It is not every school day you get to ‘hug’ a python. This was one of several activities more than 70 students from Parkes and Forbes experienced for Schools Tree Day at Eco Day 2018 last week.

Central West Lachlan Landcare (CWLL) organised workshops and bus travel for school representatives from years 5 and 6 to be involved in a variety of environmental and rural activities.

Students were able to make NetWaste worm farms; soils with Local Land Services; see a Parkes Shire Council weeds
demonstration and talk; learn about recycled water with Parkes Shire and mascot Banjo; Eco Art with Ro Burns; and go on a saleyards tour with Cooper Byrnes from Langlands Hanlon.

The day finished with a hands on workshop by Paul Kirk (aka The Snake Man) and an interactive workshop with Chris Dart from Netwaste, helping students to reduce the waste that goes to landfill.

Paul allows the students to get up close with reptiles. He talked about snake safety and how to handle non-venomous snakes. They also learned what to do if they are bitten and then had a chance to meet some friendly pythons.

“We want the students to go away thinking about what they can do in their own homes and schools to make a difference and prevent needless wastage, and the connection between humans and the environment,” said Margot Jolly, CWLL Chairperson.

Local State Member of Parliament Philip Donato was there to recognise the support of the Parliamentary Friends of Landcare and participated with the students in activities. Philip was joined by Cr Bill Jayet from Parkes Shire Council and Cr Jeff Nicholson from Forbes Shire Council.

“Our imaginations can take us anywhere we want to be.” Morris Gleitzman, bestselling Australian children’s author and Australian Children’s Laureate for 2018-2019, was at the Parkes Library on Wednesday as part of a seven week schools tour around the country.

He held three sessions for primary and high school students from across the Shire and Forbes sharing stories, anecdotes and secrets of writing. He started off telling them that he used to have a big problem writing the first sentence of a story. “I would sit there for hours, until I discovered the secret to starting a story.”

He read the first sentences of several of his books to illustrate that the main character of any story needs to have a problem. “It needs to be declared in the first or second sentence of the story,” said Morris. Students were enthralled by his energy, passion and sense of humour, and asked many questions. One student even advised him “if he didn’t want to be an author anymore he could be a comedian”.

Home school student Annabelle Border said her favourite thing was his tips for writing. Morris’ books explore serious and sometimes confronting subjects in humorous and unexpected ways. His titles include Two Weeks With The Queen, Grace, Doubting Thomas, Bumface, Give Peas A Chance, Extra Time, Loyal Creatures, Snot Chocolate
and the series Once, Then, Now, After, Soon and Maybe.

His role as the Australian Children’s Laureate is to promote the power of reading to children. Morris’ visit to Parkes was supported by the Charles Sturt University Community- University Partnership Program – Head of Campus Small Grant Program.

Two icons met in Parkes last week when the Silver City Stiletto train made a stopover on its way to the Broken Heel Festival. It was a case of Elvis meets Priscilla – Queen of the Desert! With 120 passengers on board, Parkes Shire Council grabbed the opportunity to promote the 2019 Parkes Elvis Festival.

John ‘Elvis’ Collins entertained passengers as they stepped off the train to give them a feel of the vibe of the Parkes Elvis Festival. Passengers were very keen to get selfies with Elvis (John Collins) and Priscilla (Maude Boate).

Maude is known as the Queen of Lismore’s drag queens, and one of the celebrity queens of the Broken Heel Festival.

The rosy future predicted for Parkes was given a major lift on Monday when Deputy Premier and Minister for Regional NSW John Barilaro announced a landmark Investment Attraction Package for Regional NSW. The package includes financial incentives targeted towards offsetting government levies and duties, such as payroll tax, and
relocation assistance to drive new jobs and investment in regional NSW.

The Deputy Premier said the package would transform regional NSW’s attractiveness to interstate and global businesses and make regions across the state even more competitive. “This is a massive boost for businesses and job seekers in regional NSW.”

The Investment Attraction Package includes a $20 million Regional Investment Attraction Fund for grants and interest free loans to offset government levies and duties to eligible businesses that want to invest and grow in regional NSW, which will lead to new jobs; Skills Relocation Assistance – $10 million in grants of up to $10,000 per eligible skilled worker to help meet the cost of moving from the city to the country; Investment concierge – supporting businesses investing in or moving to regional NSW, working with an appointed Regional Investment Coordinator to provide easy access to incentives, smooth the planning process, help lodge applications and liaise with government departments.

It was a fun and rewarding start to the week for students at Parkes East Public School when they received a visit from a NSW Premier’s Sporting Challenge Ambassador on Monday.

Ash Williams, goalkeeper for the Australian Under 21 hockey team from 2014 to 2016, spent time at the school  following a 10-week physical activity period when students had to participate and record their levels of physical activity.

In his talk to the whole school he focused on healthy eating and why it was important, as well as the lessons he has learned during his hockey career. He said determination and resilience were very important qualities for him in order to achieve his goals of playing for Australia at the Olympics and World Cup one day.

“Determination to keep on practising up to seven hours per day, every day, and resilience to carry on through lots of challenges. When we lost the semi-final of the 2016 Junior World Cup in front of 12,000 people with a shootout against India, I knew we had lost because I let in some goals. It was really hard, but with resilience and a good support network, you carry on and pursue your next goal.”

Ash said it was also important to love what you do. He started playing hockey at age 12. He first played soccer, but when he saw a hockey goalkeeper in action one day, he knew that was what he wanted to do.

The Parkes East students did not hold back when it came to shooting questions at Ash and asked anything from how long it took him to tie his shoes, what was the best part of hockey and whether he knew Parkes hockey stars Mariah Williams and Kurt Lovett.

Ash said Parkes East had been the best school he had visited so far. “I can’t believe how popular hockey is in Parkes. It is just everywhere.” Students who showed commitment during the Premier’s Sporting Challenge were called out to receive a certificate as an encouragement award from Ash. (See photos of students with their awards on our Facebook page.)

By Maggi Barnard

Parkes Shire Council invites farmers, residents and business operators to attend the Parkes Shire Drought Forum on Tuesday, 11th September at Parkes Services Club at 5:30pm. The Australian Government recently announced
an additional drought assistance package, which includes an allocation of $1 million to 60 Councils across Australia
of which 36 are in NSW, including Parkes Shire.

Council will host a drought forum to gain input from the community on how the money can be applied for best effect across the Parkes Shire, in line with the funding guidelines.

“We will be looking for community insight as to where the Federal Government funding may be best utilised across the Shire, as well as develop a meaningful short, medium and long-term action plan for the drought affecting our community,” said Parkes Shire Mayor, Councillor Ken Keith OAM.

“The forum will also ensure Council is well informed of the administrative obstacles and barriers that farmers and affected businesses are experiencing with regard to drought-based support initiatives.”

The forum will also provide an opportunity to communicate what other relief programs and support are on offer.
Register your attendance for the Parkes Shire Drought Forum via https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/parkes-shire-droughtforum-tickets-49460556857

For further enquiries contact Parkes Shire Council on 6861 2333.