CityView Magazine

CityViewNC.com | 25 This was one Skyline memory that may not have been a pleasant one for city officials, but it would have to be categorized as good clean fun. Many a regular at the Skyline remembers either putting dish soap or bubble bath in the fountain across the street in Cross Creek Park. Wayne Bryson still enjoys reminding his friends of the good ol' days by posting reminders of music that was popular during his years at Reid Ross High School. For Bryson, a member of the Class of 1977, the music and the people made the Skyline special. "I really enjoyed meeting people from other high schools along with seeing people from my own school," he said. DEBBY A ND JOHN GLOR I A'S 4 0T H W EDDING A NNI V ER S A RY T HE GLOR I A'S P O S T S K Y L INE DAT ING "Being from a small town in Lumberton and going to the Skyline was a huge deal for me. On my first visit, going up the elevator to the top floor and entering the Skyline through the big brass doors reminded me of something out of New York City. Fayetteville had never seen anything like this before. It was very chic and the views of the city lights at night were awesome. It certainly was the place to be on a Friday or Saturday night in Fayetteville. Of course, meeting the love of my life was the most memorable moment," – Debby Gloria It was love at first sight for John Gloria in 1979 at the Skyline. He was on a double date with someone else when he spotted a cute girl with blonde hair. "I knew right then that she was the girl I wanted to spend the rest of my life with," he said. He managed to introduce himself after waiting outside the ladies' room for her, but it would be an entire year before the two would reconnect. "This time, I was not about to let her slip away because I knew she was going to be my wife," he said. "Happy to say 40 years and still going strong. Thanks Skyline, for bringing us together!" Vaden Strickland had a snazzy white suit and stacked heels and is still remembered as one of the Skyline's best dancers. "I like dancing to this day," he said. He said that he and his friends had a table in the corner and that DJ Bobby Monaco would signal to them when their favorite songs were coming up. "You met new people every night," said Strickland, who graduated from Pine Forest in 1974. "It was fun to dress nice and do things with other people. It was a nice crowd to be around. When you got on the top of that floor, any kind of problem and negativity was gone." "There was one specific night that as we were 'shutting the club down,'" remembers Skyline regular Butch Stewart, a former Fayetteville resident who lives in Hickory. His friend Danny Torres clipped a telephone pole directly behind the Skyline as he was leaving the parking lot, causing the car to stall. "We pushed his car about 100 yards across the parking lot, thinking that was deceptive enough not to get caught," Stewart said. "We left it there with a plan to get it the next day." But in the wee hours of the morning, the police came knocking on Torres' door. They had followed the car's oil leak across the parking lot directly to his car. "Too good to make up," Stewart said. "Of course, times were different then so his only punishment was to clean up the parking lot." SPECIAL THANKS TO CITYVIEW READERS FOR THEIR CONTRIBUTIONS

• Cover