Local businesswoman and owner of La Bella Medispa, Rebecca Miller is a finalist in the Central West Orana Business
Awards to be announced on 6th May this year. Over a 21 year career as a beauty therapist, Rebecca’s passion for the skin industry and her drive to help empower women in business has given her a lot to smile about; “I work really hard at being a good leader and love sharing my knowledge with my staff and other women,” said Rebecca, who also won the Business Leader category of the Parkes Chamber of Commerce in October last year. “I could not have done
it without my magnificent team.”

Rebecca’s hard work was again rewarded when the La Bella team clinched the Dermaviduals Australian Clinic of the Year recently, beating 140 salons across the country. “The girls at La Bella Medispa go more than the extra mile with their skin analysis and full skin assessment consultations and treatment plans and for that we have been rewarded with this amazing prize,” Rebecca wrote in her blog on the business’ website.

Winning the Orana Business Award would boost Rebecca’s passion to not only continue her studies, but also be the best leader she could be. “My aim is that every client feels like the most important person in the world by giving her the best service.” Rebecca also plans to open salons in more locations, as well as expanding the Parkes one. She already has another salon in Orange with a total staff complement of 12 between the two.

Winners from each category in the Central West Orana Business Awards will proceed as finalists to the NSW Business Chamber State Awards. Rebecca is one of four finalists from Parkes. The Central West Orana Business Awards celebrate and recognize business excellence in the region.

By Maggi Barnard

Members of the Summer Reading Club of the Parkes Shire Library have had their noses stuck in books over the past two months. Reading Club members, mostly younger than 12 years, have read a total of 544 books and each received a certificate and goodie bag last Tuesday afternoon to celebrate the end of the Summer Reading Club with a cake decorated as a book.

The Library has held a reading club over the summer for a number of years. Inspired by work done with Macquarie University on best practice for learning and literacy development, members were asked to recreate a story they enjoyed inside a glass or plastic container. “The goal was to encourage borrowing, support reading as well as understanding, and comprehension of what was being read,” said Sandie Ward, Summer Reading Club President.

Each ‘story inside the glass’ went on display in a Library exhibition. To give members some inspiration, library staff recreated popular stories like The Girl and the Bicycle, Twinkle Twinkle, The Rainbow Fish and The Gingerbread Man inside a carafe, a fish bowl and a jam jar. At the event on Tuesday, some of the members explained what their “story inside the glass” was about, there were very creative representations of The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Superman, Silky the cat and The 13-Storey Treehouse.

By Maggi Barnard

Friday morning began slightly differently for students at Parkes Pubic School when 14 rally cars roared by. This is the first time in its 12 years of existence that the Just4Kids children’s charity from Queensland has ventured in NSW on their annual motor trail fundraising event. The charity, which supports disabled and disadvantaged children,
stopped at Parkes Public to hand over a cheque donation for the school’s sensory gym, as well as three large food hampers for the special unit.

The volunteers played cricket with the students after they were treated to a breakfast prepared by the P & C. “Breakfast was wonderful,” said Kerin Hannan, Secretary of Just4Kids; “The rally has included volunteers from all over Australia and we’ve been stopping along the way to make donations.” This year’s 3000km Surf to Snow
route started off at Movieworld on the Gold Coast and finished at Jindabyne in the Snowy Mountains. Director of Just4Kids, Mark Louez, said entries for next year’s Cape York Safari are already open for anyone interested in doing something different for a holiday. For more information go to www.just4kidsmotortrail.com.au.

On the 9th April the Men of League Foundations and Ronald McDonald House Orange (RMHO) Sportsman’s dinner will be held in Orange. Since opening last April, RMHO has had 77 families stay, including 10 families from Parkes. The sportsman’s dinner promises to be a fabulous evening where guests can mingle with Bob McCarthy, former international rugby league icon, Mike Cleary a dual code international, John Peard and Stuart Raper a former NRL Player.

RMHO is the first house to support families that are affected by child and adolescent mental health. Ronald McDonald House Orange is a ‘home away from home’ for many families of a child with a serious illness, providing a safe and comfortable environment where the whole family can stay together for the duration of their child’s treatment. With your support, the house will continue to be a place where families can be together and have a soft place to land when they need it most during a traumatic time in their lives. If you would like to attend the dinner at the Orange Ex-Services Club on 9th April at 7pm and rub shoulders with rugby elite, please call 6362 2666. Tickets are $75pp and include dinner and entertainment.

The new bins that have been issued in the past few weeks have been causing quite a stir around town, with the main worry being the potential smell the red bins may create if they’re being collected fortnightly. Parkes & District Wheelie Clean are ready to put your whiffy woes aside.

David and Lucy Newham, owners of Wheelie Clean, can organise to have your bins cleaned, at your place, for only $5 per bin, what a bargain! And the pair don’t just stop at bins, they also keep ovens and chimneys immaculate which can help when you need to get a house cleaned at the end of your lease or before a big move.

Don’t stress about strong smells, give David a call on 0424 849 335 and settle into the new bin routine with ease.
The new collection service will begin on 4th April with the food and garden waste collected weekly and the red lid garbage bin collected fortnightly. Your collection day will not change.

For those of you interested in culture, history and heritage; local groups and organisations have until Friday 29th April to apply for a 2016 Parkes Shire Council Cultural Grant. Last year four cultural organisations received grants, according to Manager of Cultural, Education and Library Services, Shellie Buckle. “In 2015 Tullamore Central School, Lachlan Regional Community Orchestra, Parkes & District Country Music Association and Peak Hill Leisure Arts and Craft Inc received funding for musical endeavours and art workshops” Shellie said.

Applications must request a grant of at least $2,000 with the total funding pool at $9,500. The objectives of the Program are to stimulate community cultural activity, encourage creative and innovative cultural activity, assist in the development of skills and abilities and enhance cultural facilities and community awareness of the importance of culture. Funding categories include subsidy for a new project, extension or enhancement of an existing project, purchase of equipment or minor capital works.

Parkes Shire Council’s Cultural Committee Chair, Deputy Mayor Councillor Barbara Newton would like to encourage groups to apply. “Council is committed to encouraging the growth of cultural skills and the development of cultural facilities. The cultural grants enable Council to directly fund innovative projects and ideas” Councillor Newton said. Cultural Grants application forms are available on Council’s website, www.parkes.nsw.gov.au, or at any Parkes
Shire Library including Parkes, Peak Hill, Trundle and Tullamore. Contact Council’s Grant Officers, Ellie O’Donoghue or Sally Chapman on 6861 2398 for advice and support in completing the application. Successful
applications will be announced in June 2016, we will those applying luck in getting a grant.

Keeping teenage girls in school in developing countries was one of the big projects highlighted by Quota International of Parkes at its celebration of International Women’s Day on Tuesday. Approximately 150 women from Parkes and district attended a sparkling high tea at the Parkes Golf Club for the annual event which celebrates women’s achievements and highlights Quota’s projects.

Pam Nankivell, Publicity Officer of Quota International of Parkes, said Tuesday’s focus was on the Days for Girls project. “The aim is to help girls gain access to quality sustainable feminine hygiene by providing them with re-usable sanitary kits. The kits are made by people all over the world and according to the Days for Girls website,
more than 200,000 girls in 100 nations have been reached so far” she said; “This means girls can stay in school instead of missing up to two months of education and opportunity every year.”

In Uganda and Kenya absence rates have dropped from 36% to 8% and 25% to 3% respectively after the distribution of Days for Girls kits. Pam said the Parkes chapter had been involved with the project for the past year by raising funds, as well as making some of the kits.

The other focus area of Quota International is the ongoing project of providing sound field systems to classrooms. The Parkes Public School already has three classrooms equipped with a system. “This means everyone can hear the teacher and the classroom is quieter,” said Pam; “Our endeavour is to put a system in all classrooms.” Cheques were also presented to the Domestic Violence Committee and Palliative Care at Tuesday’s event via the Parkes Quota Club, which has been in existence since 1957.