Keith Turk: I has to be my Kia Sportage… just kidding. It is the Pontiac Firebird Trans Am, because it was in Smokey and the Bandit.
Nevill Trainor: I am a car collector and have a shed full of them. One of my favourites is the 1972 Holden Torana GTR XU-1, but my best one is the Holden VK Brock Commodore.
Kevin Clark: I like the cars that came out when I grew up, like the Holden EH and the Mini Cooper S. I have owned both of these cars.
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.
Chief Inspector David Cooper, Central West Police District
Chief Inspector David Cooper, Central West Police District: This year has certainly been one of challenges – as we all battled our way through a devastating drought and then the catastrophic bushfires – we thought things were finally starting to look up. Then COVID-19 hit and life has not been the same since. What these things have really shown is that our communities are adaptive, strong and resilient. What was considered “normal” in our day-to-day lives may never be the same again, but we have all managed to adapt and change the way we do things.
Internationally the “Black Lives Matter” movement has come to the fore and has brought with it many conversations. The actions of some police from overseas, as portrayed in the media, appear abhorrent. What I can say is that the police in Parkes support our community because they are part of the community. Our police and community relations are strong and have been built over many years. Police rely on the community for their support just as much as the community relies on police to maintain law and order. I look forward to continue working with the community as we move forward and face the challenges together.
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.
Helen Huntly: I have a studio at the back of my house. I found when I really worked at making time for myself, I lost track of time and got into that lovely place of creating, which is a place of comfort and peace.
Annette Witherow: I really missed our weekly Parkes Painters gatherings, as that is what inspires me to pick up my paint brushes. We also missed out on our annual exhibition to put our work on show. So, I’ve not been painting much at all, but I did spend a lot of time in my garden.
Margaret Marshall: It did 100%! I completed six paintings. I have really enjoyed total isolation as I could spend time on my art every day without any interruptions. I was able to give it my full concentration and enjoy doing it guilt free.
Evie Brown (Kindy): I enjoyed doing the dance moves for the number counting song and showing my mum my work. I missed my teachers Mrs Harrison, Mrs Melhuish and Mrs Richards.
Joshua King (Year 7): The best thing was sleeping in and having nice lunches (not just the same old sandwich). The worst was not being able to see friends and to learn face to face.
Ally Francis (Year 12): The benefits were being able to do things on my own timetable and not having to wear a uniform. It was hard not having one on one teaching, being able to ask questions and receive answers straight away and not seeing friends.
Kerryn Jones: Here We Are by Graham Swift. A magical story of three vaudeville performers at the Brighton Pier.
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.