Foley Shield Rugby League History

This is a book for those interested in the history of North Queensland football.  Proserpine identity, Mr Tony Price has just completed his new book, 'More Than The Foley Shield' which was recently launched at a well attended function at the Irish Club in Brisbane.  The book is an amazing record of the North's involvement in rugby league from the very earliest days and tells the story of more than three hundred players and officials that have had a hand in the hundred years rise and development of the game.  The breadth of this large volume is stunning, covering international games, the Foley Shield games and more with no region or town missed out.  Along with more than four hundred photos, many never seen before, of teams and players from Sarina in the south to Thursday Island in the north and west to Mount Isa.  The story is written in a chronological order and records the names of all the North Queensland team players from 1908 through to the Cowboys, Mackay Cutters and the Northern Pride.  The author, Tony Price has been involved in the game of rugby league for some fifty years, first as a player, then coach and administrator and finally as a supporter.  A few years ago, he published his huge, two volume book on the history of rugby league in the Whitsundays district entitled 'Before the Purple and Green'.  If you have an interest in North Queensland football history, Tony's new book is a must for your collection.

Herberton Mining Museum

It was recently reported by Mrs Veronica Weal that the Herberton Mining Museum had enjoyed a record number of visitors over the last tourist season with the visitors been impressed by the new displays including the new tin dredging video unit.  Their Minerals Room has undergone some changes and new samples have been added while the Academic Rock Collection is now completed and is a valuable resource for anyone with an interest in geology.  Volunteers have been kept busy with genealogy research for visitors working on their family histories and two of the museums staff assisted with the recent Lions Club's heritage 'Ghost Walk' at the local cemetery performing very creditably in ghostly roles while others from the museum assisted behind the scenes to help make the evening a great success.  Another exciting project the volunteer have been working on lately is the construction of a one-in-ten scale working model of a tin dredge.  This amazing replica was kindly donated to the museum by the family of the late Lionel Bowden who past away before he could complete the project.  The model dredge was in hundreds of pieces when collected and will require many hours of painstaking work to reconstruct and finish off but once completed it will be a rare and impressive piece of machinery which will become the central feature of a display on the local tin dredging industry.  Admission to the museum is still free of charge for local residents and by 'gold coin' donation for visitors from other areas.