Articles Archives - Page 411 of 436

Mariah’s Success Written In The Stars!

September 23, 2016 By Maggi Barnard

Olympic fever returned to Parkes last weekend when local Hockeyroo star Mariah Williams came home.

She visited schools, handed out many autographs, took countless photos, and also became the very first recipient of a Star of Parkes Shire at a civic reception held in her honour.

“This evening we recognise excellence in sport at an international level. Mariah is just that, a sports star,” said Ken Keith, interim Mayor.

“Tonight we present the first Star of Parkes Shire, a star in the Orion Belt that can be seen in the night sky in the Southern Hemisphere. And as of today, named after this sports star, Mariah Williams.”

Ken said The Star of Parkes was 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 our shining future.

“We are proud of you and the wonderful ambassador you have been for Parkes Shire and for Australia in the 2016 Olympic Games.” Mariah said she was proud to call Parkes home and thanked everybody who have given her so much love and support in her journey to Rio.

She said playing for Australia had been a childhood dream since Year 3. “It is hard to describe the feeling when I first ran onto the Olympic field in Rio. I had this burning sensation all over my body. It was unreal!”

By Maggi Barnard

Three New Faces On Council

September 22, 2016 By Maggi Barnard

Councillor Ken Keith had the mayoral chain hung around his neck once again when he was re-elected uncontested at the Council meeting on Tuesday.

The position of Deputy Mayor also remained in the hands of Barbara Newton. As for the rest of the newly elected Council, announced last Friday, three new faces had made the cut. They are Neil Westcott, Wally Biles and Bill Jayet.

The ten councillors in order of the position they were elected starting at number one are Ken Keith, Louise O’Leary (Ind), Neil Westcott (Ind), Kenny McGrath (Ind), Wally Biles, Barbara Newton, George Pratt, Bill Jayet, Alan Ward and Patrica Smith.

Mayor Ken Keith said he it was great to have diversity and a new variety of inspirational and enthusiastic Councillors. “I look forward to serving the next term.”

New Committee For Parkes Chamber

September 22, 2016 By Maggi Barnard

The Parkes Chamber of Commerce welcomed their new Executive Committee at their Annual General Meeting last week.

Geoff Rice, of Langlands Hanlon, will continue as President, with John Kennedy, of K&H Geotechnical Services, returning as Vice President. Local business owner Belinda McCorkell retains the Secretary role for another term. Wilbur Harris, manager of Parkes Mensland, will serve as a Publicity Officer, and is joined by Peter Martin who replaces Michael Oakley. Susie Hill is welcomed to the role of Treasure, replacing the outgoing Gregor Sammut-Paul.

Peter Martin is a Partner at Matthews Williams Solicitors and Conveyancing, and practices in Parkes and Condoblin. Susie Hill is the Chief Radiographer and Practice Manager at Parkes Diagnostic Imaging, and also runs a cattle farm with her husband.

The Parkes Chamber of Commerce is an organisation of local business people who promote the growth and prosperity of the Parkes business sector. The immediate focus for the new-look executive committee is the fast-approaching Christmas period. The SPARKLES initiative is a festive campaign by the Parkes Shire Council and the Parkes Chamber of Commerce to encourage residents to shop local. SPARKLES focusses on providing opportunities to support local businesses through a series of vibrant community events.

Ikonic Panellists Inspire Parkes Women

September 16, 2016 By Maggi Barnard

An audience of 65 gathered for the Women in Industry panel discussion at the Ikon on Monday night. It was the second such event organised by Northparkes Mines, which brought together three professional women who share a passion for inspiring others to succeed.

Parkes-own Helen Magill spoke about her role as a professional coach for Tennis Australia. In 2012, she became the first female to receive the Excellence in Coaching award.

Chandra Clements, the Managing Director of consultancy service One Legacy, joined Helen on the panel. In 2014 Chandra was awarded the Gold Stevie for Woman of the Year.

Also on the panel was lawyer Samantha Daly, a part-time partner for law firm Mc– Cullough Robertson, and recipient of the NSW Women in Mining Award.

The riveting discussion delved into topics such as the importance of mentoring in professional and personal relationships, risk taking and resilience, and maximising talent through workplace flexibility.

Helen shared insights into how sport participation fosters resilience. She noted that the pressures of living in a small town were different to those in a city. In a small town both victories and failures become more public, and she sees that it is vital that kids learn it is okay to fail. Helen says it is more important to help people reach their full potential than to aim for perfection.

Chandra discussed the importance of risk taking. She explained how fear underpins risk aversion, and that it is important to unpack that fear in order to discover what is really holding us back.

Samantha, a mother of twins, explained how vital flexible work arrangements are to advancing workplace equality. She stressed that although it is seen as a chick’s issue, men need to be given the same opportunities because mothers aren’t the only workers juggling life.

By Raen Fraser

Teaching Shifts To A Practical Gear For Primary Students

September 16, 2016 By Maggi Barnard

Students from Parkes East Public School sat in the driver’s seat as part of an initiative to teach local kids about Council’s role within the community.

More than 130 students from Kindergarten to Year 2 became familiar with some of Council’s heavy machinery, including an excavator, digger and the road roller recently.

Parkes Shire Council’s Director Infrastructure, Andrew Francis said the outdoor lessons were a great way for the students to learn a bit about Council’s work, services and major projects.

“It’s fantastic to see our local school students show an interest in what’s happeningaround our community. By taking the lesson out to the worksite, the students got to see first-hand what role Council plays in the development of our town.”

Council has been working directly across the road from Parkes East Public School for a week constructing an urban main pipeline section for the new Water Treatment Plant (WTP).

Council workers stood down for 30 minutes to answer questions about Council’s major projects, before the students got behind the wheel of a stationary piece of machinery for some hands on learning. “The students learnt about safety on a work site, environmental awareness and the broad range of careers available at Council,” Andrew said.

Council is constructing 800 metres worth of pipeline along Renshaw McGirr Way to transport raw dam water to the new WTP.

Council Message…

September 16, 2016 By Maggi Barnard

Parkes Shire Council extends its congratulations to the newly elected councillors following the 2016 Local Government Elections. These elections saw a quality field of candidates and Council would like to commend all 20 of the nominees for their campaigning efforts. The Mayor and Deputy Mayor positions will be decided at the first Meeting of Council on 20th September. The 2017 Parkes Elvis Festival is shaping up to be the biggest yet, with 120 events at 20 venues announced at the official launch this week. The Festival celebrates its 25th anniversary with a Viva Las Vegas theme, inspired by Elvis’ 1964 film of the same name. Tickets are now on sale at www.parkeselvisfestival.com.au.

Parkes is gearing up for a big weekend of sport. The town will welcome home local Olympian Hockeyroo, Mariah Williams at the Parkes Hockey Complex. Locals are invited to come and meet Mariah, take some photos and grab an autograph tomorrow at 12 noon. The 2016 SCT Parkes Open Golf Tournament will host its strongest field of golfers in the event’s 42 year history, with one third of the 156 players teeing off handicaps of 8 or less this weekend at the Parkes Golf Club.

Parkes Boars Junior Rugby Union Club will host the inaugural Parkes Rugby Seven’s Tournament this weekend, with 25 teams from across the state competing at Northparkes and Pioneer Ovals. Parkes residents are encouraged to dive
into Learn to Swim programs this summer.

Viva Las Parkes!

September 15, 2016 By Maggi Barnard

Parkes is going to be all gold and glitter for the 25th anniversary of the Viva Las Vegas Elvis Festival from 11th to 15th January next year.“It’s going to be all gold, gold, gold for the community,” said Parkes Mayor Ken Keith on Monday at the media launch of the festival. Ken said he expected 25,000 people if not more in January with an expected $15 million boost to the local economy. “January is by far the biggest tourism month for Parkes and the festival swell the coffers of businesses,” he said.

Among the invited guests on Monday were Bob and Anne Steel, who established the Parkes Elvis Festival in 1993. “Your idea has paid dividends and has evolved significantly,” the Mayor said. Cathy Treasure, new Festival Director, said the festival was going to be all silver and gold: celebrating the silver anniversary and the golden theme of Viva Las Vegas. The five-day program includes more than 120 events with festival highlights like the Ultimate Elvis Tribute Artist Contest and the Goodsell Machinery Miss Priscilla Dinner, favourites like the Northparkes Mines Street Parade, the Elvis Gospel Service that attracted 8,000 people this year, the Renewal of Vows Ceremony and new events like Viva Splash Vegas at the Parkes pool and the launch of Outback Elvis, a book on the festival.

The feature concert series, starring two renowned international Elvis tribute artists – Pete Storm from the UK and Jake Rowley from the US, will consist of four different shows. Jake is said to portray a young Elvis in every possible way from looks, voice and of course his moves. The legendary Mark Andrew will pay tribute to The King at the 25th Anniversary Gala Dinner. Digby Dig Richards, the Australian rock n roll singer, will be included in the 2017 Wall of Fame by his brother Doug Richards who lives in Parkes.

The ever-popular Elvis Express will run again, and tickets are on sale on Monday, 19th September. Cathy said people should get in early as tickets sell out in the first 20 minutes.

The festival has a competition for all tastes from look-alike fans, rock and roll dancers and buskers to poets and photographers. If you just want to enjoy the sights and sounds, the Cooke Park main stage will have non-stop free entertainment, Clarinda Street will be closed and turned into Festival Boulevard with the buildings lit up at night, there will be cooling stations and Elvis Central will open for information and shopping.

According to Cathy the biggest challenge of organising the festival is visitors’ services. “Phone calls have doubled from last year.” She said shuttle buses would run from Forbes and Orange for festivalgoers finding accommodation outside Parkes. So get your golden outfit ready to Viva Las Vegas in January!

By Maggi Barnard

Letters to the Editor…

September 15, 2016 By Maggi Barnard

Dear Editor,
I’d like to thank all our supporters including the committee, volunteers, the Quota ladies, our sponsors and The Parkes Phoenix. We unfortunately had to abandon our last race meeting as the track was deemed to be unsafe for the horses and jockeys. The track was inspected twice by the NSW Racing Stewards from Dubbo with the hope that we might have been able to race, but this was not so.

We were looking forward to our local trainers having a run. One local trainer, Sarah Mcilrick, was hoping to have her first official race start. We are racing again in January. One of our most popular meetings is the Australia Day Meeting, which we are looking forward to conducting. Hopefully it won’t be washed out.

So once again, I’d like to thank all our supporters and look forward to seeing everyone trackside next year.

Mark Ross
President
Parkes Jockey Club

Snippets…

September 15, 2016 By Maggi Barnard

Hamish has all the moves: Hamish Newham watched a full length Elvis movie when he was only two years old. At four he is featured as the new star, the next tribute artist as part of the Elvis Festival’s promotion for the 2017 event. “He loves dressing up in his white Elvis suit, doing his Elvis moves and watching Elvis concerts,” says mum Katrina Dwyer, Brand Marketing Manager at the Parkes Shire Council. She is involved in the Elvis Festival for her work, and Hamish started watching Elvis movies with her. “I have never taught him anything as I did not grow
up with Elvis, but he loves watching Elvis concerts. I don’t know where else he gets his moves from.” Last year Hamish was determined to busk with his toy guitar and microphone in the main street, and people started giving him money. So for next year he is learning songs to do some real busking and perform his favourite song, Burning Love. “He might even take part in one of the competitions,” said Katrina.

Local Artists Take 20: Arts OutWest ventured to Parkes last week to host a Winter Arts Networking Night at Bent. It was an intimate but animated talk, with a small group of local creative practitioners braving the winter chill to share their work. The presentations followed a 20 x 20 format; each presenter shared 20 images and discussed each image for 20 seconds. There was lively discussion about the upcoming Elvis Festival, Maralyn Nash’s local
art projects, and Elly Tom shared her passion for the Parkes Shire Concert Band. The Winter Arts Networking Nights aim to bring creative people together to celebrate their practice. Tracey Callinan, the Regional Development Officer of Arts Out-West, facilitates the events. This year the program visited Lithgow, Orange, Blayney, Grenfell, Canowindra, Bathurst, and will finish off the season at Oberon, with the final session at 3pm on Sunday, 18th September. For more information visit http://artsoutwest.org.au/

Improved Access To Mugincoble Silo

September 15, 2016 By Maggi Barnard

Upgrade work on the Eugowra Road at the Mugincoble Silo access has been completed in time for the upcoming harvest. The Parkes Shire Council did the improvement work at a cost of $277,000, of which $170,000 was provided by the NSW Government Fixing Country Roads program, $80,000 by the Australian Government’s Heavy Vehicle Safety and Productivity Program and the reminder was funded by Council.

Parkes Shire Council’s Director Engineering Services, Ben Howard, said the upgrade would improve safety and efficiency to vehicles accessing the largest grain receival site in the Parkes area. “The former configuration resulted in a bottleneck in the network as it did not operate efficiently or safely,” Ben said. “This project has provided an improved access road for heavy vehicles accessing and departing the terminal.”

The improved intersection includes dedicated turning and acceleration lanes, and has been designed to accommodate higher productivity vehicles including road trains if required. The turning lanes will significantly improve safety in peak receiving times by allowing heavy vehicles space to wait to turn into the facility on the road without impeding through traffic.

By Cindy Nutley

Subscribe