Winter is coming to Bathurst as part of their festival running from 2nd to 16th July. The ‘cool’ event will include an outdoor McDonalds Bathurst ice rink, a Ferris wheel and illumination elements that will be turned on every evening from sundown until 10pm. The illuminations will feature the theme ‘fire and ice’ with the Court House, Carillon, Ribbon Gang Lane, Church Bar and TAFE building key features. Don’t miss out on the interactive element this year where you can throw snowballs at the TAFE building!

Ferris wheel tickets can be purchased at the Ferris wheel during the festival at $5 per person and ice skating tickets can be pre-booked online at www.bathurstwinterfestival.com.au. The festival will feature two key nights, the first, opening night on Saturday will be themed, ‘Ignite the Night’. The evening will create a festival atmosphere in Kings Parade with skating, the Ferris wheel and a range of other family friendly activities including a giant six lane slide, a kid’s laser maze and an infinity mirror at the ice rink.

Bathurst Youth Council will also run the YJam stage, featuring local young performers and local food and wine will be on offer. On Saturday 9th July ‘Brew and Bite’ will get underway from 4pm. The evening will again offer a range of food and entertainment for everyone including food trucks and regional brewers. A pop up bar will serve regional wines, beers and ciders and the food will take on a distinct street food feel with burgers, gourmet frankfurts, slow cooked lamb, barbecued ribs, Lebanese and more.

There will be an ice hockey exhibition and market stalls featuring, selling winter woollies, jewellery, candles and clothing and the popular silent disco will return to Court House. Sounds, brr-illiant!

The free Child Restraint Checking Day held recently, a service provided by Parkes Shire Council, Col Fletcher Ford and Kia along with Parkes Tyrepower and Mechanical Repairs, discovered that 65% of the child restraints checked were incorrectly fitted.

The service provided free child restraint inspections at RMS Authorised Child Restraint Fitting Stations in Parkes and 18 child restraints were brought in by parents, grandparents and carers for checking. Parkes Shire Council’s Road Safety and Injury Prevention Officer, Logan Dolbel, said that research shows that two out of three child restraints are not being used properly and this puts children at risk of sustaining injuries if they are involved in a crash. “Most of the child restraints that were checked only had minor problems that needed fixing to ensure the safety of the child. The correct fitting and adjustment of child restraints is vital. Child restraints that are not correctly fitted put children at risk of injury in the event of a crash,” he said.

The most common mistakes were related to the use of the lap sash seatbelts and the straps on the child restraint; they needed tightening, they were too tight, they were twisted or they were incorrectly anchored in the vehicle. Many of the restraints checked also needed additional parts like gated buckles to ensure the safety of the restraint
and the child.

“It is important to make sure that your precious cargo is safe and buckled up every time they are in the car – whether it’s a five minute or five-hour journey.” “Everyone who attended the checking day said they had come along because they wanted to double check that their child restraint was installed correctly and find out more information of when to move their children from one restraint to the next,” Mr Dolbel said.

Information and advice was also available about the types of child restraints, the national laws and when to move children from one restraint to the next. Attendees were also able to grab one of the new height charts, developed as a part of the local Road Safety program, to assist with when to move children from one restraint to the next.

The top dog, who won the Best in Show award at the Parkes and District Kennel Club annual championship over the long weekend, is widely considered the best Dobermann in Australia at the moment. Neo (Supreme Champion Ikons Chosen One) has won 37 Best in Show awards all over Australia. His owner, Daniel Filipovic, has had him since birth 3.5 years ago.

They have come from near Geelong for the second year to the Parkes championship. Another dog from Victoria Lumi, a Finnish Lapphund, won Runner-up Best in Show with owner Bianca Ralphs. Bianca comes from Wodonga, but her parents live in Parkes. It was the biggest prize her dog has ever won.

Up to 100 dog owners with 350 dogs came from as far as Perth to take part in the event with three all breeds championships shows over two days. Richard Madden, President of the Parkes and District Kennel said various reasons made it attractive for participants to travel to Parkes. These included the quality of the field and competition, catching up with other dog owners, chasing a title and the format of the show.

Neo and his owner Daniel Filipovic also won the inaugural Murray Maguire Memorial Trophy as winner of the first show. The trophy was introduced in recognition of the recent passing of Murray, a member of the Parkes Club. The show was a great opportunity to view many different breeds of dogs and their many talents. Beautifully groomed and exotics breeds were in action including a Hungarian Vizsla, Afghan Hound, Pug, Tibetan Spaniel, Pomeranian, Affenpinscher, Pointer, Norwegian Elkhound, Borzoi, Beagle and many more.

By Maggi Barnard

Country music legend Troy Cassar-Daley will be headlining the 30th Trundle Bush Tucker Day in September. Over his 25 year career, Troy has won ARIA awards and toured all over the world. The dynamic Jade Martin Band will also be gracing the main stage with a high energy performance. In true Aussie style, the Trundle Bush Tucker Day began in 1986 as a bet between two mates to see who could cook up the best tucker in a camo oven behind the pub.

The idea took off and the Trundle Bush Tucker Day was born. 30 years on, the event now takes place at the Trundle Showground and attracts thousands of people every year. The 2016 programme will include bush tucker cooking, master bush chef competitions, free taste testing and some hilarious traditional bush tucker games such as the Billy Boiling race and the Bushman’s Relay. If you’ve got a clever canine why not take part in the dog jumping or if you’re sporty yourself there is the Junior Bush Olympics. Traditional rural activities such as whip cracking and sheep shearing demonstrations will also happen over the course of the day.

Tickets are now on sale for the event, don’t miss out make sure you get yours now by going to the website,www.trundlebushtuckerday.com. Tickets include entry into cooking competitions, bush tucker tasting tests, rides, free kids corner and entertainment throughout the day and evening.