Veronica Shaw, Gabbie Stroud, Kerryn Jones and CR Bill Jayet at the author talk.

On Wednesday night, 9th August, guests at Parkes Shire Library enjoyed an incredible talk full of insight and humour from former teacher, and talented author Gabbie Stroud. 

Gabbie, the author of moving memoir “Teacher”, delighted the audience with her impassioned talk covering everything from her life as a teacher, her consequential ‘burnout’, her writing journey from non-fiction to fiction and her fabulous new book “The Things That Matter Most.” 

The audience particularly resonated with Gannie’s conflict between what she knew she needed to spend time on for her students, and what the system told her she needed to spend her time on, and the subsequoent toll this took on her mental health. 

This led to an incredibly moving discussion about the importance of changing the language around burnout to describing it as “demoralisation”, to move the emphasis away from the individual and back to the system causing harm. Throughout the night, Gabbie’s passion for teachers and the incredible feats they perform every day was clear, even thanking them for their time at her talk as she understands first-hand, a teacher’s time is precious. 

Gabbie read an excerpt from her new novel and talked about drawing upon that “what if” feeling teachers have. The constant feeling that something bad can happen at any time that they want to protect their students from. The feeling teachers have for some students when they “don’t get to go home with them to check if they’re safe,” and Gabbie’s own frustration with the phrase “it takes a village to raise a child.” 

Gabbie’s new book “The Things That Matter Most” is available now and you can check out more about her at https://gabbiestroud.com. 

Keep an eye out on the Parkes Shire Library Facebook page for their next great event. 

Marc Payne’s two winning portraits of Stan Adamski (left) and Kevin Dumesny (right).

Marc Payne has once again received recognition for his portrait photography, collecting two awards, from five entries, in the International Portrait Photographer Of The Year competition. 

The competition attracted 704 entries from photographers from across the globe, with two of Marc’s entries being listed in the top 101 images in the world for the third consecutive year.

Marc said, “It is a true honour to be recognised with some of the best portrait photographers in the world, and to do it three years in a row has his head in a spin.”

All of his portraits have been of local people from Parkes, and the two images that have made it into the top 101 portrait images in the world are of well known local personalities Kevin Dumesny and Stan Adamski of Parkes.

According to Peter Eastway, an Australian photographer known internationally for his landscape photography and chairman of judges in the prestigious competition, “The main aim of the competition is to be selected in the top 101 and be published in the exclusive annual book.”

Feedback on Marc’s entries has been very positive from the judges, scoring in the 80’s for his entries and his unique style.

Marc has published past entries in a variety of well known photography magazines and newspapers in Great Britain, in addition to the Spanish National Geographic.

Eugowra resident Grace Katon celebrates returning to her home and also her 83rd birthday.

Long-term Eugowra resident Grace Katon is the first Central West resident to move out of a temporary housing pod and back into her own home. She was met by Minister for Planning and Public Spaces Paul Scully and Minister for Emergency Services Jihad Dib who were able to welcome her home. 

Following catastrophic floods last year, Grace and her dog Honey lived in the temporary housing pod while her home’s kitchen, bathroom and walls were repaired. 

As part of the free Pods on Private Property Program across the Cabonne, Forbes and Parkes Local Government Areas, 98 temporary pods were installed by the NSW Reconstruction Authority. 

As of today, 88 households have been able to take advantage of the program, with another 10 pods in the final stages of fit-out. 

The pod program provides people with a safe and comfortable place to live in their own community, while they rebuild or repair their homes, relocate or secure a rental property. 

More than 130 pods in total are expected to be installed across the Central West by the end of August, while decommissioned pods will be used again in the area or across NSW as part of future disaster recovery efforts. 

The NSW Government has also established an At-Home Caravan Program for eligible Central West residents with 129 caravans delivered and in use. 

The NSW Government has provided more than $42 million in grants and subsidies to individuals, households, small businesses and primary producers across the Central West impacted by last year’s devastating floods. 

Almost 3,000 people have received practical assistance at Recovery Assistant Points across the Central West since November 2022 including accommodation assistance, mental health support and access to clean-up services.