The Parkes Ministers’ Association (PMA): donated $7,000 raised at the 2019 Parkes Elvis Festival Gospel Service to two charities. The East Timor Mission received half for a shipping container full of supplies. At the handover were (L-R) Cr Neil Westcott, President of the PMA Pastor Andrew Taggart, Mayor Ken Keith OAM, Director of ParaMarcia Geoff Steventon and Parkes Elvis Festival Director Cathy Treasure.
Daylight Saving Change: On Sunday, 7th April Daylight Saving Time ends. This means at 3am clocks are turned backward one hour to 2am local standard time. Sunrise and sunset will be about one hour earlier on Sunday than the day before giving us more more light in the morning.
Parkes History Blog: If you’re in need of a good hero story, the latest blog on historyparkes.org is about Pilot Officer Rawdon Middleton, VC. That’s right, an Australian was awarded the Victoria Cross in WW2 – with a link to Parkes! A truly remarkable gentleman and a hero in the truest sense of the word. Many of you will know the name Rawdon Hume Middleton, but do you know the full story? Go to https://historyparkes.org/2019/04/02/rawdon-middleton-vc/
Anzac 360: Leading up to Anzac Day the library will have Virtual Reality 360-degree drone footage of the Australian Remembrance Trail along the Western Front including eight key sites and battles. The library has a Virtual Reality headset to bring this to life for you.
Blue Dish: Parkes is joining the rest of the world in lighting up our iconic landmark in blue for the third year in celebration of World Autism Awareness Month. Central West Autism and Special Needs Awareness Group (CWASNAG) started the initiative in conjunction with Parkes Shire Council and the CSIRO. In addition a cocktail
fundraiser evening will be held tomorrow (6th April) under the Blue Dish with a panel discussion, live entertainment, telescope viewing and a lucky door prize. CWASNAG president, Angela Wilson said: “By lighting our Dish up blue during the month of April, we are creating an awareness of Autism and in turn, prompting conversations about it. Through awareness comes understanding, which ultimately brings acceptance.” For more information and to book tickets visit www.visitparkes.com.
School Holiday Fun: Parkes Shire Library will again be hosting family friendly events in the April school holidays including minibeast interactive workshop and Aqualife Explorers. The workshop on 24th April is based on the importance of mini-beasts and their life cycles within food webs, ecosystems, agriculture, forestry, medicine. There will be stick insects, millipedes, centipedes, crickets, scorpions, spiders, beetles and more. Aqualife Explorers on
16th April will transform the library into an underwater ecosphere allowing interaction with live sea creatures. (See page 2 for more detail on these activities.)