Cleaning out your childhood room during COVID lockdown might bring you unexpected surprises as ballet teacher Natalie Williams discovered earlier this year.

She found a dance diary she had kept at a winter dance school she attended in Mudgee and decided it was a perfect activity to start with her students at Parkes School of Dance.

It was really tough for the students when classes were cancelled, but with a micro grant from Arts OutWest, Natalie was able to launch her idea and give her students a new sense of commitment during lockdown.

“The dance diaries have helped and will continue to help our dancers to maintain their passion for dance,” said Natalie. “During lock down, all of our students missed dancing in the studio with their friends and teachers.”

The students are still using the diaries as journals to record anything to do with dance from photos, information, to questions and explanations.

“My dance diary helps me remember things to practice and do at home,” said Jemma Underwood, who does Royal Academy of Dance Grade 5 Ballet and Junior Contemporary dance.

For senior student Sophie McQuie the diary is a good representation of what she has learned. “When I’m not at dance during the week, I’ve been able to write questions and points down so that I can ask and talk about them in class. Things like effacé positions, and our intentions for each class. I’ve kept feedback from teachers and have enjoyed researching particular dancers,” said Sophie, who attends Royal Academy of Dance Advanced One, Repertoire, Senior jazz and senior contemporary classes, as well as private lessons for solos.

Almost 7,000 votes were cast on the project page of Parkes Shire Council’s grant programs. Council was overwhelmed with the response and community contribution to this recent consultation for the Local Road and Community Infrastructure and Resources for Regions grant programs. The community was invited to share their priorities for identified projects on a new online engagement platform, Your Say Parkes.

The project page was viewed over 7,900 times with 1,746 registered participants casting 3,665 votes by the end of last month. Council also received useful comments on existing ideas and other valuable contributions for future projects.

Parkes Shire Mayour Ken Keith said while community feedback and sentiment were important, it was only one piece of the puzzle. “Council also needed to take into consideration the guidelines, budget, and the benefits to the community.”

This is the final list of projects to be submitted, but final approval is entirely at the discretion of the government.

• Resources for Regions $1.67M: Spicer Oval amenity building and carpark upgrades $1,620,000; Newell Highway Bypass $50,000.

• Local Roads and Community Infrastructure $1.3M: Woodward Oval Tennis Court Upgrades $175,000; Spicer Oval Lighting $400,000; Child Safety Traffic Upgrades at Parkes East School $250,000; Road, Footpath & Stormwater repair & maintenance $95,000; CCTV Main Street, Peak Hill $20,000; Parkes Coventry Room Community Cultural Space $100,000; Wiradjuri Keeping Place and preservation of artefacts $35,000; CBD Smart Infrastructure (banner raising components) $30,000; Doctors Residence Upgrade, Tullamore $80,000; Fence at Cemetery, Alectown $30,000; Henry Parkes Centre – Repairs and maintenance to protect collections $50,000; Rose Street Footpath Upgrade $35,000.

Three community groups will share the almost $9,000 of the 2020 Parkes Shire Council Cultural Grant Program.

Deputy Mayor Councillor Barbara Newton said it was a difficult task to select the successful projects given the high calibre of applications received.

“Council recognises that a robust cultural life is important to the health and wellbeing of any community, and we are therefore delighted to help support the delivery of events and initiatives that stimulate creative activity across our region.”

The successful recipients are the Peak Hill Leisure Art & Craft Council, the Parkes Potters Group and the Parkes Musical and Dramatic Society.

The Peak Hill group received $2,360 for a two-day workshop in early 2021 by Sydney-based artist Alan Slade. Amateur and budding local artists will learn the step-by-step process of working with oil paints.

The $3,500 to the Parkes Potters Group will help to curate the group’s 50th anniversary exhibition, as well as a black-tie opening event.

Parkes Musical and Dramatic Society received $3,000 to host the Arts Revival Festival from 15 – 20 December with the support of the Parkes Shire Arts Advisory Council. The aim of the festival is to revive, celebrate and foster artistic activity in the community and will feature theatrical performances, visual arts, photography, craft and ceramics exhibitions, musical performances of a variety of genres and styles, spoken word performances, creative and performance skills workshops.

The historic 75th anniversary since the end of World War II was commemorated last Saturday with the Parkes Town Crier joining a world wide Cry for Peace at the ceremony at the Cenotaph in Cooke Park.

Tim Keith joined town criers from all over the world for the second time this year after a Cry for Peace on the 75th anniversary of VE Day on 8th May.

The Cry for Peace commemorated this important day in Australia’s history and presented a unique and important opportunity to pay tribute to the bravery and sacrifice made by so many Australians and their families to ensure we all share and enjoy the freedom we have today.

The event, organised by the Parkes RSL Sub Branch, was mostly attended by serving and ex-service men and women with Parkes Mayor Ken Keith as the guest speaker.

On Tuesday it was the 54th anniversary of the Battle of Long Tan with a commemoration service held at the Vietnam Memorial in Parkes.