Indyreads Summer Book Club 

Over summer read “Funny Ethnics” by Age Book of the Year shortlisted author, Shirley Le, along with readers throughout NSW on the Indyreads app. If you need assistance downloading the app or getting started, come and see us at the Library. 

An evening of tales Come to the Parkes Library for a delightful evening of tales, food, wine and friends showcasing our community’s writing talent. Book a place by calling 6861 2309. 

Christmas Flicks 

Join us in December for a special Christmas edition of Friday Flicks with a romantic comedy with a Christmas theme. Wear your favourite holiday outfit to celebrate! 

Friday 15 December at 6pm. Book now! 

Marramarra Makerspace Fun 

Gift Wrapping, Tags and Fandangles Workshop: Pimp up your Christmas wrapping in this fun workshop. BYO gifts to wrap and brown paper bags to decorate. Wed 6th December 10am-Noon. 

Cost $20. Book online through Humanitix. Call 68612309 for details. 

Christmas Craft in the Makerspace. Throughout December during Makerspace opening hours (Mon, Wed, Thur 3-5:30pm) come and make: Paper stars & Christmas trees + Personalised baubles + Gift tags + Laser cut decorations. 

Who Is Parkes? Photography Exhibition 

To mark 150 years of the naming of Parkes, the Who Is Parkes? exhibition is a glorious collaboration of our community and those who made it. It is an exhibition that shows us where we have come 

from, who we have become today, and a celebration of belonging to Parkes and the Parkes Shire. Don’t miss our final exhibition for 2023 in the Coventry Room from 1-22 December. Official opening & morning tea 2nd December at 10am – all welcome! 

The Trees are out. Each participating business will have a wonderful timberChristmas Tree out the front of their business or close to their front door. 

Aaron Acheson said “We are so pleased to be able to offer $20,000 in prizes this year. It has been a tough year so the Forbes Business Chamber is delighted to have kept the draws to encourage local shopping”. 

The draws began on November 13th.“All you need to do is scan the QR Code in store and fill in the details. If you don’t have a phone each store will have a manual sheet. We want to make sure that everyone has a fair turn,” said Aaron Acheson. $500 draws will be held on Thursday afternoons on the 16, 23 and 30th November, 7, 14 and 21 December. 5 x $500 draws will take place at the AMAZING Forbes Christmas Carnival on the 8 December. The remaining draws for the 23 December are 6 x $500, 1 x $1500, 2 x $2500 and 1 x $5000 giving a total funding pool of $20000. 

Participating businesses offering support for the Find It In AMAZING Forbes This Christmas. The businesses Acheson’s Mitre 10, AgriWest, Allure On Main, Bernardis, Blue Sky Outdoors, Blush Organic Beauty, Bowns Sports Power, Cahills Footwear Forbes, Chapter Two Boutique, C&D Floorcovering, Euphoria Road, Flannery’s Pharmacy, Forbes Automotive Services and ARB, Forbes Business Chamber Inc., Forbes Central Butchery, Forbes Shire Council, Forbes Small Engines, Graces Hair Studio, Gunns Menswear and Embroidery, HozPots Garden Centre, Isabel’s Café, Jessica’s Beauty, Life Pharmacy, Little Extras Lifestyle, Loomzys FishNFix, News On Rankin, MD Steel, Phillip Wells Optometrist, Robbs Jewellers, Steel Technology, Terry Bros Carpet Court, The Bakehouse, The Book Dispensary, Turners Furniture One, Undercover Sleepwear and Lingerie and WA Knights Cranes, Walkers AgNVet.

Parents, carers and grandparents of young children are invited to attend one of two free online workshops being held to provide important safety information about child car seats. 

The workshops will be held via MS Teams, Wednesday 22 November at 10am and again at 7pm. 

The Council’s Road Safety and Injury Prevention Officer, Melanie Suitor, said the correct selection, installation and adjustment of child car seats is vital in ensuring children’s safety when travelling in vehicles. 

“The workshop will cover the National Child Restraint Laws, types of child car seats available, correct installation and adjustment, when to move to the next car seat, accessories, tips for secondhand car seats and much more”. 

“It will be a great refresher for grandparents, as child car seats and the rules have changed a lot since they had their children, but also for parents and carers as they are navigating their way through their child or children’s growth”. 

“The results of our local checking day events show that around 80% of the child car seats that were checked were incorrectly installed. Transport for NSW research shows that children who are not restrained correctly are seven times more likely to sustain life- threatening injuries in a crash than those who are properly secured. It is so important to ensure your precious cargo is safe” Ms Suitor said. 

These online workshops were the first of their kind when they were trialed in May 2023. 

“There were almost 20 families that took part in the May workshops. Participants rated the workshop 4.75 out of 5, said they would be very likely to recommend it to a friend or family member and were glad they had attended” Ms Suitor said. 

To book your place use this link: https:// bit.ly/NovemberWorkshops2023 or call on (02) 6861 2364.

The Parkes Uniting Church has been providing a free meal to the community of Parkes for over six years. On the first Monday of every month the church sees between 35 – 50 people come through its doors to enjoy a fresh home cooked 2 course delicious meal. 

Doors open at 5.45pm and the meal is served at 6pm all year round. So if you would like some company or meet new people, or have trouble making ends meet or just want a night off from the kitchen, a beautiful meal awaits you. Just turn up. 

A team of approx. 12 people including church members plus a few members from the community are on a roster each month and provide a very warm and welcoming atmosphere. 

It is this church’s mission to reach out to the local community and try to be there in time of need. 

The following is some feedback which has come from those who support the dinner. Some of whom have been attending since the very first dinner. 

MMM Guests share the following thoughts about the meal they enjoyed on the 2nd of October 

“Always beautiful meals and good service”, “A great service here giving some of us local battlers a cooked delicious meal then a nice bowl of dessert. Finished off with a coffee or tea. Always very pleasant staff here”, “We have been here every month since it has started, except when they stopped for covid. The meals are fantastic and very delicious every time. 

We are very appreciative of the efforts given by the helpers for our monthly meals which are always delicious.” 

The Insurance Council of Australia (ICA) and insurers will be in Parkes and Eugowra in November to assist insurance customers with their claims following last year’s floods. 

More than 90 per cent of all claims from the November 2022 flood event are now closed, with insurers actively working through remaining claims. 

This will be the fourth community consultation held in the region by the ICA and insurers since the floods that devastated the community almost one year ago, causing $246 million worth of insured damage. 

The in-person meetings are an opportunity for customers to discuss their claim directly with their insurer at a time that suits. 

Event details: 

• Tuesday, 7 November 2023 – Venue Parkes Services Club, Address 9/17 Short St, Parkes. Time 10.00am to 6.00pm 

• Wednesday, 8 November 2023 – VenueEugowra Community Bowls & Recreation Club, Address 5 Hill St, Eugowra. 10.00am to 6.00pm 

Policy holders from surrounding areas are also encouraged to book an appointment. To check appointment availability and to book go to www.insurancecouncil.com.au/Bookings 

Insurance Council of Australia CEO Andrew Hall said that “The severity of the floods in Central West New South Wales is evident in the scale of damage caused and the ongoing effects on impacted communities one year on”. 

Following a successful 2022 tour with Omega Ensemble, Music in the Regions returns to NSW’s Central West and Orana regions, featuring vocal ensemble Luminescence.

Since 2015, Luminescence has performed extensively in Canberra and the surrounding regions, presenting an annual concert program as well as appearing for a range of festivals, collaborations, and special events. Performance highlights have included appearances at the Sydney Opera House (2023), the National Museum of Australia (2022), and the National Gallery of Australia (2023), as well as appearances for the Enlighten Festival (2018), Four Winds Festival (Bermagui, 2019; 2020; 2022), and the Bowral Autumn Music Festival (2023).

Since 2017, Luminescence has appeared annually at the Canberra International Music Festival, and performing in more than 20 festival programs alongside many of Australia’s finest musicians.

Recent accolades have included a 2022 Canberra Critics Circle Award for Ave Regina: God Be With The Mother, a 2022 CAPO Award, and a 2022 ABC Classic FM Commission. In Drawing Breath Luminescence Chamber Singers explore first breaths, last breaths, and music as diverse as the vast compass of human life and feeling in between: from Machaut and Gesualdo, to Pink Floyd, and newly commissioned works by Australian composers Brenda Gifford, Connor D’Netto, and Dan Walker.

Luminescence will perform Drawing Breath at:

Condobolin, Saturday 4 November 4pm, at the Condobolin Community Centre inpartnership with the Lachlan Arts Council

Forbes, Sunday 5 November 3pm, at,and in partnership with, Club Forbes

For more information and to book yourtickets please visit www.musicintheregions.com. Tickets are free for under 18s.

Parkes Shire Council is encouraging the Shire’s residents to get involved in Australia’s largest citizen science project by participating in the 2023 Aussie Bird Count, running from 16 to 22 October 2023. 

To complete the Aussie Bird Count, participants are required to spend 20 minutes in their backyards recording and counting the birds and species they observe. Observations are submitted through the Aussie Bird Count app or online web form. 

Parkes Shire Council’s Environment and Sustainability Officer, Michael Chambers, said that the Aussie Backyard Bird Count is a fun and safe activity that can be enjoyed by all ages and experience levels. 

“This is a great opportunity for residents to explore the outdoors, whether it be on their own property or local, state, and national parks, and learn about the birds local to the Parkes Shire. Parkes Shire residents have embraced this event in past years, and we would love this trend to continue in 2023,” said Mr Chambers. 

The 2022 Aussie Bird Count saw more than 77,000 Aussies take to their backyards and local green spaces to count more than 3.9 million birds from 620 species. Across New South Wales, the most recorded species, for the ninth year in a row, was the rainbow lorikeet, followed by Noisy Miners and Sulphur Crested Cockatoos. 

Data obtained from the annual Aussie Bird Count will be provided in a report to Council, which will help increase environmental engagement among residents, inform land management decisions, and monitor the success of tree planting efforts across the Shire. 

Register for the 2023 Aussie Bird Count at https://aussiebirdcount.org.au/