Speakers

Midland’s Engineering is an Australian-owned family business located in Parkes. They design and manufacture truck trailers of all shapes, sizes, and purposes. Recently they have been awarded a contract to construct enormous trailers for use in the construction work for Snowy 2.0. All their manufacturing is done here in Parkes, employing about 30 local people. Martin Larsen will show us around their factory at 16-18 Saleyards Road, Parkes.

 

Alison Wallace is currently Assistant Principal at Parkes Public School. In 2006 she visited Japan as a teacher trainee, and then in 2013 spent a year on teacher exchange to Canada. Alison will talk about the experience of teaching overseas and immersing herself in the culture and the education system of each country. She will also discuss the different approaches to education that each country had compared to Australia.                         

Prisoners of War are often the forgotten heroes of World War Two. They often had to face harsh conditions and inhumane treatment. Current Parkes Rotary President, Robert Shore is a historian who has interviewed and recorded over 50 WW2 POWs from different theatres of war. Most of them were Australians but some were fighting for other countries and have since become Australians. Robert will reveal some of the stories and experiences these survivors lived through.