PARKES FUN PALACE
All day! Parkes Library
Saturday, 22nd September 9am – 3pm,
Join the Parkes Library team for a family day of science, play, art and games! Activities include: fingerprinting, dancing ballerinas, storytime with pets, community art collage, sausage sizzle and more….

Adventure Quest
9.30am – 10.30am, AND 11am – 12pm
All you need is a little imagination!
Families are invited to join this interactive show based on the ideals in the “Choose Your Own Adventure” books. Music, storytelling, drama and dance in one all-inclusive show! Free. Limited numbers.

Trash Percussion
1pm – 3pm. Free. Limited numbers.
This workshop is a whole lot of LOUD fun! Anything and everything can be used as a musical instrument and everyone can play music. Kids aged 8 and older can join this music workshop being hosted by Ian from FunDayOut.

AUSTRALIAN READING HOUR – TAKE THE TIME
During September all of Australia is encouraged to pick up a book and escape in its pages for an hour. For children it has been shown reading helps with identity formation, setting them up for success in the future. For adults reading can reduce stress by 68% more than listening to music, going for a walk or having a cup of tea. To celebrate Reading Hour Parkes Library is launching its newest pre-schooler program – Once Upon a Storytime. The Parkes Library team will stop what they are doing at 10.30am on Tuesday, 25th September and share the joy of reading. Pre-schoolers their parents and carers are invited to participate in the first ever Parkes Library Once Upon a Stortyime.

A life-long resident of Parkes has been listed in the final four nominees for the Tennis NSW Volunteer Achievement Awards to be held at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) on 25th October.

For 40 years Hedley Nicholson OAM has been at the Parkes courts every week, though his daughter Helen Magill says: “Mum (Pauline Nicholson) would tell you it’s been every day!”

When asked what motivated him to take on the maintenance for 15 courts he simply said: “The complex needed repair and someone had to do it.”

Hedley recalled the days before synthetic courts when the surface was ant-bed – granite that needed to be sieved with a shovel and barrow, spread out and forever needed patching.

In 1985 the club had enough money to cover four courts in synthetic. These days the entire complex is synthetic, but Hedley continues to work on more improvements.

Every time he gets there he finds something that needs doing, as more than 300 kids use the complex every week.

Hedley’s passion for Parkes tennis was recognised a few years ago when he was awarded the OAM and the Parkes courts were lauded as one of the best country complexes in Australia. It was due to his passion that the Australian Junior Tournament was brought to Parkes.

The ultimate satisfaction for Hedley is seeing the entire block full of kids playing – not just on the courts, but playing cricket or football on the adjoining oval as well.

While Hedley says it is lovely to be nominated for the award, he is modest about his achievements. “It’s just a passion for something that I like to do.” Hedley has found a couple of good men, Brendan Hunt and Garry Barton, to help
with maintenance. Will they take over when Hedley retires? “They’ll probably be too old by then,” was his reply.

By Beth Thomas

Councillors Ken Keith OAM and Barbara Newton were returned to the positions of Mayor and Deputy Mayor respectively at a Mayoral election on Tuesday. Councillors voted to fill the Mayor and Deputy Mayor positions by ordinary ballot during the September Ordinary Meeting of Council held at the Tullamore Bowling and Citizens Club.

Ken celebrates his 10th year in the position, Barbara marks her third term as Deputy. “I am tremendously proud of what we have been able to achieve during this term of council thus far and I look forward to what the next two years has in store for our region,” said the Mayor.

The Deputy Mayor said: “It’s an exciting time to be on council – the next two years will see the delivery of a number of major projects for our community.” “We have been planning and lobbying for these projects for a number of years and I am delighted to see them come into fruition. I look forward to continuing to add value to our community as Deputy Mayor.”

They will hold office for the next two years, and this will be the last election for the positions for the current term of Council.

Parkes and Peak Hill residents can once again enjoy the benefits of a fluoridated water supply as a new fluoridation scheme at the Parkes Water Treatment Plant has been approved by the NSW Ministry of Health. Fluoride is a naturally occurring component of mineral salts, and is found in rocks, soil, and natural water sources. Water
fluoridation is the process of adjusting the amount of fluoride in drinking water to an optimal level in order to reduce tooth decay.

In NSW 93% of the population have access to fluoridated water.

Parkes first adopted a fluoridation scheme in 1964, which was operated as part of the old water treatment plant until its decommissioning last year. A new fluoridation scheme has since been established to service the new Water Treatment Plant. Parkes Shire Council Director of Infrastructure Andrew Francis said; “We are very happy to
be resuming fluoridation for the residents of Parkes and Peak Hill. The new scheme meets strict government regulations.”

The plant was inspected by the NSW Department of Industry Water as part of the approval process to ensure it meets the requirements of the NSW Code of Practice for the Fluoridation of Public Water Supplies.

In addition, NSW Health has provided a grant of $435,000 for the fluoridation scheme. “The grant covers the cost of establishing the fluoridation system,” said Andrew.

Once the fluoridation scheme is commissioned, Parkes Shire Council will host specialist fluoridation workshops in the new Water Treatment Plant’s training room during September and October. Treatment plant operators from around the region will be invited to undertake fluoridation certification using the new plant for the practical component.