MidCoast Council Meet Local Legend Star Pet Updates Frank Atchinson Panda Forster Fortnightly Your local independent community newspaper distributed fortnightly to FREE Hallidays Point, Black Head, Tallwoods Village, Tuncurry, Forster Pacific Palms, Charlotte Bay, Smiths Lake, Coomba Park, Bungwahl and Seal Rocks. Wednesday 4th August 2021 Owned and Loved by Locals Circulation 6000 N0.26 Local paper punches above its weight! We are the front page news a big crew and a massive amount of town support. On our first anniversary today - celebrating a year of we think it’s important for people to the Forster Fortnightly with realise how fortunate our region is this 26th edition. to have this quality INDEPENDENT newspaper that has been punching An independent newspaper is pretty above its weight for the past year. special these days. There are not Being independent is important to us. many media sources left that provide We are not owned by any corporation genuine local news in Australia, and can keep printing without particularly in regional areas. Many interference or decisions made from towns have either lost their local others. paper, or they are fighting to keep one, or it has been taken over by one We are very proud to be a local of the two big media companies ACM family-owned business doing a big job (formally Fairfax) and News Corps with a very small crew. Reaching the (Murdoch) or they have managed to one-year mark is a huge success. start up one themselves - usually with Continued on page 2. FORSTER FORTNIGHTLY 4th August 2021 FORSTER FORTNIGHTLY 4th August 2021 Community News Page 2 Community News Page 3 is very successful at reaching many households and we receive constant positive feedback from Local Covid vaccinations Forster Fortnightly people who love reading it. We started during Covid last year and receive the free vaccine. Appointments can be your second dose.’ this is the paper that will continue made by phone or online with us. Next deadline is 5pm Wednesday 11th August, to be published on to support our community during Anne Curtis - Managing Director and Director & Wednesday 18th August. any challenging times. We have 4 rooms running in the clinics with Partner of the Forster Tuncurry Medical Centre two doctors and two nurses injecting. We still Group. A year is a big reason to celebrate We welcome your stories, photos and letters. have to be vigilant as well, with everything that a new business and we would Mary Yule we do, but we are not in a hot spot. All submissions: www.forsterfortnightly.com.au sincerely like to thank our regulars Please send photos and files separately. When sending photos from a phone please send in who send in great editorials and We have more people in their 40s and 50s ‘actual’ or ‘largest’ size possible. Photos 1MB (1000KB) or more preferred. photos to share with our readers. coming in for the Astra Zeneca. We recommend Many of our regulars we now know that you wait the 12 weeks before your second Our commitment is to provide a newspaper that is factual, informative, and full of local well. We really appreciate their dose of the Astra Zeneca. If you are required stories and community news to share. We are here to support our amazing local volunteers, generosity and the work that goes to travel to a break out area you can enquire community groups, sporting groups, schools, events and businesses. into their submissions. We would about having your second dose sooner. particularly like to thank renowned The Pfizer vaccine is coming soon and we will Above: Forster Tuncurry Medical Centre on Macintosh Street, Forster. Photo by Mary Yule. Editor: Mary Yule Phone: 0413 410 492 Printed: Spotpress in Marrickville NSW, on Australian cartoonist Alan Moir for be letting everyone know when it arrives to sustainably sourced paper. Contact Murray his topical and humorous cartoons. Email: [email protected] start up a third clinic day. The message will be Keir on 0439 060 700. We know we are very fortunate to ‘We are still reassuring people that the Forster Forster Tuncurry Medical Centre (FTMC) at on our phone recording ‘messages on hold’, Business Hours: 9:30 - 5pm (Mon - Fri) Puzzles & Cartoons: Auspac Media in QLD. have him (he does say he enjoys Tuncurry region is not in a break out area and MacIntosh Street on a Wednesday and a on the radio and in this newspaper. Once the reading this paper online). Since that we are very safe. People can wait for their Saturday. We are still vaccinating around 400 Pfizer arrives we need to use it within 30 days. Forster Fortnightly: Proud to be a family TV Guide: Pagemasters in Victoria. the beginning we have also been Above: Local Forster Fortnightly newspaper owners Ian and booked appointments for the Covid vaccine. people a week with the AstraZeneca vaccine Pfizer priorities are for our aged care workers. locally-owned newspaper business. Cameron Media Sales, lucky to have the talents of Roberta Government ads: Mary Yule. We are running 2 clinics a week out of our and you do not have to be a patient with us to With the Pfizer there is only a 3 week wait until Graphic & Web support: Golden Age Media, specialises in independent newpapers. Pearce and Vanda Gooley and we thank them for their work behind a locally-owned business. Contact Greg To Vanda Gooley and Roberta Continued from previous page. Thank you: the scenes. Golden on 1300 766 713. Pearce for their expertise behind the scenes. We believe this newspaper is helping to We love receiving local content and it wins over We acknowledge the Worimi People, the traditional custodians of the land, strengthen our community by telling stories anything else every single time. Please keep it waterways and sky of the Worimi Nation where this newspaper is published. With that connect local people, places and up contributors! Our ‘Star Volunteer’ feature Covid rules extended until 28th August great respect we acknowledge their Elders, past, present and future. organisations. By publishing hundreds of shines some light on regular people doing local stories we are helping to spread our amazing things for our community within their NSW Public Covid 19 Testing Sites for available: www.nsw.gov.au/covid-19. community’s democratic voice to a wider organisations, while our ‘Star Pet’ continues Health Order audience and telling them that our people are to be very popular. We have also published 26 Manning - Great Lakes 2021 COVID-19 package here and that we matter. free ‘Star Business’ features on local businesses To protect the people of Our newspaper stands are for our first year and thank everyone for NSW from the evolving Forster The Australian and NSW Governments We take our role of providing news to our announced a COVID-19 support package on the their nominations as we finish this feature. COVID-19 outbreak, • Forster Private Hospital with Douglass Hanly region seriously and try very hard to keep current stay-at-home 15th July. Under the 2021 COVID-19 package, editorials as editorials and advertising as We particularly love to publish any news on Moir are operating a drive thru covid testing the COVID-19 Disaster Payment will be further groaning with the weight of our younger generations as they are truly orders have been clinic in South Street. advertising. We are simply not interested in extended across all of Greater Sydney including expanded and increased to $600 if a person has publishing anything that has already been done everyone’s future. We try hard to provide them the Blue Mountains, Central Coast and 8am - 4pm (Monday - Friday) lost 20 or more hours of work a week or $375 with good information on what is out there to if a person has lost between 8 and less than 20 6000 free copies! around here. Every story we cover or publish Wollongong until Greater Sydney’s lockdown 8am - 2pm (Saturday) has to show worth to our community (or at help them on their way and to show them what has been extended until 12:01am Saturday hours of work a week. least be funny!) We have a high respect and is being done or what can be done for our local 28th August. • Forster Laverty Pathology The package will also see these payments environment and planet that they are inheriting We can help you reach hold ourselves accountable to our readers. 29 Breckenridge St, Forster be made available to those outside of We try to present a balanced and inclusive as future caretakers. Commonwealth Disaster declared hotspots that Ph - 6554 7129 your customers with our newspaper that sticks to the facts so that our The Forster Fortnightly is archived at the COVID-19 rules for regional meet the criteria for payment. readers can decide things for themselves. Great Lakes Museum, NSW State Library and FREE newspaper and FREE NSW including Manning & Taree Other measures of the combined Like many new businesses we have worked on our Publication Archive page at www. Great Lakes Commonwealth and NSW Government 2021 online version. hard to start something from scratch. It is forsterfortnightly.com.au which is good to know • Manning Base Hospital COVID-19 package include: if you ever miss a copy. At time of publication these rules apply until Ph - 6592 9111 a seven day a week operation, and we do Saturday the 28th of August. • A new grants program for micro businesses Enquiries: 0413 410 492 everything ourselves to be cost effective - On the top left of this page is a box with • Taree Health Hub Respiratory Clinic which experience a decline in turnover of 30%; including the research, journalism, editing, contacts that can help any other regions • Visitors to households will be limited to 5 [email protected] guests - including children; 15 Butterworth Lane, Taree • A capped grant of up to $1,500 for residential photography, all graphics, plus the advertising interested in starting their own independent landlords who are not liable to pay land tax and business side of things (okay, a bit of newspapers.