participated in the Get Healthy Information and Coaching Service. Jenny struggled with mobility due to her bad knees, back and arthritis. She was unable to walk or stand for very long and Jenny’s doctor told her she would need a wheel chair in the future if she didn’t get healthier.

Spurred on by her doctor’s advice, Jenny joined the Get Healthy Information and Coaching Service and was given a dedicated health coach named Jordon. “I loved hearing from Jordon every fortnight. I felt really comfortable with him and fantastic after each call. He really made me motivated,” Jenny said; “I have never exercised. I registered with the Get Healthy Service as part of the Healthy Towns Challenge and started with the local aqua fitness group. I felt so light the first time and now I can’t go enough! I even did two, one hour sessions in a row!”

In the winter Jenny stays motivated by her coach, trying Tai Chi and joining an adult exercise class. She has improved her eating habits, can do more gardening and has lost weight from around her waist. “Since joining the Get Healthy Service I get a lot more satisfaction from life. It means I get out more and the social benefits are really great. One thing leads to another!” Jenny said.

“I feel fantastic! I have had fantastic people around me. I get off my backside and do much more and my family are all proud of me. I’d be so happy if my story helped other people get healthier.” Have you heard about the Get Healthy Information and Coaching Service? If you’d like to find out more about this free service, go to www.gethealthynsw.gov.au.

The Central West Astronomical Society (CWAS) is proud to announce the shortlisted finalists in the 2016 CWAS Astrophotography Awards – the ‘David Malin Awards’. Astrophotography is taking a photo of an object in space, from the Milky Way to the Moon and will be featured during the CWAS AstroFest held in Parkes this weekend.

The 2016 winners will be announced and presented with their awards at the 2016 CWAS AstroFest Conference Dinner tomorrow. Congratulations to the 28 finalists for their mesmerising contributions. To view the shortlisted finalists’ pictures view them online www.cwas.org.au or visit the exhibition at the CSIRO Parkes Observatory’s Visitors Centre from 17th July.

This year’s competition had eight categories: Deep Sky, Wide-Field, Solar System, Nightscapes, Animated Sequences (Scientific and Aesthetic), Themed Section ‘Light Pollution: The Bad and the Beautiful’, and a junior section (18 years old or younger). The entries were judged by world renowned astrophotographer and award namesake, Dr David Malin. The judging process accessed not only the technical skill, but the ability to capture the beauty of the sky and the intrinsic interest of astronomy.

“This year’s pictures maintained the high standards we have come to expect from the Australian community,” said Dr David Malin. “There are some splendid examples of modern astrophotography among the finalists.” Canon Australia continues to support the astrophotography competition with E-store Voucher prizes to the value of over $10,000. “These awards showcase the extraordinary beauty of our night sky and wonderful night time landscapes,” said Alan Brightman, General Manager of SUNSTUDIOS, Canon Australia; “With patience, commitment and good equipment, these photographers capture breath-taking images.”

The astrophotography competition finalists will be exhibited at the CSIRO Parkes Observatory’s Visitors Centre from 17th July for 12 months. For more information about the 2016 CWAS AstroFest, visit www.cwas.org.au/astrofest/

Next time you visit a new mother in the maternity ward at Parkes or Forbes Hospitals, follow the signs to Yinaagalang Nguranggu – Wiradjuri for ‘woman’s place’. If you need pathology, look for Guwany Barramali (to take blood). The new signage is part of a project to integrate Wiradjuri language signage and translations into the new Forbes and Parkes Hospitals, which has recently won one of the Western NSW Local Health
District’s top awards.

Lachlan Health Service’s Mali Marambir Ngurang: to make better place; has won the Chief Executive’s Award at the Western NSW Local Health District’s annual Living Well Together Health and Innovation Awards. More than 50 projects were received for the Awards, which is a record number of entries. Key directional signage around the hospitals is written in English beside the Wiradjuri interpretation, which is then translated back into English. Local Wiradjuri Elders worked closely with Dr Stan Grant, co-author of the Wiradjuri dictionary, to ensure the words were correct and close to their English meaning. The project aimed to make the hospital spaces more inviting and less daunting for Aboriginal people.

The English translations also helps to educate non-Wiradjuri people about the Wiradjuri language. For example, the Wiradjuri words Marrin Mumali (to rub the body between the hands) points to the physiotherapy department while Mungarr Ngadhurinya (care for kidneys) points to the renal department. More than 20 key places in the hospitals have bilingual interpretation. Others include Ngaagigu Mulunma, (to see inside) which is used alongside signage for ‘medical imaging’; Ngurang Mindyali (to be fixed fast) are the words for ‘operating theatre’. Waluwin Ngaan (‘healthy mouth’) points the way to ‘oral health’; and Wambuwanbunmaldhaany (medicine maker) points
to the pharmacist. The wayfinding signage has been informed by The Lachlan Health Service Culture and Arts Working Group.

The Lachlan Health Services Project team engaged regional arts development organisation Arts OutWest to integrate culture and arts into the Forbes and Parkes Hospital redevelopments. The Culture and Arts Working Group includes representation from the Lachlan Health Service Project team, Arts OutWest, the Lachlan Health Council, health staff and the Aboriginal community and is responsible for implementing a flexible and sustainable program that promotes well-being and creates a welcoming, vibrant place for the Forbes and Parkes communities. For more information about the Lachlan Health Service Culture and Arts program, please contact Arts OutWest.

Bruce and Gail Lindbeck took over ownership of Smeaton’s Bakery 19 years ago in May 1997. Bruce, who had previously worked in a bank, as Club Manager and in the Bathurst Goldfields, had to learn to bake from scratch from the previous owner. Today, Bruce and Gail have built up a bakery famed for its rustic, handmade products that look like food from the era before mass produced products. “We make a timed dough at our bakery,” says Bruce; “This means the dough is fermented or proved over a few hours.” The process allows the bread to create its own sweetness through the fermentation process.

“We add approximately 500g of sugar into 25kg of flour, which accounts for 2% sugar, while the Australian standard is a maximum of 6% sugar in bread.” Smeaton’s has the same philosophy for all its products, whether it be pastries, slices, fruit buns or pies. “We are very proud of our pies at Smeaton’s. We regularly receive comments from our customers about how much they enjoy them.” The pastry is made in-house and the meat locally sourced, making the traditional meat pies very popular as well as the curry and mushroom and cheese and bacon pies.

Bruce and his son Braden have exciting plans to expand the handmade brand by introducing new products for sale every Saturday morning from 13th August until the end of October. The new range includes a sourdough loaf, spelt loaf and multi-grain bread, as well as chicken and vegetarian pies, and quiches, croissants, bagels and donuts. “We will make all these products in our bakery. This is something we pride ourselves on – not ordering products from large suppliers that are frozen or filled with preservatives to give them a longer shelf life.”

Smeaton’s has also introduced hot and cold beverages, including espresso coffee, available from 5.30am every weekday morning.

What better way is there to encourage your children to exercise than going to a dance class? Dance develops skills in co-ordination, musicality, strength and fitness. The music, the moves, the wonderful dance studio environment, great teachers … it’s all at Twinkle Toes Dance Studio. There are classes on offer for all ages from 2 years up to adults in jazz, tap, hip hop, acrobatics, ballet, contemporary and musical theatre.

On Monday afternoons the boy’s hip hop class teaches the boys to bust a move or three, and judging by the smiles of those attending, the class is a big hit! Classes for younger children are held in the afternoons after school and Saturday morning, and the older dances attend classes at the later times. All classes are working on their dances for the End of Year Concert which will be at the Parkes Leagues Club on Sunday 11th December. Everyone is welcome at Twinkle Toes – we are focused on providing technical, fun and safe dance tuition so we can share our love of dance with the people of Parkes.
By Jenny Kingham

There are millions of people in the world suffering extreme cold, so if knitting and chatting make you happy, and helping others in need gives you a warm feeling, mark Thursday, 21st July on your calendar.

This is the date for this year’s annual Knit ‘n’ Natter Day organised by the Craft Corner to help as many people as possible by providing warm wraps to ward off hypothermia. The Craft Corner has been supporting the Wrap with Love program for the past eight years. Brooke Daniels from ABC Radio visits Parkes every year. The idea is to send her off with as many knitted squares and wraps as possible for delivery to the warehouse in Sydney.

Rugs made from the squares are sent around the world, including Australia. Wrap with Love was started in 1992 and in the past 23 years more than 400,000 wraps were sent to people in more than 75 countries. Craft Corner members and anyone else are encouraged to drop off their knitted squares at the Craft Corner. The squares should be 25cm square, knitted in 8 ply yarn with no. 8 (4mm) needles in garter stitch all plain rows. A completed wrap is four squares wide and seven squares down.

If you have left over 8 ply yarn lying around at home, feel free to drop that off at the Craft Corner, to keep the knitters busy. Members and the wider community are invited to come and share a cuppa with Brooke at the Craft Corner in Clarinda Street from 10:30am on 21st July.

By Maggi Barnard

The Nationals’ Federal Member for Riverina, Michael McCormack, has thanked the people of the Riverina and Central West for endorsing him to serve as their representative in Canberra for a third term. “I am humbled the people of the Riverina have placed their trust in me once more to be their strong advocate in Canberra,” Mr McCormack said; “With the Riverina’s new boundaries, many people in the electorate have put their faith in me for the first time to deliver for them as their Federal Member. I am delighted with the result in Riverina and I will continue to be a strong advocate for the region in the next Parliament.”

Mr McCormack also paid tribute to the hard-working volunteers who worked on his successful campaign, as well as the other candidates who stood for Riverina for a hard-fought and respectful contest. “I want to thank my volunteers who gave up countless hours of their time to stand out in the cold helping me at polling booths, both at pre-poll and on election day,” Mr McCormack said; “The other candidates in the race for Riverina have generated a genuine contest of ideas during the eightweek election campaign and our communities are stronger for having such passionate people wanting to represent them.”

While it will still be a number of days before the nationwide result is finalised, Mr McCormack said the election had delivered a resounding result for The Nationals elsewhere in the country. “Though some results were close, the people of regional Australia have overwhelmingly endorsed The Nationals as the party to represent the needs and interests of their communities,” Mr McCormack said; “I want to congratulate the Deputy Prime Minister, Barnaby Joyce, on a toughly fought and successful campaign in New England, as well as Damian Drum in Murray, who pulled off a spirited victory in a tight three-cornered contest.”

Bluebird Early Education Parkes recently opened our doors to offer care for children from nursery, toddler, pre-kindergarten to preschool age. The preschool class for children aged four to five has Chelsea Neems as their teacher.

Chelsea has a Bachelors of Teaching and more than 15 years of experience. She is there five days per week to work closely with pre-school families in the transition to school process. “In preparation for school we are working on social skills, gross motor skills, pre numeracy and literacy experiences, self-help skills and looking after our belongings,” said Chelsea; “We include lots of excursions around the community in the daily program of our transition group. We often make biscuits to take to nursing homes, the Police and other community workers.”

Another project staff focus on is friendship and what it entails: appropriate ways of expressing emotions, ways of building positive relationships, discussing personal qualities in each of us, and social and emotional wellbeing.

In providing an excellent and engaging early childhood education experience, the Bluebird Parkes centre has stimulating indoor and outdoor learning environments, and applies an engaging, playbased early learning program that focuses on successful learning for life skills.

The team have a bus to offer a pick up and drop off service; all nappies are provided, as well as meals. Just like
the bluebird, Bluebird Early Learning continuously reach for the sky. The staff look forward to helping your child’s greatest potential take flight.

The six giants came and they conquered thousands last Saturday at Parkes Showground. More than 2,500 people braved the cold weather for the first Ultimate Monster Action show to be held in Parkes. The seriousness of the day’s voting soon evaporated with the spectacular after burn mode of the jet car. “The crowd was wowed by the jet car fitted with a helicopter jet engine,” said Professional Monster Truck driver and part owner, Troy Garcia.

Bennie the Clown had the children in stitches with his attempts to ride or climb on everything out of bounds for him. Country music star Adam Brand, who hosted the show, had to enlist help from the children to keep an eye on Benny’s antics. Benny did manage to get into the Old Skool monster truck and performed some stunts. This
truck is one of the original monster trucks built 40 years ago in the United States to crush cars.

When it came to the action stunts, a monster truck flying three to four metres through the air and crashing down on old car wrecks, sent tingles down many spines. But it was the motocross bikers doing backflips that had everyone holding their breath. “It was the best of the night,” a young spectator summed it up. Troy said it was a bit touch and go for the bikers. “They still did the backflips, which is their most difficult stunt, but the wet weather made it harder to do.”

The show ended on a high with a stunning firework show. Troy had lots of positive reaction to the show. “The Show Society was rapped. They were worried about the grounds getting messed up with the trucks as the annual show is not too far away, but it was all good.”

Troy said they planned to be back in Parkes every couple of years.

Meals on Wheels now have two new faces, Fiona Graham and Gillian Kinsela, to help ensure this vital service keeps on meeting the needs of the Parkes community. Fiona is the new service manager and Gillian has joined as an administration support to help Deborah Wren.

Fiona assured all families and clients that the service would continue as normal and made a call to any new volunteers to join this organisation that is at the heart of the community in Parkes and the villages of Peak Hill, Bogan Gate, Tullamore and Trundle. Fiona recently moved back from Gundagai and is looking forward to this new experience. “I love Parkes and the community. The role brings something different every day while we make a difference in people’s lives. Meals on Wheels represent helping hands, teamwork and looking out for each other.”

Volunteers do not only deliver a meal to clients, but also fulfil a monitoring role. They receive a lot of training to be able to recognise changes in clients. “This gives families peace of mind,” said Fiona. In Parkes an average of 45 meals are delivered per day. The meals are cooked at the RSL. About 25 clients in the villages have a wide selection of frozen meals to choose from, while Parkes clients also receive frozen meals for weekends.

According to Susan Terry, Network Support Consultant for the Western region based in Sydney, the Parkes service is very unique as it includes the villages too. She said the 160 volunteers in Parkes were doing an amazing job. “They are the back bone of the service.” Volunteers work in pairs and can choose how often they would like to work. Fiona welcomed everyone, whether a new client or volunteer, to visit the office at Neighborhood Central.

By Maggi Barnard