GRAFTON REDMEN SCORES UP IN LIGHTS

The Grafton ‘Redmen’ Rugby Union Club has been awarded $19,800 to upgrade the scoreboard at its home ground in South Grafton, Nationals MP for Clarence Richie Williamson has announced.

Mr Williamson said the current scoreboard had reached its end life and he was thrilled the Club had been successful in securing funding through the NSW Government’s Local Sport Grant program to replace it.

“Local grassroots sporting clubs like the Grafton Redmen are the lifeblood of community sport, and this investment will increase both the player and spectator experience,” Mr Williamson said.

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“This latest grant is in addition to funding I announced last year which saw new female change rooms and new lighting installed at the grounds.

“I thank the Grafton Redmen volunteers who made this possible as without their commitment and dedication to the sport, none of this would have been achieved.”

Grafton Redmen Club President Bart McGrath said the Grafton Redmen have worked tirelessly over the past two years to obtain funding to upgrade amenities at the club for the benefit of both players and spectators.

“The funding support received from the NSW Government to upgrade infrastructure at the grounds has seen the club go from strength to strength on the field with increased junior and female participation as well as increased community sponsorship and support off the field,” Mr McGrath said.

The Local Sport Grant program is annual program that aims to support grassroots sporting clubs to increase participation, host events, improve access and enhance sport and recreation facilities.

Mr Williamson said he will be announcing other successful recipients under the latest funding round in the coming weeks as he moves around the electorate.

“I encourage all sporting clubs across the Clarence and Richmond Valleys to jump online and subscribe to receive updates on when the next round of Local Sport Grants program open,” Mr Williamson said.

Further information can be found here or by calling Mr Williamson’s office on 6643 1244.

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Grafton High mummy reveals more secrets

By Tim Howard

The existence of a mummified Egyptian head in the library at Grafton High School is common knowledge for generations of the school’s students.

But when the ABC show, Stuff the British Stole, revealed its existence to the rest of Australia last year, the response was shock and wonder at how such an artefact came to be in the care of a regional high school.

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The discovery also ramped up interest in the mummy and in a follow-up report the ABC has revealed forensic experts have discovered the sex, age and the period in which the person lived.

A forensic Egyptologist from the Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine and Department of Forensic Medicine, Janet Davey, scanned the mummy in a CT scanner.

The ABC reported Dr Davey’s team combined with the University of Chieti in Italy to discover the mummy was female and had died aged between 50 and 60.

Flecks of gold leaf attached to the head put the mummy in the Greco-Roman period of Egypt, roughly between the time of Alexander the Great in 332BC to the Roman occupation of Egypt and the early Christian period, around 395CE.

Dr Davey told the ABC the quality of the mummification, including the full removal of the brain – a process known as excerebration – plus the presence of gold leaf showed the woman came from a wealthy family.

For more than a century a mummified head about 2000 years old has been stored in the library at Grafton High School. In the past year forensic experts have been able to reconstruct the mummified remains and give people an idea of what this person once looked like. Photo: Jennifer Mann

The data from the CT scan encouraged Grafton High to fund a reconstruction based on the data from the scan and put a face to the mystery.

The CT data was sent to forensic toxicologist Matthew Di Rago, at VIFM, who created a 3D print of the skull.

A forensic sculptor at VIFM, Jennifer Mann, took over and she was able to make a complete “forensic facial reconstruction” sculpture.

“[It] involves doing a portrait in reverse — so in effect, starting with a skull, and putting all of the musculature on, and then having to recreate the face based on very strict formulas,” she told the ABC.

The mummy has been in the school’s possession since 1915, according to note from 1960 which explained that a Grafton doctor, T J Henry bought the mummy while he was a medical student in Edinburgh during the late 19th Century.

But like the mummy itself, the story of how it got to the high school also has twists and turns with suggestions another famous former Graftonian was the source.

Another version has the mummy coming from Sir Grafton Elliot Smith, a local who became one of the world’s foremost Egyptologists in the early 20th century.

He revolutionised the study of ancient mummies using X-rays to reveal their secrets without disturbing them.

When the tomb of Tutankhamen was discovered, he was responsible for the examination of the preserved body.

Grafton High School was contacted for information, but did not reply.

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Pool project on track, under budget

By Tim Howard

Grafton swimmers can look forward to a dip in their new $30 million pool complex later this year with progress on the Regional Aquatic Project on track and under budget.

At the April Clarence Valley Council meeting, Cr Alison Whaites, the council member of the community focus group for the project, thanked council staff and pool builder, Hines Constructions Pty Ltd, for keeping the project schedule for a December opening.

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And Cr Karen Toms was able to point to a cost saving that’s already been achieved of $20,893.50.

“That’s happened in a variation because consolidating the splash pad plant room with the indoor plant room,” she said.

“Those sort of decisions along the way possibly with the with the project control group, are fantastic and hope let’s hope we get some more savings,” she said.

Cr Whaites said the response to the pool progress had been mostly positive.

“As the councillor on the community focus group for the regional Aquatic Centre, I share weekly updates on social media, photos and actual construction progress so our community is always informed,” she said.

“It’s fantastic to read all the positive comments on social media and from families that actually give me a quick message on social media or they actually stop me in the street to thank us and the council what we’re doing right now for the Aquatic Centre,” she said.

Cr Whaites said it was not just Clarence Valley residents watching the progress of pool construction.

“When I visit Coffs Harbour weekly I do get feedback from that community as well because they’ve always enjoyed coming up to our Grafton the Olympic pool,” she said.

“I know I did when I was a kid and I brought my kids up here as well.

“So they’re actually looking forward to coming up and spending some money in our town.”

Cr Whaites pointed out the site was still known as the Grafton Olympic Pool as there had been no name change approved.

“I just wanted to debunk that myth and that stuff that’s on social media,” she said. “We have not changed the name to date.”

In the report to council the project status as of March 2024 included:

• Completed and poured the 25m backwash tank walls
• Completed and poured the leisure pool balance tank walls
• Installed formwork for 25m balance tank lid
• Reinforcing steel completed for splash pad balance tank base
• Steelwork commenced in 50m pool base
• Completed excavation of the 50m pool backwash tank
• Completed sanitary drainage to male and female amenities in the front of house building
• Commenced rough in of electrical in front of house building.

The council voted unanimously to note the progress on the Regional Aquatic Project.

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