Snapshots of the past on this anniversary of Parkes' centenary

They don't make floats like this anymore! On the first two days of October 42 years ago Parkes came together for a monumental celebration of its centenary - 1883 to 1983. A street parade of a grand-scale on 1 October and a Parkes High School reunion for as many years as possible, 1921-1982, on 2 October were two of a number of key celebrations in the town in 1983. There was also a centenary ball at the Parkes Leagues Club in March of that year. Parkes woman Jill Crisp wanted to share some of these special memories of the centenary with our readers and brought pages of her photo albums into the Champion Post office in Clarinda Street. More than 100 floats (104 to be precise) participated in what was described as a giant parade down Clarinda Street and one for the history books. And as reported in the Champion Post at the time, it looked to be a mammoth task to organise - the article even listing the name of every float that took part in order. The procession progressed to the Parkes Showground for the Centenaryfest celebrations. Prior to its start participants in the annual Parkes Antique Motor Club motorcycle rally paraded down the main street on their way out to the Dish and on their return, vintage and veteran motorcycles were on display at the Centenaryfest. There were even 'Centenary Princesses' for the big celebration, they were: Carmel Reilly - Parkes District Hospital, Zoanne Mill - Parkes Shire Council, Carolyn Westcott - Parkes Show P A and H Association, Pam McPhee - Parkes Chamber of Commerce and Kathy ten Cate - Parkes Hockey. Jill's photos also captured the moments a time capsule was buried in Chamberlain Square with Jill and her sister Joy Freebairn and their families posing for photos during the occasion, as did many other local families. It took place before there was a Henry Parkes statue, which would be erected 25 years later on 12 May, 2008 during the town's 125th celebrations of local government. For those who want to go looking in Chamberlain Square now, there is a plaque that marks the site of the time capsule next to the path in the garden not far from the Welcome Street pedestrian crossing. The plaque details the event - former mayor of Parkes Jack Scoble (1966-79) and former president of the Goobang Shire Ken Turner (1964-80) buried the time capsule on 3 October, 1983. Mr Turner was shire president until 1980 when the Goobang Shire amalgamated with Parkes Municipal Council. Then he served three years with the new Parkes Shire Council before retiring in December 1983. The time capsule plaque was unveiled by Prime Minister Bob Hawke on 1 October. It is planned for the time capsule to be opened in 2033, 50 years after its burial but only eight years away for us now. Parkes remained relatively unsettled until 1962 when the discovery of gold led to a hastily erected 'canvas' town known as Currajong which accommodated thousands of hopeful gold seekers. A further discovery in 1871 at the nearby Bushmans Gold Mine helped the district to become one of the richest gold producing areas in the colony. Sir Henry Parkes served as Premier of colonial NSW five times between 1872 and 1891, and first visited Parkes then known as Bushmans in August 1873. He was greeted by more than 3000 people and received deputations from residents seeking a new hospital, a school, a court house, a telegraph line to Forbes, a road to Orange and a resident Justice of the Peace. In that year, 1873, as a result of a petition to the Minister for Lands from the businessmen and other residents, Bushmans was renamed Parkes in honour of the great statesman, who would later on famously be called the Father of Federation. Some of these photos appear in this week's edition of the Parkes Champion Post. More photos, including those from the centenary ball, will be published in a later edition.

Snapshots of the past on this anniversary of Parkes' centenary

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