Every now and then I will get a call or a note from someone that goes something like this: “Hi Mitch, in 1983 my family gathered at Spruce Point Inn in Boothbay Harbor for a 50th wedding anniversary. We hired you to photograph the event. My sister and I are putting together a family album and are hoping you can find a group photo you made during our wonderful celebration?”

1983! Hmmmm. That was a long time ago. I feel honored to be remembered and at the same time horrified by what lies ahead. The search for 1983.

Not everyone is as well organized as I am. After almost 40 years of photography with film and now digits! If I only made 1,000 images a year, that would be 40,000 images. Often I made that many photographs in a week, in the film days. Now, with digital equipment, 1,000 images in a day is completely easy!

So find the photo. And I won't even try to describe where I look, or in which corridor of our existence the look begins. However, there is a silver lining, sometimes.

In my effort to retrieve the image requested, I get to go through thousands of old files, be they however arranged, and recall many wonderful experiences, like the one I am sharing today.

Many of you will remember Franklyn Lenthall and Jim Wilmot, owners of The Boothbay Playhouse and then the Boothbay Theatre Museum on Corey Lane. The museum is now a private residence. These were two very well known chaps who added much lively entertainment to our region for many years. Imagine, during my search for the anniversary photo, the fun I had remembering Frank and Jim.

The photo above was made at the Museum of the City of New York in 1983. You see, I was in the correct shoe box as I searched. Franklyn had been called to the Museum to help pull together their theater collection. He was better organized than I.