Well-known local and the only surviving male World War II veteran in Parkes received a medal from the Deputy Prime Minister last Friday.

98-year-old Thomas Forrester received a visit from Michael McCormack in the garden at Niola Care Centre. He was presented with a special medal and letter of congratulations for the 75th anniversary of WWII in the Pacific.

All surviving WWII veterans were given medals by the Australian Government on the 75th anniversary celebrated in August this year.

Thomas, who led the annual Anzac march last year escorted by his daughter Narelle in a wheelchair, was born in Forbes on 21st February 1922. He served approximately four years in the Australian Army during which time he was with the 2nd AIF in the 2/3 Australian Infantry Battalion and was in New Guinea on overseas active service for some 14 months.

A first ever win at the NSW Band Championships has made it a very special year for the Parkes Shire Concert Band (PSCB) despite all the disappointments of not being able to perform at community events.

The band started rehearsing again in October after the COVID lockdown, and decided to enter the NSW Band Championships for the very first time. All entries had to be videoed due to COVID restrictions. The competition took place on Saturday, 14th November and the PSCB won the D Section Hymn category playing St Clement. They competed against four other bands.

“We are very pleased with the win, and thank our music director Duncan Clement for all the organisation that was required,” said Publicity Officer, Ellen Tom. During the COVID lockdown the band managed to keep in touch and continued to play with Duncan arranging rehearsals via zoom.

“We had ‘two lounge room concerts’,” said Elly. “Duncan emailed out the music and each member recorded their part and sent it to Duncan, who put the music tracks together.” The videos of the band playing Aladdin and Titanic can be seen on the PSCB Facebook page.

PSCB will be performing at the Arts Revival Festival on 19th December. New members are always welcome – rehearsal times are Tuesdays from 7 to 9pm. Contact Duncan on 0405 035 164.

By Maggi Barnard

The Parkes Shire Food Service, also known as Meals on Wheels received fund- ing of $10,000 on Tuesday from Member for Orange, Phil Donato MP.

The funding comes from the 2019 Community Building Partnership Program and will go towards the purchase of essential items, including an electronic whiteboard, iPads and a laptop for the efficient running of this vital community service delivering more than 600 meals per week to people at their homes.

“This funding will help equip this wonderful charity group with the technology they need to continue to efficiently run their vital services, which are a benefit to so many including the most vulnerable in the community.”

“I cannot stress enough how happy I am to have been able to put my support behind this very important funding, especially during this most difficult year when you had to cope with COVID covering such a big area,” said Phil.

“We really appreciate the funding,” said Meals on Wheels Chair Carolyn Rice. She said the charity would really like to see young people step up as volunteers to help deliver meals. About 75% of their volunteers are over 70 years; and 30% over 80 years.

It’s small and cosy with a fantastic selection of books and collectables to cater for eclectic and quirky tastes.

Idlers Den is the latest addition to the main street shopping strip and is definitely worth a visit.

After two years in Parkes owner Candy Jubb decided to take the leap and unlock the potential of 239 Clarinda Street filling one wall with book shelves and turning the opposite wall into a small gallery for local art.

Candy is not only a book lover, but has a dedication to search for books (even signed ones) and items not found in other shops. Her book collection covers all genres and ages. She is working on building a good indigenous and Wiradjuri collection, while there’s been a demand already for cult and witchcraft collectables. Harry Potter fans will be happy to know there are some Nimbus 2000 models available, and Dr Who fans did not waste time discovering Idlers Den.

“My Dr Who books have just about all gone out the door,” said Candy.

Definitely a shop to put on your shopping list – take the whole family, there is even a dad’s chair in case the outing turns into a marathon!

In the absence of many of our traditional community Christmas events this year, members of a literacy movement have created a wonderful idea for families.

PAINT THE TOWN REaD produced an advent calendar with a rhyme or song for each day that will not only encourage families to spend more time together, but will also create anticipation and excitement in the lead up to Christmas.

PAINT THE TOWN REaD was born in Parkes in 1997 and has since reached 84 communities in five states. The calendar was sent to all the communities with an invite to choose a day and create a short recording of that day’s song or rhyme.

The first 24 communities to respond will be included on the group’s Facebook page. PAINT PARKES REaD will feature on 11th December with a production prepared by the Parkes coordinator Shonel Redfern. Parkes will feature a second time with Rhonda Brain, a founding member of PAINT THE TOWN REaD, featuring on 5th December.

The very first presentation on 1st December will be the patron of PAINT THE TOWN REaD, her excellency Linda Hurley, wife of the Governor General.

Advent calendars will be available at the Parkes Library and preschools for families to display and follow at home every day.

The literacy movement was started in response to a growing number of children entering school with language delay. First known as Birth to Kindergarten-Spread the Word, PAINT THE TOWN REaD is a huge, creative and fun-filled, awareness-raising campaign across the whole community of the vital importance of a language-rich environment right from birth. The Annual Community Reading Day gets all schools involved and is a celebration of literacy in a fun way.

So, this year make sure to let your kids enjoy their advent treat while singing a song or reciting a rhyme to build up the excitement over 25 days until Christmas!

Parkes Shire Council and the Parkes Chamber of Commerce have once again teamed up to deliver the annual Christmas Shop Parkes campaign.

Running right up until Christmas, the campaign will focus on the diverse retail and service offerings of the Parkes Shire, and the benefits that shopping local has on our community.

“Through the Christmas Shop Parkes campaign, we’re able to continue supporting each other by keeping our shopping dollars locally, benefiting the wider community,” said Parkes Shire Councillor Alan Ward.

“With many of our traditional Christmas events and gatherings cancelled this year due to COVID restrictions, we hope to still create a festive atmosphere through a range of lighting activations and by encouraging our local business operators to decorate their shopfronts.”

A campaign page has been established on www.visitparkes.com.au for a plethora of gifting ideas from local stores throughout Parkes Shire.

“And for those hard to buy for friends and family, a Shop Parkes Gift Card is the perfect solution. A gift card is valid for three years and can be spent in multiple transactions across over 80 participating stores in Parkes Shire,” said Alan.

There will also be some fun and engaging consumer competitions rolled out via the Shop Parkes Facebook and Instagram pages, where the community can share their creative gift ideas and stand a chance to win a share in $1,000 worth of Shop Parkes Gift Cards.

Parkes Chamber of Commerce President Geoff Rice said: “We are inviting all businesses to participate in the campaign which is absolutely free. There are many ways to get involved from sharing your product ideas and tagging @shopparkes on social media, to becoming a load or redeem store for the Shop Parkes Gift Cards.”

A colourful fleet of 84 cars called into Parkes last week as part of the Variety Resurrection Run.

The first Variety event back since the start of the COVID pandemic brought about 230 people to Parkes for the night with up to $40,000 being spent on accommodation and food.

The Parkes Show Society was grateful for the opportunity to cater for breakfast on Thursday morning. “As Parkes show did not proceed this year due to COVID, we were very grateful for the opportunity to welcome and feed the participants as it afforded us a generous donation, and we had lots of fun,” said secretary of the Parkes PA&H, Liz Brown.

The children’s charity has seen its revenue drop by 80% this year, with a sharp increase of 400% in the demand for their services with a number of vulnerable families asking for help for the first time. Variety had to stop much of its fundraising activity in March, and had to cancel three motor- ing events projected to raise $2.9 million for kids in need.

The Resurrection Run, which started earlier this month and went on the country back roads from Newcastle to Mudgee, allowed Variety fundraisers an opportunity to hit the road again.

The majority of the participants were long time Variety supporters. “It is good to be back,” said the Benz Boys of Charles Stuart and Brian Burden, who have done 30 and 21 events respectively. They love the camaraderie and going to places they would never have seen otherwise.

Money raised supports kids through grants for things like technology and educational supplies, special tools for schools in need or equipment for kids and families with special needs.

“We put the fun back into fundraising,” said Motoring Events Manager Stuart Telfer.

“It’s all about ordinary Australians doing extraordinary things for kids.”

By Maggi Barnard