St Brigid's story proves anything is Pozible

[dropcap style=”font-size: 60px; color: #8F9F59;”] O [/dropcap]ne of the most highly anticipated local books in a long time is Regina Lane’s story about the battle to save the 100-year-old St Brigid’s Church at Crossley.

Just as the grassroots effort to save the church has been one of epic proportions, so to has the writing of the story behind the campaign that saw the church returned to the community after it was decommissioned by the Catholic Church in 2006.

Saving St Brigid’s (Bridin Books) is Regina’s first book and was a true labour of love. Her deep, personal connection to the church, which was her family’s local church when Regina grew up as a child at Tower Hill, spurred her on to raise the $15,000 required to write and publish the book.

Late last year Regina launched a Pozible crowd-sourcing campaign, where people are asked to pledge funds to meet a set target, and continued working on her 50,000-plus word manuscript.

Regina raised the $15,000 – and polished the manuscript: both by deadline. What a magnificent achievement.

regina lane — The hard slog: author Brigid Lane puts the finishing touches to Saving St Brigid’s during the heatwave earlier this year. (Image: Brigid Lane)

[dropcap style=”font-size: 60px; color: #8F9F59;”] W [/dropcap]hile the book will be officially launched tonight, following the ‘soft’ launch at the Port Fairy Folk Festival last Saturday, we have asked Michaelie Clark, from Warrnambool Books, for a synopsis:

“When the Catholic Church put St Brigid’s church and hall up for sale in 2009, the reaction from the locals was fervent and swift.

They remembered the legacy of their ancestors, the fierce sense of faith that was represented by the church, built by the children of famine survivors in the Erin of the southern hemisphere. They weren’t going to let such an important part of their heritage go without a fight – even if they had to take it all the way to Rome.

Regina Lane brings the spirit of the region’s multi-faceted history alive through the tale of modern rebellion, and in doing so, creates her own culture of thought, which leaves a legacy of its own.”

You can find out more about Regina and the story behind Saving St Brigid’s on her website and the Friends of St Brigid’s website.

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