The gallery of photos taken by five friends every five years on the same lake in California, USA, is now open for the world to see, despite the recent scare of a cancer diagnosis for one of the men.
They took photo #9 on Wednesday, 40 years after they took the first in 1982 in a prefab cabin in Copco Lake along the California-Oregon border. Their tradition went viral 10 years ago — and again in 2017 — when CNN published its story and images.
Some of the friends feared it could be a photo of four friends this year, ever since they took their first picture when they were still teenagers.
“I was devastated,” said John Dickson, who lives in Santa Barbara, where the friends first met. “We were afraid that there would be an empty spot on the bench where we took the picture.”
Dallas Burney, seated in the middle of the series of photos that replicate the poses in the first photo, told CNN who had a large tumor removed from her left leg in 2019.
“The cancer was liposarcoma, I knew something was wrong for many months,” said the elementary school teacher.
“I was out of school for five months. I can’t run anymore, but I can definitely walk.”
Burney walked with ease around Copco Lake on Tuesday night with Dickson, Mark Rumer-Cleary, Jon Molony and their host, John “Wedge” Wardlaw.
They haven’t reunited since the last photo in 2017. Burney’s cancer and the pandemic made reunions difficult.
first the food
So, they got together the night before the photo was taken for their other five-year tradition — feasting on “Wedge” tacos.
Wardlaw stuffs meat into tacos and fries them in oil so hot he wears a glove and safety goggles to protect himself from splashes.
Jokes were also present.
“Salt is the main ingredient,” laughed Wardlaw.
“We’ll all be drinking water at midnight,” Molony said.
Two of the window-view friends rose from their seats.
“Bald eagle,” they exclaimed.
The majestic bird, with the trademark white head, circled around the cabin, as if to give the scene pomp and circumstance.
Other animal sightings on Tuesday included a lynx, deer and cattle.
Friends, often speaking in quick remarks about each other, pointed out that Oregon was on the other side of the lake.
40 years of tradition
At noon on Wednesday, it was time for the main event.
They took the last photo on a 26C day worthy of a travel brochure cover.
The quintet argued over their posture and froze as the photos were taken on a Nikon D800 camera. They were seated in the same order and poses they did in 1982.
A hat always rests on Rumer-Cleary’s lap or knee. Molony holds a jar in her right hand. Burney’s right hand rests inside his right knee.
“It’s nice to come back here and know that cancer wouldn’t eliminate what we’re doing,” Burney said.
It’s about friendship.
The close ties displayed in the last photo, in 2017, once again brought a frenzy of interest to the animated quintet.
The five friends told the CNN that the photos ended up in a German museum exhibition on friendship. Their image was featured in Costco’s magazine.
Once again, the images went viral, swirling around social media sites where the content was praised.
“There are some silly quotes you can never put in any article,” Wardlaw said.
“There were responses to (three of us) going shirtless. Some said we were doing really well, and it was brave to do that after 50.”
Four of the friends are 59 years old. Rumer-Cleary is 58 years old.
Rumer-Cleary noted that the photos generated the comments and says that strangers sometimes stop him in the streets.
“This happened to me for a few reasons,” said the software engineer who founded Occam Networks. “I’m 1.90m and I have a beard. They won’t identify right away, but they say, ‘You look familiar, I can’t say why.’”
Way back
The five friends, all Santa Barbara High School graduates, took the first photo in the now-viral pose in their late teens with a camera self-timer in 1982.
The meetings take place in the Copco Lake cabin built by Wardlaw’s grandfather in 1970.
They’ve fished, hiked, barbecued, picked fruit for homemade pies and played pranks over the years.
Molony described nightly banging on walls, fireworks thrown into a room in retaliation, and relentless teasing.
Dickson confessed that he nicknamed Wardlaw “Wedge” because of his definition of the shape of his friend’s head after a haircut.
“I hated the nickname,” Wardlaw said. “So he took it.”
Dickson is the only one still living in Santa Barbara, where he runs the SantaBarbara.com tourism website.
Molony is a photographer who lives in New Orleans. Rumer-Cleary is retired and lives in Portland, Oregon. Wardlaw is a filmmaker and photographer based in Bend, Oregon.
Burney, an Air Force veteran, enters his 23rd year of teaching in the fall in Northern California.
The cancer survivor doesn’t care about the future of the photo and their health.
“But I’m afraid to sit on that railing,” Burney said.
“As we get older, so does the banister. We get a little older, heavier. This bench and handrail are about nine meters high. I’m worried I’ll ever hear it break.”
Such conversation led to humor and Burney showed a photo of the tumor removed from his leg.
“It looks like a titty,” Burney chuckled, referring to the triangle-shaped cut of meat popularized in Santa Barbara County.
All the friends smiled and almost in chorus said, “Well, it happens.”
After four decades of banter and friendship, it’s only fitting that they scoff at the tumor that nearly ruined the photographic tradition.
Source: CNN Brasil
I’m James Harper, a highly experienced and accomplished news writer for World Stock Market. I have been writing in the Politics section of the website for over five years, providing readers with up-to-date and insightful information about current events in politics. My work is widely read and respected by many industry professionals as well as laymen.
