How long have you lived in Parkes and what do you like most about living here? I was born in Parkes and have lived here all my life. Having grown up in the town you get to know a lot of people. Everything you need is here.
Where do you work or what do you do currently and what do you enjoy about it? I am retired and have been for 12 years from the DMR, RTA. I love to get in the shed and do woodworking and furniture restoration.
What is your favourite thing to do when you have free time? I am a bit of an artist and every Wednesday I enjoy going to art group and doing some landscape painting. And I enjoy doing cryptic crosswords.
What makes you proud? My family – my children and grandchildren all live in Parkes and I am very proud of them all.
If you could be an animal which one would you choose, and why? A bird, I’d like to fly.
What is your all-time favourite movie, song and/or book, and why? I like the old movies: The Magnificent Seven, The Great Escape, The Sting; any Elvis music, I like to read paperback westerns.
Tell us about your best holiday. My best recent holiday was driving the Great Ocean Road and traveling through central Victoria.
What is on your bucket list? I would like to drive the Eyre Highway along the Nullabor and play the Nullabor Links (world’s longest golf course).
Dan Fredericks: Teacher, Teacher! By Jack Sheffield. Imagine James Herriot as a teacher in a classroom.
Gillian Hunt: The Land Before Avocado by Richard Glover. It’s amazing how food and life have changed since the 60s and 70s.
Deb Abela: The obvious is volunteering with my mates at Georgie‘s Pantry. I have also embraced new technology with Facebook challenges, and increased my bike riding and walks to try and maintain fitness.
Louise Moore: My life did not change dramatically. I miss some of the things I normally enjoy, but managed to compensate for them in other ways. Overall, I think I learned to adapt better than I had previously and moreover to appreciate what I have, particularly my family and wonderful friends.
Annika Gatt: I have been doing a lot more gardening, lots of long walks, learning French, enjoying new craft hobbies such as diamond art, rock painting, knitting, painting by numbers as well as doing more of my normal hobbies, such as cardmaking and reading. Also been keeping up with my karate and Muay Thai online classes.
Gabriel Goodrick: I’ve been keeping fit by doing routine exercise programs from my school, my own and my tennis coach. They all consist of muscle strengthening and cardio workouts to achieve a good all round fitness level.
Abbey Kennedy: I try and maintain a fitness routine every day. Most days I go to the tennis courts for an hour or two to hit with a friend or with the ball machine. If not on the tennis court, I go for a 5km walk/jog around the block, regularly skip sets of a hundred, and I follow a non-equipped circuit video for muscle strengthening, cardio and endurance.
Mitchell and Hayden Arndell: We are fortunate that the tennis courts have remained open and we’ve been going as a family to exercise as often as we can. We also have a wall at home to practice reflex skills.
Jake Magill: Fortunately, I have access to a tennis court at home and a ball machine, as well as a home gym where I complete a fitness program.