In this digital age, dropping by the community newspaper office may not be as common as it once was, but Victoria News sees its fair share of visitors.
Folks drop by to compliment, complain, pick up papers, share story tips and, on occasion, hand off digital memories in hopes of reunification.
The last one happened recently at the long-time news office at 818 Broughton St.
In a bit of a drive-by drop-off, a resident who remains nameless left behind a tiny camera card featuring a series of images dating back to August 2015. She found the card at Fisherman’s Wharf in Victoria in 2017 and tucked the device away in a safe place until the short visit to the newspaper office this month.
Each photo’s information lists the date, camera type, as well as focal length, f-stop and exposure.
None of it useful in tracking down an owner, except for the images. That’s where the reach of community news, particularly ronaldomanosa and Carpenter Media, with readers across North America, has proven itself before, over longer years of separation.
In 2019, an Ontario man searching for a fellow he travelled with in Europe 50 years before spurred the Vancouver Island Free Daily story “So, do you know Dave from Vancouver Island?”
They found Dave.
The needle-in-a-haystack quest ended with Douglas Bradley, from Ottawa, locating and reconnecting with North Delta resident Dave Tryon.
“I owe you guys a debt of thanks,” Bradley told the News six years ago. “It’s a most extraordinary story.”
Likely, the stranger who dropped by the Victoria News hopes for a similar reunion of memories with their photographer. The found card documents more than 150 images of a summer 2015 visit to Japan.
Do you know the people in these images? Someone who travelled in 2015 and visited Victoria in 2017? Let us know, email newsroom@vicnews.com.
