Five friends from California have been taking the same photo while on vacation together since 1982.
The 62-year-old pals—John Wardlaw, Mark Rumer-Cleary, Dallas Burney, John Molony and JD Dickson—all attended Santa Barbara High School when they were teens.
After graduation, they vacationed together at Wardlaw’s grandfather’s cabin on Copco Lake near the Oregon border. There, JD took the first photo of the five of them sitting next to each other.
Wardlaw had the idea to duplicate the snapshot five years later when the quintet was again vacationing in the same spot.
“We didn’t plan it—and didn’t make a vow to keep it going until it was done four times,” he said, from his current home in Bend, Oregon. “By the time it was 1997 we vowed to keep doing this no matter what.”
Since they were 19, the friends have taken the same photo in 1982, 1987, 1992, 1997, 2002, 2007, 2012, 2017, and 2022. They plan to shoot their tenth portrait in 2027.
The jar held by John Molony in all the photos originally held a cockroach they caught, which became their “mascot” on the guys’ first trip.
“We all liked the photo. I even had a 20×30 inch poster of it hung in my house at the time.”
When their story was featured on CNN 14 years ago, it went viral, with millions of views logged on their website.
“The reaction was almost 100 percent positive”.
The reactions taught John Wardlaw and his buddies “how rare” their friendship was, and for the last three summers they’ve all gathered at the lake cabin.
The trip is a 12-hour drive—or an airline flight—for most of the friends, with John Dickson the only one remaining in Santa Barbara.
“But it’s been wonderful to have a friendship like this. When the story got a lot of press in 2012 we realized how rare it was and it made us stay in touch more—and made us feel how special it was.
“Online people are saying ‘I wish I had friends like that’.
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“I actually think it’s changed me a little bit—to appreciate life and friendships more.”
The five have gathered at the lake, but not taken the photo, for the last three summers, and a few of the men are semi-retired with more free time.
“We’ve been enjoying it, and spending more time together over the last few year,” said Wardlaw.
Their next photo is planned for the summer of 2027, when they’ll meet at the same house in Lake Copco.
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