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Nathan Horne
07 4661 9800
Week commencing Thursday, 26 January | 2017 | Edition 860
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www.freetimes.com.au
o Where to celebrate e our day
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Big weekend for Allora
In history with Cr Marika
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Photo of history By Jeremy Sollars A long-forgotten photograph of the man who was the prime mover behind the construction of the landmark St Mary’s Catholic Church in Warwick has finally come back home - thanks to a chance find in a Stanthorpe second-hand shop. Stanthorpe photographer Sandra McEwan was on the hunt in recent weeks for old photo frames to use in an upcoming exhibition of her work, and one of the frames she picked up for a song had a surprise in store when she pulled it apart at home. Hidden inside the frame was a photograph depicting the investiture of Monsignor Michael Potter in Warwick in June 1923 - an event of some significance at the time - but the original possessor of the photograph, whoever they were, had seen fit to flip it around to use as a piece of backing board for a news clipping which they then displayed in the frame. St Mary’s Parish priest Father Franco Filipetto joked that the photo’s use was an innovative form of “re-using and recycling” back in those days, but he’s pleased the historic image has come back to the parish, after Sandra kindly donated it this week. The find has come to light 160 years - almost to the day - since Monsignor Potter’s birth in Ireland, on 8 January 1857. “I got quite a surprise when I pulled it out of the frame and realised it had historic significance,” Sandra told the Free Times. “Unfortunately, it has some damage from silverfish - but I felt it was important it be returned to the parish for their historic collection.” It is believed to be the only surviving photograph of Monsignor Potter’s investiture. The popular Monsignor Potter was the driving force behind the construction of St Mary’s Church - Fr Filipetto said at 40,000 pounds it had been his “most ambitious project” during his years in the Warwick Catholic Parish. Continued on page 3
Fr Franco Filipetto and Stanthorpe photographer Sandra McEwan with Sandra's lucky find.
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