Forgotten Past
Helping Hands looks for owners of photos found in box at thrift store
A box of family photos and mementos have caused a stir at the thrift store at Helping Hands of Ennis.
A box donated a few years ago has been sitting on a shelf collecting dust until it was opened this week as the storeroom was being cleaned out to prepare for the beginning of the school year. The box has a photo album in it, as well as framed photos and a few certificates of achievement for Leslie Ray Call. Thrift store manager Tisha Brown believes the box was donated by accident and she hopes to return it to members of the family.
“You know how it is when a loved one passes away, someone has to clean out their house and after a while things start to look the same and out of exhaustion things get lumped into one donation pile,” she said. “I know that someone did not mean to let go of these precious family items and if it was my family, I’d hope to have them back.”
The photos, which are predominantly black and white, look to be from between the 1950-1970s era and are of a family wedding, parties, children and pets. Some of the certificates of achievement are for instruction classes taken at Bell Telephone Company and one is for completing the course necessary to become a diving instructor. Several of the photos have names on the back including John Wilburn Marcy, Florence Marie Dooley Marcy and Jennifer Marie Call.
“The photos have some of the most candid shots of new babies and what looks like a prom photo and really captures the heart of these people and what was important to them,” Brown said. “You can tell a lot from pictures and I know that this family would cherish having these items back.”
The box of items is a peek into the family gatherings of whoever owns them and is a mystery Brown would like help in solving.
“If there is anyone in the community that might be able to help us reunite these priceless memories with the family that rightfully owns them, we would be grateful for any help,” Brown said. “I think it would be a wonderful legacy to the family to be able to tell the story of how the pictures were lost, but eventually found their way home.”
Anyone with any information regarding the photos is asked to call Tisha Brown at Helping Hands at 972-875-0218.






