Our brekkie wrap of the latest local news in under five minutes

Forum: FIFTY five adults and 12 children attended a community drug forum at the Wingham Town Hall on Tuesday evening. Hosted by Wingham High School the forum brought together a cross section of the community to hear talks about the effects of drugs and alcohol on young people.

Awards: TAFE students from Wingham, Old Bar and Upper Lansdowne recently received major awards at the North Coast TAFE Student Recognition Awards. The awards were held at the Osprey Restaurant, at Coffs Harbour Education Campus last week. Students studied at both Great Lakes and Taree campuses of TAFE.

Exhibitions: WINGHAM Spinners and Weavers will be the special guest of Taree Craft Centre during its two 'Fantastic Fibres' Exhibitions held during the Manning Winter Festival.

Bestseller: ROB Oakeshott's memoir is a best-seller in the Manning according to Manning Valley Books. The store quickly sold out of its first batch of the book after Mr Oakeshott launched it in Port Macquarie on May 27. The store is now awaiting the arrival of a second shipment of  'The Independent Member for Lyne' the memoir of Rob Oakeshott from publisher, Allen and Unwin.

Local history: A NEW book about the history of the Manning Valley was launched last week. 'Town and Country, a History of the Manning Valley,' is by Sydney author Max Solling who has spent a lot of time locally and has relatives in the area.