After four months of isolation, lockdown, following the rules, baking pies and growing broader (anything but flattening our curves!), it was time at last, for our own OUTBREAK!

As our hands have seen more alcohol than our favourite wine glasses lately, it was time to down the wipes, shake the wrinkles out of our uniforms, and do something kind to our health.

On Tuesday social bowls returned at the Parkes Bowling and Sports Club with the semi-finals of the Club Championship Singles: Maree Grant vs Rhona Went and Liz Byrne vs Betsy Johnstone in action.

“It is so good to be back,” said Rhona Went. “We just sat and ate and drank for four months.”

Brenda Davies and Marja Iffland said they missed the company the most. “Seeing everyone and socialising. That is the main thing.”

Club Manager Paul Henry is also very happy to have the bowlers back who supports the club so much. He said they were able to accommodate up to 90 people under current regulations. “We can do events and weddings, but just not big crowds.” The club is open every day from 3pm and on Friday nights Dev’s Kitchen is also back.

The greenkeepers, gardeners, painters and assorted helpers worked hard to ensure the club looks spectacular! Huge thank you to all our volunteers!

By Lea Orr and Maggi Barnard

School holidays are a time to do something out of the ordinary as two Parkes kids experienced this week.

Azalia and Harleigh Brown treated their Pop, Michael Brown from Newcastle, for an exhilarating hour-long trike ride around Parkes on a motor trike ride.

“There were lots of screams of joy during the outing,” said Peter Judd from Trike Adventures in Dubbo who was the ‘chauffeur’.

Harleigh said it sounded amazing when the trike made a lot of vroom-vroom noise at the Coles carpark. It was a very enjoyable ride for Michael, but he said the best part was the smiles on the kids’ faces. Azalea was not so sure what to make of it, but her Pop said he could see her enjoying it.

Peter took them all around Parkes including the look-out and out on the Forbes road. It was a beautiful sunny day, and although a bit chilly, the excitement and adrenaline quickly warmed them up again.

Peter is a well-known face in Parkes as he offers trike rides every year at the Elvis Festival. He said it was no problem coming here to give the family a fun holiday experience.

With COVID-19 restrictions lifted, there are more opportunities this holiday for families to enjoy the parks and other activities.

CMOC-Northparkes Mines reached a major milestone last week of its 400th shipment.

“In just over 25 years, we have produced 1.168 million tonnes of copper and 1.464 million ounces of gold,” said Northparkes Managing Director, Hubert Lehman.

“To all the people who work here today and to those that have come and gone, each and every single one of you has played an integral role in contributing to the milestone. I would like to take this opportunity to publicly thank you for your hard work and dedication to our operations.”

Hubert spoke of the support and encouragement of the community, and the role they have played in the success of the operation. “I would like to formally extend my thanks to both the local communities of Parkes and Forbes for their continued support enabling us to achieve this milestone.”

Northparkes has been operating for over 25 years. The operation is made up of an underground block cave mine, a sub-level cave and an ore processing plant which produces copper concentrate for export.

The ore is processed onsite to produce a high-grade copper concentrate which is then transported by road train to the Goonumbla rail siding, located approximately 13km from the mine. The containers are then placed onto a train and transported to Port Kembla, south of Wollongong for shipping to customers primarily in China and Japan.

During the past five years, Northparkes has contributed $409.7 million to the Central West through salaries, sponsorships, government dues and payments to local businesses.

Not among our list of charms, are the cursed things called bingo arms

One of the things that slowly sag, are the underarm droopy bags

I used to wave with super speed, now a gentle move is all I need

For speed sets up a rolling motion, resembles a rough and moving ocean

I lift my arm to do my hair, utter a cry of deep despair, life’s so cruel it isn’t fair

Where have they gone, the wonderful days, when I could wear my clothes in dif- ferent ways

Now everything must have a sleeve, it stops the staring I believe

I keep away from my favourite shops, for all they stock are sleeveless tops

Children can be a great delight, not after a comment on Friday night

Nanna she said, with a very deep frown “what are those floppy things hanging down?”

Now I too have a frown, I will not take this lying down, I have a money-making plan

There’s advertising I could place, on this now productive space

Out with the computer, on to the net, to find the most lucrative bet

So many products to explore, some for the rich some for the poor

So many options I have found, in for a penny in for a pound

Now when I raise my bingo arms, it sure does set off loud alarms

On my right for all to see, buy Toyota the rego’s free

On the left smiling with glee is Ronald Macdonald, come to Maccas for tea.

By Freda Harvey

Country living is making a come back with more people moving to regional Australia from capital cities than the other way around.

A total of 65,000 more people chose to move to country towns according to a new Regional Australia Institute (RAI) report tracking population movements between 2011 and 2016.

Parkes has also seen many city dwellers become residents over recent years. For Marie Wyatt, who has lived in Singapore and Sydney, the move to Parkes has given her a totally new understanding of a sense of community. “It is huge out here. There is no sense of community in a city, while in Parkes people are always willing to help out, especially during hard times.”

Marie said when she first arrived it felt like she had landed on another planet. “People here have known each other for generations.” She has come to love how relaxed the lifestyle is and what a great place it is to raise a family.