CityView Magazine

30 May 2022 FEATURE S ome psychologists contend that if two people are friends for seven years, they are friends forever. A group from Fayetteville has proven that assertion. e group goes by the unpretentious name of Pine Forest Graduating Class of 1972, the last students to attend the old Pine Forest High School at 6901 Ramsey St. e building now houses Pine Forest Middle School. Since 1973, Pine Forest seniors have graduated from the "new" high school on Andrews Road. What started as planning meetings for class reunions has evolved into more frequent get-togethers centered on food and travel. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, members of the group gathered for dinner in Fayetteville and the surrounding area, and they traveled in the U.S. and abroad. "We started having dinners so that we could stay in touch with each other. As you get older, you begin losing classmates," says Ron Bean, one of the coordinators of the events. Bean is a retired Marine aviator, Cumberland County Schools administrator, teacher and coach. For the past three years, he has served as interim pastor at Walstone Memorial Baptist Church. e former classmates and friends may meet in Fayetteville or try a restaurant within easy driving distance, such as in Clayton or Dunn. e group hoped to resume the dinners in late April. It was during an earlier gathering that someone suggested taking a trip, and a cruise to the Caribbean enticed eight to set sail. When the next trip was planned — a cruise to Alaska — that number grew to 22, Bean says. Food, travel make for lasting friendships BY JASON BRADY roughout the years of planning and taking trips, the core of travel aficionados included Bean and his wife, Sandi; Cosette and Wilson Grant; and Karen and Conrad Lopes. Bean credits Wilson Grant and Conrad Lopes with finding the best deals for trips. Sandi Bean and Wilson Grant are not Pine Forest alums, but they are both quick to say they have been welcomed into the group. Would-be travelers do not have to be 1972 graduates. "We would tell people you are welcome to cruise with us. e more people, the greater the discounts," Bean says. In addition to Alaska, they have traveled to Canada, Ireland and Italy. Other excursions include a trip down the Danube River, a visit to Hawaii, and van trips through various parts of the continental United States. For Sandi Bean, no one trip stands out. "ere were so many memories,'' she says. "In Hawaii, we walked across lava fields and watched molten lava flow into the ocean. It was awesome." Swimming with sea turtles and seeing double rainbows, some of which touched the ground, are forever etched in her mind. Because of the war in Ukraine, Sandi Bean wants to stay in the U.S. for the next trip. Destinations may include a tour of the western part of the country, the Four Corners or maybe a return to Yellowstone National Park. "I have made some lifelong friends with this travel group and the dinners,'' she says. Ron Bean and his wife, Sandi, have traveled to Alaska, Canada, Ireland and Italy.

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