What do you enjoy most about Easter?
Caleb Wirth: Waking up with chocolate beside your bed is the best! You don’t even have to walk to the fridge – it’s right there!
Casey Kelly: I like celebrating and telling about God.
Nelson Walker: I love all the chocolate because I love eating it!
For Youth Week we asked young people what issues concern them the most?
Josh Winter: Litter – our world has rubbish everywhere. There’s so much plastic in our oceans choking marine life. It’s harmful to wildlife and it’s really gross.
Ally Fryer: I’m really concerned about global warming. All the gasses and pollution are really bad for the environment, and it’s getting warmer every summer.
Lillie Fryer with her younger sister Connie: Pollution is a big issue. It’s destroying our environment.
Why is local history important?
Mary Balogh: We need to see where we’ve been to know where we’re going.
May Woods and Pat Tomkins: It’s important to pass on traditions, and preserve our heritage buildings. It’s good to know what used to be here, and the history helps promote the town.
Gail Paul, Joan Dean, June Cassell, Shirley Wesgarth and Jean Bennett: Big things have happened in the district over the years. We need to preserve the history for the future generations, so they understand how the town was built and the challenges previous generations faced.
Why do you think Harmony Day is important?
Liam and Ryan Snyman: You get to share your traditions, and you get to learn about other peo- ple’s traditions and see from their perspective.
Jack McMaster: It’s sharing our cultures and how different our countries are. If we get to know each other then our world can be safer.
Alana Folau: Because we can learn about differ- ent cultures and countries and get to know each other better.
What makes you happy?
Mary Gray, Claire Rawthorne and Harvey Gray:
Mary: Going on a holiday.
Claire: Having ice cream and chocolate.
Annabelle Munday, Charlie Tye and Tori Bennett:
Annabelle: Going to the beach.
Charlie: Playing with Tori.
Tori: Riding ponies and birthday cake.
Hayden and Jason Anderson:
Hayden: Everything! I like stories and Lego and playing with Allana.
What is your advice for living a good life?
Aileen Townsend: Eat well and exercise, also be friendly and get along with everyone.
Chris Dunn: Work hard, enjoy sport, a few beers and good company.
John Hodge: Relax and enjoy it. Also, it’s prob- ably good to stay active.
What do you like about The Parkes Phoenix?
Owen Jensen: It’s punchier – being a smaller edition, and it has a good ratio of news stories for each page.
Carol Southwell:It’s informative and free, it’s also very newsworthy. I get it every week.
Anne Norton: It seems like it’s getting bigger every publication. The Phoenix is really getting out and about and publicises what’s going on. It’s good to know what the schools are doing.
James Goonrey: I like it because it focuses on the good things in Parkes. There’s nothing bad, no rubbish, all good local stuff.
Hazel Bateson: I like nearly everything about the Phoenix – I do miss the puzzle page though, I hope they get another sponsor!
What does Australian citizenship mean to you?
Abraham Emamjomeh with his son Farbod and wife Farideh: I am really happy and overwhelmed being an Australian citizen. My wife will also be- come a citizen soon.
Jim Murray pictured with his daughter Lilly, wife Monica and Mayor Ken Keith: I’ve been in Australia for 29 years, so I already feel Australian. Nothing’s changed except now my children can’t tease me about not being a citizen.
Muhammad Akmal, with his wife Ammara, daughter Hareem, and son Muhammad Arham who all became citizens. Their third child, Muhammed Rahim was born in Australia: I have so much respect for the people of Australia. We really enjoy the freedom, equality and multiculturalism of Australian society.
Janine Hando and Jeff Page: Jeff proposed on Valentine’s Day nine years ago, while we were out for dinner, and we were married in eight weeks! I didn’t want to give him the chance to change his mind.
Kirsty and Steven Vickers: He surprised me with this meal tonight! There are so many romantic moments to choose from, although proposing at the Blue mountains was pretty romantic.
Crystal and Ron Spindler: Last year we went on a cruise to Hawaii for our 38th wedding anniver- sary, it was an 18-day cruise and we spent a week there. We’re already planning our 40th anniversary.
What do you like about the NRL?
Josie Lynch: I like it, because they do tackles, which is a bit like sparring in karate. I enjoy physi- cal fighting with people. I want to start playing. The Panthers are by far the best team – their colour is black and I like black.
Jake Herring: I like NRL because it is a hard and tough sport. I enjoy playing it. My favourite team is the Broncos.
Bailey and Zac Chandler: We like NRL – it is fun to watch. We love the Panthers. It was pretty cool meeting the players.