Wanted: Andover bagpipe busker offers $1,000 reward for old photo of European performance
A picture is worth a thousand words − or in the case of Southern Tier jeweler and bagpiper Stephen Walker − a thousand dollars.
Walker, 67, is on a mission to locate a photo: one of him from nearly 50 years ago when he was a street busker, a street musician, in some of the great cities of Europe.
He's willing to pay, too. Walker has offered up a bounty of Celtic jewelry valued at $1,000 if someone, somewhere can produce a photo.
He was hoping to find the decades-old snapshot by St. Patrick's Day. Even though luck hasn't been with him, he is not giving up.
It's a nostalgic quest for the Andover artisan and bagpiper, who has operated Walker Metalsmiths and Celtic Jewelry since 1984. Hundreds of photos exist of him performing as a young musician with the Allegany Highlanders and as a soloist at solemn ceremonies and festive events over decades in Western New York communities.
There are also countless available images of the master jeweler's Celtic-themed pieces, his finely crafted gold and silver rings, necklaces and bracelets, but the busking photo eludes him.
“I didn’t talk about that for a long time because it was almost like criminal activity, playing on the streets, the police would tell me to move along and stuff like that," Walker said. "But lately I have been realizing that’s kind of like a colorful past and as I get older I kind of want to ... well, it would be great to have a picture of it."
Thousands of photos taken of Walker in London, Paris and Dublin
After graduating from Andover Central School in 1975, Walker immediately headed overseas, backpacking and hitchhiking across the continent as a street musician. Much of the time he was roughing it, sleeping under bridges and even once in an old German war bunker.
Walker had friends in London who gave him a home base for sojourns to Scotland, Ireland, France and Italy.
“I wasn’t exactly a hippie, but I was one of the thousands of young people hitchhiking and seeing the world on the cheap," he said. “When I played, I found the best tips and the most tolerant local businesses were places like Piccadilly Circus, where there were plenty of tourists.”
Thousands of photos were taken of Walker performing between 1975 and 1977 in London, Paris and Dublin, but he has never seen one.
"They were just regular people; they were not expecting me and they came along and there I was, and some of them took my picture," Walker recalled.
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Walker offers $1,000 of Celtic jewelry for photo
Finding a photo may be the ultimate long shot. Photos taken 50 years ago were on film, developed and pressed into family photo albums or stowed in dusty boxes in attics. Family members might not realize the significance of the previous generation's souvenirs.
To sweeten memories, Walker is offering $1,000 worth of his Celtic jewelry as a prize for an authentic photo. He is going all out to find a picture, promoting the quest in newspapers, radio and television, on social media and a blog.
Walker was hoping to announce a winner by St. Patrick’s Day. Despite nearly 400 shares on social media, no photos have been presented.
The prize will be awarded to the first authentic 1970s photo of Stephen Walker busking. If someone thinks they have the winning photo they can send a scan by email to Walker Metalsmiths or by messenger through his Facebook page.
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This article originally appeared on The Evening Tribune: Andover bagpiper, jeweler Stephen Walker offers reward for old photo
