Lynne Mowbray The heritage barn at Grafton Showground has undertaken a facelift with the removal of the old floor boards and installation of new boards from J Notaras & Sons Pty Ltd (sawmill), at South Grafton. Managing Director of Notaras, Spiro Notaras has been a keen sponsor of the wood chopping events at the Grafton Show for many years and was proud to be able to support the show society with his donation of $5000 towards the cost of the new flooring, which was supplied by his company. Mr Notaras, who is recuperating from a stroke, visited the barn last week to check on the progress. According to General Manager of Notaras, Donna Layton, Mr Notaras was pleased to have the opportunity to be able to help with this project which will benefit the Showground for many years to come. President of the Grafton Show Society Rex Green said that just before Christmas they received approval for a State Government grant, to replace the flooring of the barn. “I’d like to thank Sue Patricks who worked with the Grafton Show Society last year, for applying for this grant for us,” he said. The work on the barn could not commence before the middle of this year due to functions which were booked, in the building. Work started removing the old flooring in June, which has since been sold off. “Two local contractors Graham Wilson and Bob “BJ” Johnson along with a team of men from the work for the dole scheme, with Tursa, ETC and Nortec (employment service providers), have been working to replace the floor boards,” said Mr Green. “These guys are enjoying what they are doing so much that some of them have been turning up on their days off, to continue with the work.” Before the new boards could be laid, these men had to remove a huge amount of dirt, with shovel and wheelbarrow, which had built up underneath the building over the years, probably from floods. Clarence MP Chris Gulaptis said that the barn is very symbolic of Grafton’s past and it’s vital that we preserve it for future generations. “Thank you to the Grafton Show Society who has supervised the project and local timber identity Spiro Notaras who kindly provided the timber flooring,” he said. “They have ensured we get great value for money from our (State Government) grants.”