An “American beauty” who graced the front page of The Royal Gazette 45 years ago had just married her high school sweetheart — with the happy couple coming back to Bermuda ever since.

For their latest anniversary, Thomas and Maryellen Manning enjoyed another trip to the island, bringing along their souvenir copy of the daily newspaper from September 29, 1979 — six days after they got married, back home in Massachusetts.

Mrs Manning appeared as a 25-year-old alongside two other women beachgoers watching a novelty tourist attraction of the day at Horseshoe Bay.

She recalled: “We were just there at the beach, and a reporter came up to me, said they were having a crab race, and picked me out with two other girls.

“They wrote an article with ‘three American beauties’ and put my name, so I saved it in my wedding album for 45 years.”

The picture and article ran in the local news above a headline announcing “confusion over rash of UFO sightings”, and below Sir David Gibbons, then the Premier, seeking a press secretary.

Housing made the news then as now, with a $10 million pledge for new homes making it above the fold.

Cuban president Fidel Castro topped the world news after he accused US president Jimmy Carter of creating a “Soviet troops crisis”, while the people of Ireland were bracing for their first papal visit as Pope John Paul II touched down that day in Dublin.

For the Mannings, who got together in 1973 as high school sweethearts in their home town of Lynnfield, it was the first of many visits to Bermuda by the family: three generations of Mannings have honeymooned here — most recently their son, Charles.

It has remained the same Bermuda they love throughout, though Mr Manning conceded a few things are no longer as they were.

“That iconic spot, the Natural Arches, are gone; we miss seeing that,” he said.

The unique Arches, a Tucker’s Town beauty spot of two eroded rock arches high enough to stand under, were destroyed by Hurricane Fabian in 2003.

“But the beaches are just as beautiful, the people are just as friendly,” Mr Manning said. “We just enjoy it completely.”

He said today’s prices were a lot higher and added: “But it’s still very much worth it.”

Mrs Manning had been here once, three years earlier with friends. For her husband, then aged 24, it was a first.

They stayed at what was then the Southampton Princess Hotel.

Forty-five years on, the Mannings enjoyed Cambridge Beaches, but over the years they have been hosted by Elbow Beach, The Reefs, Sonesta Beach and Tucker’s Point.

Mrs Manning said: “We swam at Cambridge Beaches; the water was gorgeous. There are so many beautiful places — when we were young, we visited every nook and cranny.

“Mopeds are completely different. They were almost like bikes with little motors and a basket. Over the years as they got developed, we started going together on one.

“This is the first time we haven’t rented.”

She added: “The streets are all the same. The buildings have changed — very much.”

For their trip last week, the Mannings called on the Gazette with a pristine copy of a daily newspaper from 45 years ago, which is still headquartered on a very different Par-la-Ville Road.

The Gazette returns the favour with today’s edition on its way to the Mannings’s Main Street address in Lynnfield, Massachusetts.