The final result of the Local Government election will be made known on Tuesday when the ten councillors for the new term will be confirmed. The Mayor and Deputy Mayor will be elected by the councillors on Thursday, 23rd December.

The much anticipated election with a total of 19 candidates (includes the group of six) resulted in many conversations, predictions, debates and some accusations.

The total number of votes counted are 8,689 according to the NSW Electoral Commission web page and the quota is 739 per candidate for Proportional Representation (PR). This means any surplus votes of the elected candidates (that is, votes in excess of the quota they needed) are transferred to the candidates who were the second choice of voters. However, they are transferred as a reduced value. This is why it takes so much time to finalise the results.

The latest vote count for the top ten councillors according to the NSW Electoral Commission web page for the Parkes Shire are: Ken Keith 1,165; Glenn Wilson 946; Louise O’Leary 777; Bill Jayet 708; Neil Westcott 706; Jacob Cass 661; Marg Applebee 577; Kenny McGrath 492; George Pratt 428 and John Southon 335.

There were five very excited young Parkes residents this week when they were told they had won a prize in our very popular Christmas Colouring-In Competition. Thank you to Packed Cones for your generous sponsorship! The winner of the lucky dip prize is Laura Brooker (9).

A very happy winner 11 – 15 years: Errin Waters.

The winner of the 7 – 10 years category, Oden Greef (8).

The smiling 0 – 3 years winner Lillian Mulligan (3).

Abbey Lovell (5) with her prize for the 4 – 6 years category.

It really felt like 2021 was trying its best to beat 2020 for the worst year trophy. Little did we know the super cell storm event on the second day of 2021 was an indication of what was to come.

It was a trying year for many, especially for Year 12 students, health care workers, business owners, farmers, and everyone who faced personal challenges and experienced loss.

At least the sun cracked open those dark clouds and we still found lots to celebrate as life went on, albeit not always as planned.

As the sun shone on us, so did our indomitable community spirit that kept on sparkling when we needed it most.

How can we forget the long queue of cars lining up all the way from Northparkes Oval to the highway the first day of the pop-up vaccination clinic, or the overwhelming support recently for the opening of the Safe Haven for people experiencing suicidal thoughts or distress.

There are so many heart-warming, inspiring and precious stories in our community and it was a privilege to bring them to you our readers this year.

Thank you to everyone who sent in contributions, and a huge thank you to our advertisers who ensured we remained in print every week.

We are very excited to end the year with a bumper 16-page edition packed with festive stories. Thank you Roxane for your mammoth effort to make this happen!

Wishing you all a peaceful festive season and a wonderful 2022!

Maggi

TAKE A BOW… Parkes School of Dance students at the end of their acro dance performance for the Performance at the Pavilion concert on Sunday.

Parkes School of Dance students literally danced with joy on Sunday having the privilege of being the very first performers to inaugurate the brand-new Cooke Park Pavilion.

The school’s annual end-of-year concert showcased different dance types from classical ballet, tap dance and jazz to contemporary, lyrical and acro with more than 70 dancers presenting a program of 15 different items.

“We were pretty privileged and it was wonderful that we could share our love of dance in the open air,” said Natalie Williams.

As the sound travels well outside, they acquired more spectators on Sunday and during rehearsals from people in the park and bystanders.

Being the guinea pigs testing out the new venue, Natalie said everything went pretty seamless. “Not having to hire someone to do the lights was huge for us, and backstage we could iron costumes and do everything we needed.”

It was a great way to end a tumultuous year of COVID interruptions, the sad loss of teacher Cathy Acret in March to cancer, the return to online learning in term 3, and having to film students for their Royal Academy of Dance exams.

“We are so proud of the students showing so much resilience, determination and grit to get through this year,” said Natalie.

“The students were thrilled to be back on stage, and for many it was their first time with 20 pre-schoolers also performing.” Despite the extra level of organisation required to ensure a COVID-safe event, “it all came together in the end on a sunny day!”

By Maggi Barnard

Back: Emma Brown, Cr Pat Smith and Debbie Gould; Middle: John-Tian Waters (Parkes East Public School), Toby Fliedner (Middleton Public School), Knox Lamont (Parkes Christian School) and Adrian Day (Holy Family School); Front: Grace McGirr (Middleton Public School), Adelaide Terry (Holy Family School), Evelyn Greef
(Parkes Public School), Anna Orr (Parkes Public School) and Molly Clohessy (Parkes Christian School).

Despite all the interruptions and stoppages of many activities due to COVID, the Year 5 ambassadors did a wonderful job this year keeping their respective schools up to date with happenings at the Parkes Shire Library.

Representing all five primary schools, the nine students each received a certificate and a small gift last week as a thank you. In her final official duty as Councillor, it was fitting for Pat Smith to hand over the certificates as she welcomed them to the program at the start of the year.

Debbie Gould and Emma Brown of the Parkes Shire Library also thanked the schools, teachers and parents for their support.

IMAGE CREDIT: https://mrperfect.org.au/

If you want to do something for your community in 2022, you might be the right person Mr Perfect is looking for.

The grassroots charity brings men together at BBQs in local parks to create community and connection, and also provides online support, information and resources for the good of men’s health.

Mr Perfect wants to support the men of Parkes and is looking for a BBQ host. This role will be the ‘conduit for connection’, and the main tasks would involve the following: find a good public BBQ spot locally; be available for two hours per month for the BBQ (usually Sunday mornings); buy food/drink/equipment; cook the food with a co-host; introduce/chat to the attendees and sometimes provide an activity (footy, cricket set etc if people want to do that).

Mr Perfect will reimburse all costs for food and equipment and send the host a pack of merchandise, a banner, provide a detailed BBQ Host Guide, and money to advertise the BBQ online. The host will do an hour or so local groundwork each month putting up flyers, posters, and talking to local people.

If you are interested or would like to know more, send an email to hello@mrperfect.org.au.

This is Ollie the Owl and he is going to be reading in many different locations around Parkes this summer.

This year the Summer Reading Club at the Parkes Shire libraries is open to ALL ages! Children up to Year 6 have a three-part challenge:

Part 1: Where’s Ollie? Follow the Parkes Shire Libraries Facebook page for pictures of Ollie the Owl reading at locations around Parkes or visit the libraries to see a picture of where he is reading.

Part 2: Draw a picture of Ollie reading somewhere at your house.

Part 3: Reading Tic Tac Toe. Read three books in a row matching the categories on the Reading Challenge Sheets.

The Year 7 to adults challenge is to read four books in a row matching the categories on the Reading Challenge Sheets.

Visit the Parkes Shire libraries in Parkes, Peak Hill, Trundle and Tullamore to collect your Challenge Sheets.

Reading starts on Monday, 20th December and finishes on Monday, 31st January 2022. Remember to return your completed Challenge Sheets to one of the Parkes Shire libraries by 5:30pm on Friday, 4th February 2022 and collect a prize.

Happy reading!