The Parkes Musical & Dramatic Society is once again leading the way with its latest production featuring captions for patrons that are hearing impaired or who struggle to understand the sung word. Musical Director Neil Westcott saw a production at the Sydney Opera House which featured captions. After talking to Director Lyn Townsend they decided to research how this works and whether it was possible to offer this for their production of Les Miserables.

Captions will be available for patrons booking seats in rows A to J and will be monitored by the caption team of Graham MacRaild, Kate Townsend and Emily McHugh-Douglas. This involves cueing every single line in the show manually, which takes a lot of focus.

“We are proud to be at the forefront of bringing this technology to regional theatre,” said Lyn. “Being a hearing-impaired person who wears aids myself, I understand how important captions are to people with a hearing disability. I also believe the captions will be great for people who miss a line, or where there are multiple lines sung at the same time”.

Les Miserables opens on Saturday, 14th September. Tickets are on sale at www. parkesmandd.com.au or Parkes Regional Business Supplies.

From next month freight trains travelling from the east and west will be running on the first completed section of new track of the Inland Rail North-West Connection.

The North-West Connection will link Inland Rail to the interstate east-west line from Sydney to Perth providing a vital connection for the freight industry.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Development Michael McCormack and Minister for Regional Services, Decentralisation and Local Government Mark Coulton were in Parkes last Friday to inspect the completed section.

“The North-West Connection is so important for our freight industry and we will see markedly improved travel times and enhanced capacity for multiple train movements up, down and along the intersecting network,” said Michael.

According to Inland Rail CEO Richard Wankmuller this is another important project milestone. “This historic link is a vital connection to the Inland Rail spine and the East-West network to Perth,” Richard said.

“What was a greenfield site now accommodates this significant rail connection that will be handed over in the coming weeks to become operational. In the second quarter of next year, we anticipate it will also link into the Parkes to Narromine line.

The North-West Connection is part of Inland Rail’s Parkes to Narromine project, and continues to provide opportunities and an economic boost for local communities.

“At the end of July, about $24.5 million had been spent with local businesses,” Richard said. “Around 72 local businesses have supplied to the project, about 700 people have worked on the project, of whom about 280 are local, and last month a peak daily workforce of 598 was recorded.

Motorists should note that there are two new level crossings as part of the North- West Connection, one at Coopers Road and one at Brolgan Road with boom gates and flashing lights.

The $2.2 million expansion of the Parkes Library commenced officially on Monday morning with a sod turning ceremony, and shortly after the temporary library was opened in the main street.

The Library Expansion Project will enlarge the 18-year-old building by 455m² to include a gallery and intergenerational makerspace, meeting rooms, quiet study areas, additional room for children’s programs, places to connect with technology and ‘green areas’.

At the opening of the temporary library at Shop 2/250 Clarinda Street, Mayor Ken Keith OAM said 15 years ago libraries were considered dinosaurs that were on their way out. “Today they have become a real cultural hub of any community.”

Manager Cultural, Education and Library Services, Kerryn Jones reiterated this point saying “as a main provider of lifelong learning and cultural endeavours, it’s essential that our library facility is able to meet the needs of our growing community.”

More than 33,000 books, DVD’s, CD’s and other items had to be moved to the library’s temporary location in the main street over the past month.

“Thank you to our members and visitors for your patience and understanding during the closure period,” Kerryn said.

She said the new location provided them with a great opportunity to take advantage of the CBD foot traffic, to further promote the range of services, programs and events.

Not many girls are drawn to the adrenaline of the skate park, except for a trailblazing Parkes student who has just added a world ranking to her long list of achievements.

Seventeen-year-old Pascal Berry not only represented Australia at the first ever female competition in the World Roller Games held in Barcelona, Spain in August, but she ended in ninth position in the world ranking for female scooter riders.

Pascal, who is the number one female rider in NSW and the ACT, and number four in Australia, said she was so stoked to be part of this historic event. “It was awesome being part of getting the sport to a higher level.”

Pascal competed against 17 other riders from five countries saying the competition was very tough. The new indoor skate park built specifically for the event, had three sections that competitors had to hit. “The judges also looked at consistency, technicality and originality,” said Pascal. “We each had two 45 second runs.”

Looking ahead Pascal is excited for the new season that kicks off in Australia next month with a new sponsor, Tilt. She needs to take part in three of the five competitions across the country in order to get a ranking.

While her aim is to get better and bigger, she would also like to continue her encouragement of the sport among girls. “I would love to see more girls taking part in competitions. I enjoy teaching the younger kids new tricks.” Pascal said she just loved interacting with everyone at the skate park and helping them.

She will also work on her favourite trick the rotar whip, which involves spinning the bars and deck at the same time in different directions.

With her passion and drive, Pascal is not only heading for great things but sure to become a catalyst for the younger generation to follow in her scooter trails.

By Maggi Barnard

The completion of construction work to revitalise six Parkes Shire townships and boost their economies during the drought were celebrated last week. The $1 million investment by the Australian Government included upgrades to Cookamidgera’s central hall, the Carrington Hotel’s lower floor at Peak Hill, new toilet blocks for the Alectown Hall, improved irrigation for the Bogan Gate Memorial Park, a new amenities block at Trundle and modern, multipurpose sports courts at Tullamore.

NAIDOC week was celebrated in Peak Hill this year with two special events to heal and honour the community.

Parkes Neighbourhood Central hosted a Red Dust Healing workshop at the Healing and Learning Centre in Peak Hill. Up to 40 people attended including community members, elders and service providers.

The workshop was presented by facilitator and founder Uncle Tom Powell. Red Dust Healing is a specific cultural healing program written from an Indigenous perspective.

In keeping with this year’s NAIDOC theme: Voice. Treaty. Truth, a NAIDOC award presentation was held after the workshop to recognise the outstanding contributions that Indigenous Australians make to their community.

A big congratulations to young Cooper Dart from Peak Hill Central School who was nominated as Youth of the Year 2019, and to Shani Hando owner/manager of the new Boomerang Café who took home the award for Community Person of the Year 2019.

By Amanda Corcoran