The stage was set for a night to remember as the couples arrived at the Whitefish home of Don and Diane Peterson on Wednesday evening.

An ornate wedding cake was on display, hors d’ oeuvres and cocktails awaited and the table was set for fine dining later on. It was the perfect setting to pay tribute to enduring friendships and long marriages.

The guests of honor were three couples — Dick and Marilyn Hensley of Whitefish, Vernon and Sue Anderson of Columbia Falls, and David and Sharon Williams of Neihart, Montana, southeast of Great Falls. The couples, all good friends for well over six decades, are celebrating their 60th wedding anniversaries over the next couple of months.

Don, the host with the most, had done his homework. He’d gone online to research what percentage of married couples cross the 60-year mark. Fewer than 5% of couples celebrate their 50th anniversary, and just 1% reach the diamond, or 60th anniversary, he noted.

An extraordinary feat, indeed.

“We were all friends before anyone got married,” Don said, adding most of the friends grew up in the Great Falls area. “We all eventually migrated back to Montana, and we all fell in love with the Flathead Valley long ago.

“We were the last to arrive,” Don continued. “We’ve only been married for 49 years.”

“Yeah, Don was a slow starter,” one of the men jokingly added.

As the couples mingled, the bond of friendship was obvious.

“We all share the same sense of humor,” Sue pointed out. “Our friendships go way back.”

The Andersons were the first of the three couples to get hitched. They married Oct. 17, 1960, and were followed by the Williamses just days later on Oct. 28. The Hensleys got married Dec. 31, 1960.

“We were all in the same boat” 60 years ago, Vernon recalled — young and in love and trying to make a living.

They scattered to settle into successful careers and raise their families, but distance didn’t break the bond of friendship. Through the years the couples went on trips together and golfed together. The “boys” bonded over fishing, river floats and camping trips; the “girls” were there for each other as they raised their children.

“We’d be there in a heartbeat for each other,” Sharon said. “I treasure them. Their friendship means everything.”

Equally as solid as their friendships are their marriages.

Marilyn and Dick Hensley met in the sixth grade and later became high school sweethearts. But it wasn’t love at first sight, Marilyn recalled.

“We’d have stare-downs, and I out-stared him all the time,” she said with a smile.

Dick still vividly remembers when Marilyn was descending the “senior steps” at Great Falls high school, and it struck him how beautiful and special she was.

“Marilyn’s the best thing that ever happened to me,” he gushed with the same vigor and love that bound them together at age 20.

“It’s understanding you’re two different people who each have unique qualities,” Dick continued, adding, “And she liked enough of my qualities to stay.”

Sharon recalled the moment she knew David was the one.

“I was at my girlfriend’s house and he was there,” she remembered. When she needed a ride home, David gave her a lift.

“I told my mom, ‘I just met the guy I’m going to marry,’” she said. “I was 16.”

Beyond their long marriages, all three couples agreed their friendships have been one of the real treasures of life.

As Marilyn explained, there are friends, and there are “real friends.”

“We just enjoy being together,” she added.

News Editor Lynnette Hintze may be reached at 758-4421 or lhintze@dailyinterlake.com.