Jordan Wilcox
Assistant Publisher
On the morning of April 23, Scotland resident Ian Catterall was walking his dog Rany along a beach in Ayr, Scotland, when he saw a photo on the ground of four individuals standing outside a home. When he flipped it over, the back indicated that it was taken on July 20, 1970, at Lyle Leonard’s house in Paw Paw, “20 miles from Kalamazoo, Michigan.”
After doing some research, Catterall contacted both the Courier-Leader newspaper and the Paw Paw District Library (PPDL) for help in determining how the photograph ended up so far from its origin after so many years.
While neither organization was able to determine how the photo reached Scotland, the PPDL was able to provide some background on Lyle Leonard. According to library records, Leonard was born in Paw Paw on June 6, 1906, graduated from Paw Paw High School in 1924, and died on April 13, 1988. Over the course of his life, he also lived in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, and Lake Wales, Florida.
As of press time Tuesday morning, the mystery remains unsolved, though all parties involved remain interested in finding answers. Anyone with information about the picture or how it may have traveled to Scotland is asked to contact Wilcox Newspapers at wilcoxnewspapers@gmail.com or the PPDL at 269-657-3800.
That’s pretty cool!
Any leads yet?