‘Miner For A Heart Of Gold’ OPENING HOURS
Monday - Friday 7am to 5pm Saturday 8am to 2pm Sunday Closed
Phone: 6862 6600
12-14 Saleyards Rd, Parkes
CUNNINGHAM’S 362 Clarinda Street Parkes 6862 2522
FINDING TREASURE… Dan Fredericks in his office at the Parkes Shire Library working on his latest blog on the heroics of RAAF pilot Rawdon Middleton.
While gold was discovered in Parkes more than 150 years ago, one resident is on a serious search to discover the new gold of our Shire. “Gold is our history, it is precious once you find it, but it is not a matter of just scratching the surface. You have to dig deeper,” says Local and Family History Officer of the Parkes Shire Library, Dan Fredericks. “My job is to do the digging, to do the research, and try and find the stories and truth behind stories and to make them presentable and accessible.” Dan started the library’s history blog (https://historyparkes.org/) in April 2015 after discovering some very rich story veins. “I have an incredibly interesting job, it is fascinating,” says Dan, who is also a passionate writer who loves turning his discoveries into interactive and well researched stories. Dan’s mining efforts are causing a new gold rush with views on the blog increasing from just over 3,000 in 2015 to almost 10,000 last year. “The blog highlights another part of our Shire, and while Parkes Elvis Festival is our most international event, the blog draws readers from all over the world. We have amazing stories, and unless we preserve and promote them, people will forget.” The history blog first started with war stories as it was the centenary of Anzac and Gallipoli, but he soon found many more veins of stories and credits the Facebook page ‘Parkes in photos of years gone past’ as a good source of inspiration. He says sometimes urban myths surface, such as the origin of the name Rosedurnate. There were various theories, and while researching it, Warwick Tom came in one day to do his own research and Dan discovered the true story resulting in another blog post. Continued on page 2
Monday to Saturday 6.30am-7.30pm Sunday 7am-7pm