Happy New Year everyone! A warning to non-Elvis week lovers, this article contains content that may cause offence, alarm and might get you All Shook Up.

Central West Lachlan Landcare are excited to be part of the Parkes Elvis Festival and are looking forward to catching up with visitors and locals in the week ahead.

If you aren’t in town, pop over to Parkes and checking it out? For the uninitiated, things kick off on Wednesday, January 10 with the Elvis Wall of Fame. This year the inductees are Phil and Tommy Emmanuel. 

Visit Landcare at Kelly Reserve. During Elvis Week I will be switching the boots and pants for sling backs and skirts and I would love to catch up with you if you are in the area during the week or just with the kids visiting the park.

We are providing a base for travellers and visitors to refresh and retreat from the heat, so that they are ready for another round of people watching, singing and dancing. If you are bussing it around Parkes, we are stop 24.

We will have water ice blocks and water available. I will also have the kettle on, so feel free to drop in for a cuppa and a delicious treat! We are just asking a donation and funds from these donations will be put towards increasing resources for our local schools in the Parkes and Forbes Shires. Festival Programs and Calendars can also be purchased.

We have some special offers for those of you on Facebook or Twitter who are interested in participating in Elvis Festival events. All you have to do is find us at @cwllandcare, Like and Follow our page, Tag a mate on our Elvis Promo post and Share the post to your page. For a bonus entry, pop into Landcare and have a photo taken with one of us!

Elvis movies were often an exciting find after scrutinising the dodgy and often inaccurate newspaper TV guide when I was growing up. In rural NSW there were usually two viewing options, the ABC or one commercial channel, so a Saturday afternoon movie was pretty exciting! One thing I will give Elvis, he was unrepentant when it came to performing songs that are about love, life and human emotions. Even though the majority of his songs were written by talented writers, he gave them life and made them his own. Not every man is good at expressing these simple emotions, let alone in song – whilst swinging their hips!

How does this all tie back to Landcare you might be asking. Well, I could try to bring some ridiculous connection to Elvis and Landcare, but I won’t. CWLL have a focus on health this year. Healthy Landscapes, Healthy People and Healthy Communities, so participating in this and other community activities during 2018 is part of our commitment to the Parkes and Forbes Shire communities.

We are thrilled to be contributing towards the Festival and look forward to seeing you! For more information call 6862 4914, cwllpo@hotmail.com, facebook or our website at centralwestlachlanlandcare.org. Until next week, happy Landcaring!