More than 50 families flocked to the Parkes Fire Station for the annual open day last Saturday.

Deputy Captain Cody Venaglia said the event was hugely popular. While the kids got to check out the equipment, sit in the truck and even spray the hose, the parents were targeted to make them aware of fire safety.

Cody estimated that Parkes fire crews attend around 160 fires each year. While fire fighting is their most obvious activity, they also have specialty training in HAZMAT chemical spills, and rescue services for road accidents.

Cody admits they’ve even rescued cats from trees. “Once we arrived to rescue a cat from a tree, but when we got next to it, the cat jumped over to the tree next to it and ran down the trunk.”

He said they also rescued a Dalmatian puppy once, it had got its head stuck in a recliner. “That one was pretty memorable because of the association Dalmatian’s have with fire stations.”

The open days are scheduled to coincide with winter approaching and a lot of heating-related fires. “Fires start because of chimneys getting too dirty, or people putting a clothes horse in front of the heater,” Cody said.

His strongest words of advice was to “keep looking when you’re cooking, and don’t leave food unattended on the stove.”

By Raen Fraser

Olympian marathon athlete Scott Westcott received a big surprise on Sunday morning when Mayor Ken Keith presented him with a Star of Parkes at the start of the Fun Run.

Scott, who ran in last year’s marathon at the Olympic Games, said he was overwhelmed and speechless by the gesture. “I did not even know you could name stars after people.”

The Mayor handed Scott his Star Name Deed certificate stating the star’s exact astronomically verified position. The Star of Parkes is a symbolic honour, inspired by the tradition of presenting the Key to the City.

The stars are reflective of the Parkes Shire –our starry skies, the iconic CSIRO Radio Telescope and the Shire’s shining future.

Scott, who grew up in the Shire and regularly returns for the Fun Run, waited more than 20 years to claim his place on an Australian OIympic team.

The tea towel bedspread on display at the Henry Parkes Museum until the June long weekend has a long and colourful history. Tricia Jackson (Hutton) started buying and collecting tea towels more than 35 years ago on her first visit overseas to England. She first bought one for her grandmother Elizabeth Medlyn.

This encouraged her to start her own collection expanding to about 30 tea towels representing special memories of family trips and holidays.

When Tricia rediscovered the towels recently she decided to have the towels made into a bedspread. Rose Jones jumped at the chance to make something different for her favourite hobby.

One side of the quilt depicts English, Scottish, Irish and other country scenes, while the reverse side depicts Australian and New Zealand scenes. Some of the Australian scenes bring back memories of books and colourful birds. There is also one called Dolphin Dreaming with drawings of indigenous Australian animals.

The leftover tea towels were made into two pillow shams and a carrybag.

This display is one of the most unusual objects we have ever had at the Museum, so if you like to look at lovely unusual things please come and visit the Museum and enjoy the lovely objects we have in our collection.

By Yvonne Hutton

This week’s after school care play-based learning activities focused on Food Allergy Week.

A food allergy is an immune system re- sponse to a food protein that the body mis- takenly believes is harmful, which causes the body to release a lot of chemicals, triggering abnormal bodily reactions in a person’s breathing, gastrointestinal tract, skin or heart.

We painted one fingernail to show awareness that one in ten babies are born with a food allergy. We discussed and brain-stormed what food allergies are and what the nine food groups are that cause 90% of all food allergies. We also discussed what to look for when somebody has an allergic reaction, the different severities of allergic reactions, and why it is vital to know which of your classmates have food allergies.

The children showed genuine empathy and care for other children’s wellbeing. Many of them remembered the children with an allergy in the service and that one child requires an epi-pen and the ambulance to be called right away if he gets stung by a bee!

At the end of the week, they had two final challenges: to identify foods in our kitchen that contain one of the nine most common triggers of a food allergy, and they had to adopt an allergy and create their own lunch box menu.

Over the past eight months we have been working hard to transform our club into a more visually appealing and welcoming space by brightening the walls with a coat of paint and replacing wooden doors with glass doors. We did a massive expansion and refurbishment of the KidzCare area upstairs with new flooring, knocked out a wall and got brand new equipment and furniture.

If you are in need of school hour’s care for your child, contact the PCYC!

By Amanda Sutton M. 0497 393 124 | P. 6862 3825 E. parkescc@pcycnsw.org.au LIKE us on Facebook!