Congratulations and thank you to Cessnock’s Pat Chappell on the publication of his book. Dedicated to his daughter Robyn, Uphomers is both a history of Cessnock and his family’s experiences here over many decades. It’s an excellent piece of work.
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It turns out that Uphomers is not Pat’s only literary effort. Many readers will be familiar with Phil Baird’s The Goanna Legend; an excellent history of our local rugby league football club. Phil advises that Pat did a large amount of research on the book for him. Our local talent never ceases to amaze me.
During our conversation, Phil Baird also reminded me of the references in his book to former Rugby Union international Jack Steggall played for and coached the Goannas in the mid-1930s. What’s the relevance? Jack’s granddaughter Zali Steggall is running against Tony Abbott in Warringah. It’s a small world.
Congratulations Noah
Speaking of local talent, Cessnock’s Noah Stevens played in the National Futsal tournament in Windsor this year. His quality performance earned him a spot in the U13s Australian Futsal team to play in Barcelona Spain in November. Well done Noah.
F1 in Schools
I have yet more local talent to report on. On Sunday I had the pleasure of officiating at a fundraising event for Impro Racing. Impro is an all-girls F1 in Schools team from Mount View High School. The F1 in Schools competition requires student teams to design and build miniature Formula 1 cars and then race them.
But it’s not all for fun. The F1 in Schools Program is designed to encourage students to engage in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering & Maths) subjects. It builds skills in 3D Computer Assisted Design (CAD), coding and fluid dynamics. In other words, it provides a path to the job opportunities of the future.
Students from 44 nations compete in F1 in Schools competitions each year. More than 22,000 students here in Australia compete here each year. I thank Mount View High and other local schools for providing this great opportunity for our local students. The Impro Racing Team is off to the National Finals and Sunday’s fundraiser will help them get there. Good luck to Chloe Hunt, Susan Anderson and Grace Frankland-Shamble, their families must be very proud. They are not the first Mount View success story in F1. A couple of years ago the Envisity team met with success at the World Games.
Congratulations and best wishes to all schools and students participating in the F1 in Schools Program.
Endeavour disappointment
I regret suggestions made by writers to this newspaper that local elected representatives somehow failed to protect Endeavour Industries. Sadly none of us knew the business had gone broke until after the administrator had been called in.
As I’ve noted here before, I’ve had longstanding relationships with Endeavour, its workers and their families but at no time was I asked to assist. Like everyone, I’m very disappointed by its demise. But while it was full of special people, there was nothing special about its business structure. It was a private business and sadly, like many, it went bust.
When this happens, the law requires the appointment of an independent administrator to protect the interest of people and creditors who are owed money, including the employees. I have no ability to save a privately run business but I do and will always do everything I can to ensure the workforce is protected and assisted. That is always my priority.
