BUSINESS FORUM
LIFE & STYLE
WE REMEMBERED
SPECIAL PREVIEW GUIDE
STARTS ON PAGE 45
STORY ON PAGE 9
SEE CENTRE PAGES
PENRITH’S BEST GARDEN!
REMEMBRANCE DAY IN PENRITH
NOVEMBER 16 2012 ISSUE 1079
PROUDLY INDEPENDENT CIRCULATION: 59,400
THE HEARTBEAT OF PENRITH
STORM HITS It was quick, but it left behind plenty of destruction. A major storm hit Penrith late last week, bringing with it heavy rain, hail and wind gusts of more than 105km/h. The storm left homes without power and plenty of trees down across the area, keeping the local SES exceptionally busy. Meanwhile, power was out for hours in St Marys on Tuesday after a truck crash created a raft of problems.
PAGES 21 & 22
WEEKLY BINS
Members of the Penrith Lions Club are devastated that their trailer full of prizes is not welcome inside Centro Nepean this year. Photo: Melinda Jane.
Extra collections over the holidays
Lions’ roar deal
PAGE 10
Exclusive: Trailer raffle cut for first time in 32 years
A
CASSANDRA O CONNOR
fter initiating the Penrith Lions Club Christmas trailer raffle in 1980 as Club President, Allen Jeffery is devastated that for the fi rst time in 32 years the raffle will not be going ahead this Christmas. The Christmas trailer raffle, which has been held inside Centro Nepean for the past 26 years can no longer be hosted by the shopping centre due to a change in the centre layout. “I was really depressed when I got the news at the end of July that they had changed their policies – we had been told in January that we
would be allowed to bring the trailer into the shopping centre as we have done for 26 years,” he said. “I’ve been a Lions Club member for 37 years but this has really taken the wind out of my sails.” The raffle has raised money for a number of local charities but for the past 20 years the Lions Club has been donating all proceeds to the Neonatal Unit at Nepean Hospital. “Over the years funds from the raffle have enabled the purchase of much needed equipment costing in excess of $250,000,” Mr Jeffery said. “Th is year alone we have already donated $17,000 but we were hoping to raise $20,000 through the raffle to coincide with the 20th
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anniversary of our partnership with the Neonatal Unit.” The raffle has always been the biggest fundraising event on the calendar for the local Lions Club. “We have the chocolate wheel in the Plaza where we raise funds for the neonatal unit too, but the raffle has always been the biggest event of the year – each year it takes something like 800 man hours to put together and last year we sold 36,000 tickets in just seven weeks – some of our members were so dismayed [that it wouldn’t go ahead this year] they felt like walking away,” Mr Jeffery said. Continues page 6
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