Sue Ridley: I’ve been in Parkes all my life. It is just quieter and not a rat race. My extended family are here too.
Jack and Carmel van der Helm: We are originally from Parkes, but have been living in Melbourne for the past 47 years. We enjoy the peace and quiet, clean air and close proximity of everything in country towns, as well as cheaper real estate.
Kerry Buerckner: You could never pay me enough money to live in a city! It is more relaxed in the country. City people are so rushed. I was born in Parkes and love it here.
Dorothea Tom OAM: Out on the farm life went on as usual pretty much, but I did a lot more cooking and reading. I love reading and as the library was closed, I got into all the books I haven’t read for 30 years!
Bruce Prior: I kept on doing my two shifts per week on Valley FM, and ‘the bride’ and I did a lot of behind the scenes work at the Henry Parkes Historical Museum. It was a different kind of trip, as we will not be pulling the caravan out this year.
Rosemary Prior: I spent most of my time at the Henry Parkes Historical Museum where we had lots of archived ‘Pandora’s boxes’ to be opened and sorted. We found some amazing treasures, including a beautifully preserved sheep skin vest worn by a digger in World War I. This will soon go on display.
Geoff Anderson: The current events in the USA are driven by separation and degradation of knowledge of people’s culture and a loss of cultural understanding of where people are from. This has led to many years of tension festering to a point of this eruption. Here in Parkes we teach our students the history of Australia and around Parkes. The students understand the history and whether they are Aboriginal or not they all understand and respect the land and the culture. By teaching language and culture, you’re teaching respect.
Sean James Cassidy: Help each other and acknowledge the past – the bad and the good.