Special guest at Homegrown Parkes, celebrity gradener Costa Georgiadis, engaged with local youth at the Landcare Schools Eco Day.

The innaugural Homegrown Parkes event held last Saturday, 25th March was a resounding success, offering activities and stalls to suit every taste.

During the event, Parkes played host to celebrity gardener Costa Georgiadis, who engaged in every aspect of the day. In addition, Costa spent Friday, 24th March with local students at Landcares Schools Eco Day, followed by a dinner at Bogan Gate.

Over 40 stallholders supported Homegrown Parkes, bringing together first-time producers and creatives, sporting groups, schools and some more established small local businesses.

With an emphasis on keeping it local, the majority of stallholders were from Parkes however, organisers were also pleased to welcome several stallholders from Forbes, Cowra and Orange. 

The alpacas and insects were definitely a hit with everyone – not just the kids! The smooth sounds of the piano in the Cooke Park Pavilion drew people in, to view the fabulous pottery and paintings. 

Food options were top-shelf, with a wide variety of vendors providing amazing fresh food options.

The Committee, consisting of members of Central West Lachlan Landcare, Parkes Community Arts and Parkes Shire Council have been overwhelmed with wonderful feedback from the event and are extremely grateful for the support and participation of the community.

Following the resounding success of last weekends event, the committee are seeking feedback from the community and stallholders on whether the event should continue. A survey will be going live via social media, Facebook: homegrownparkes and Instagram: homegrown_parkes.

Front: Amelia Regnier, Kimberley Ryan, Maddison Collits, Jade McGovern. Back: Nigel Thomas, Tom Rivett, Lyn Townsend, Phil Redenbach, Anthony Leonard, Gail Smith, Ruth Barnes.

The world premiere of locally written musical, Cracks in the Mirror will be held at The Little Theatre in Parkes, on 22nd April, but plans are afoot to market this musical to theatre companies nationally. 

It all began in January 2022, when Lyn Townsend, along with 20 other people around the world, undertook a short online musical song writing course with composers Pasek and Paul (The Greatest Showman, Dear Evan Hanson).

She engaged the services of Gail Smith to assist with music composition for the course song – the outcome, Cracks in the Mirror was an epic 11 minutes long!

Lyn dedicated herself to writing topical and relevant storylines into a script, while regularly meeting with Gail to continue working on more songs. Six months later, Lyn and Gail had written an entire musical.

A very capable local musician, Anthony Leonard, was called in to give feedback on the songs and eagerly agreed to join them on the journey, collaborating on musical arrangement.

Workshops were held in August last year with five ladies who willingly gave their time to test the script and songs and provide valuable feedback.

Auditions were held in December to secure the small but very talented cast of Maddison Collits, Jade McGovern, Kimberley Ryan, Amelia Regnier and Ruth Barnes and band members Phil Redenbach (lead guitar), Tom Rivett (Base guitar), Nigel Thomas (Drums/percussion), with Anthony and Gail both playing keyboard. 

As Lyn and Gail own the music, there are no royalties to be paid. At their request, the Parkes Musical and Dramatic Society will donate $10 from every ticket sold, to the Eugowra GIVIT flood appeal.

Tickets for Cracks in the Mirror are on sale now at www.parkesmandd.com.au. Group reservation requests made by emailing parkesmandd2870@gmail.com.

A historic photograph of The Carrington Hotel in the main street of Peak Hill.

Parkes Shire Council is pleased to be partnering with the Carrington Association to host the Back to Peak Hill weekend event from Friday, 17th to Sunday, 19th March. 

Peak Hill invites you to revive your memories of the way things were. Of school days, sports, local families, farms, railways, harvests and local shops within the community. 

Event organisers welcome you to visit Peak Hill this weekend, either once again or maybe for the first time, to see what all the fuss is about and create some new memories. 

Susie Collett, chairman of the Carrington Association says, “History must be treasured and celebrated, but never become an anchor to the future.” 

The Back to Peak Hill Weekend will be centered on The Carrington, formerly the Carrington Hotel, which was nearly destroyed by fire. After years of determination and persistence by wonderful local enthusiasts, The Carrington is now close to being completed and reopened to the community. It is a significant place from history that is now headed into the future, which is what this weekend is all about. 

Activities will include open schools, displays of artifacts and memorabilia, social games, street busking, an official opening of The Carrington, history and craft displays, live entertainment, and much more. 

The Carrington will be open daily as the weekend’s hub, whilst many local businesses and organisations will also open their doors for extended hours. 

The event is being funded by the NSW Government’s Reconnecting Regional NSW Community Events Program. 

The talented Keith Potger will be performing in Peak Hill at a free event on Friday, 17th March.

Keith Potger was born 21st March 1941 in Colombo, Ceylon. His family migrated to Australia and he began teaching himself to play the banjo, guitar and keyboard. Potger performed in vocal groups which evolved into the Seekers in early 1962.

Keith Potger’s solo acoustic performances appeal to audiences for whom his music is a breath of fresh air; the fans who appreciate the man and his guitar – and boy, can he play that 12 string! 

As a founding member of the internationally famous group The Seekers, he is known to countless fans and this is obvious in the welcome given to him by audiences around the world. In September 2014, along with his colleagues in the Seekers, Potger was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO).

His program contains some timeless favourites from The Seekers, a touch of Nashville, some beautiful original ballads from his three solo CDs and a few hits from the ‘60s to the ‘80s that appeal to the generation who grew up playing Seekers albums at home or in the car. Throughout his show, Keith shares some amusing anecdotes from almost 60 years on the international music scene.

During his performance Keith offer a special tribute to his colleague and dear friend of 60 years, the late and great Judith Durham. Keith unfailingly delivers up-beat, heart-warming events that leave audiences reliving their fondest memories while sharing the joy of new beginnings that are the hallmarks of Keith Potger’s solo concerts.

This is a free event, proudly funded by the NSW Government’s Reconnecting Regional NSW Community Events Program and Parkes Shire Council.

Do you want to truly understand what life is all about and live life to the full? Then join us as we look into life with Jesus. 

“LIFE” is a five week course investigating the claims of the Bible and of Jesus, seeing how they can truly grant us, not just a full life now, but also eternal life. 

This free course will run for five weeks from 8th March to 5th April at the Presbyterian Church, Cnr Gap St and Hill St on Wednesday nights from 7 – 8:30pm.

The course will be run in a comfortable, air-conditioned environment and will include free food, an engaging talk and the opportunity to chat and ask questions. 

When you come to understand who Jesus really is and the love that God has lavished upon us in sending Him, it really will change your life, forever. 

Jesus said: “I have come that they might have life and have it to the full” John 10:10. So please join us as we look into life with Jesus and discover how you too can have life and have it to the full.

Margaret Dwyer’s Author talk held at the Parkes Shire Library.

The Festival of Seniors at Parkes Shire Library was in full swing last week with seniors from throughout Parkes Shire popping in to get involved. 

Margaret Dwyer’s Author Talk on Friday was the perfect main event of the first week, highlighting the talents of seniors in the region and inspiring attendees. Margaret’s talk covered everything from what encouraged her to write, her family and how she got published. Margaret’s four books are available at the Parkes Shire Library for borrowing. 

The fun continues in the library this week, so head along to check out your friends in the 70s on the photo board and listen to the best tunes on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons. 

Finish it all off in spectacular fashion by attending the Seniors Library Lock In on Friday 10th February, beginning at 6pm. There will be games, snacks and plenty of time to chew the fat about the ‘good old days’. This is a booked event so please give the Library a call on 6861 2309 if you would like to attend. It is guaranteed to be a hoot!