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Friends take same pic for 30 years

Five friends have been taking the same photo every five years since 1982. This is the 2017 photo. From left to right: John Wardlaw, Mark Rumer, Dallas Burney, John Molony, John Dickson.
Five friends have been taking the same photo every five years since 1982. This is the 2017 photo. From left to right: John Wardlaw, Mark Rumer, Dallas Burney, John Molony, John Dickson.

FOR 30 years, five friends have taken the same photo together every five years.

John Wardlaw, John Dickson, Mark Rumer, Dallas Burney and John Molony have been meeting at Copco Lake in California since they were teenagers.

This year they took their eighth photo together, posing in exactly the same way they did in 1982 when they were 19 years old.

They visit the same lake, stay in the same cabin and sit on the same bench in the same order. They holiday together every five years and while the years may have changed them, they still enjoy the same activities of fishing, reading and acting in homemade movies.

"I look at the photos and think of the relationships I went through," Dickson told CNN. "Wedding rings come and go, if you look closely."

Dickson said taking photos had helped them keep their friendship alive over the years.

"We plan on doing this for the rest of our lives, no matter what," said Dickson. "Up until there's one guy just sitting in the same pose! Even then, maybe someone will take a picture of an empty bench for us."

"Without this photo, there's no way we'd be together."

This year’s photo. From left to right: John Wardlaw, Mark Rumer, Dallas Burney, John Molony, John Dickson.
This year’s photo. From left to right: John Wardlaw, Mark Rumer, Dallas Burney, John Molony, John Dickson.

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FOR 30 years, five friends have taken the same photo together every five years.

John Wardlaw, John Dickson, Mark Rumer, Dallas Burney and John Molony have been meeting at Copco Lake in California since they were teenagers.

This year they took their eighth photo together, posing in exactly the same way they did in 1982 when they were 19 years old.

They visit the same lake, stay in the same cabin and sit on the same bench in the same order. They holiday together every five years and while the years may have changed them, they still enjoy the same activities of fishing, reading and acting in homemade movies.

"I look at the photos and think of the relationships I went through," Dickson told CNN. "Wedding rings come and go, if you look closely."

Dickson said taking photos had helped them keep their friendship alive over the years.

"We plan on doing this for the rest of our lives, no matter what," said Dickson. "Up until there's one guy just sitting in the same pose! Even then, maybe someone will take a picture of an empty bench for us."

"Without this photo, there's no way we'd be together."

This year’s photo. From left to right: John Wardlaw, Mark Rumer, Dallas Burney, John Molony, John Dickson.
This year’s photo. From left to right: John Wardlaw, Mark Rumer, Dallas Burney, John Molony, John Dickson.
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