VALDOSTA – They were the same age. Only a few weeks apart and she was older than him.

James R. Hastings drove the school bus. Rachel Salter was a student who would become the valedictorian at the Naylor school.

Their eyes locked as he made his regular bus rounds at the school. They got to know each other. She asked him to the prom. 

When he wasn’t driving the school bus, James drove his father’s 1940 Mercury to Naylor to see Rachel. They watched movies in Valdosta theatres such as the Dosta and the Ritz. They ate at Ma Groover’s Drive-In.

Love at first sight. They eventually got married under a big tent, sawdust on the ground, next to Forrest Street Tabernacle Methodist Church being built on Forrest Street.

They married Feb. 4, 1945.

This past weekend, in the days leading up to their anniversary, more than 200 family, friends and guests from South Georgia and as far away as Texas, Tennessee and the Carolinas gathered at Park Place to celebrate James R. and Rachel Salter Hastings’ 75 years of marriage. 

Proclamations from Gov. Brian Kemp, city and county officials were presented to the couple who are both 94 years old. 

The Hastings’ family includes son Van R. Hastings and wife Dot Hastings; daughter Mary Kathryn Pacey and husband Mark Pacey; grandchildren Van “Robby” Hastings Jr. (Tricia) of Nashville; Jonathon W. Hastings (Christina) of Decatur; Ashley Brooke Stoops (Nathan) of Hermitage, Tenn.; Devin C. Thigpen (Brittany) of Nashville; great-grandchildren Celia Hastings, Audrey Hastings, Zoe Hastings, Liam McMullan.

Van and Dot Hastings shared James and Rachel Hastings’ story.

James Hastings served in the Navy and worked at Moody Field on the flight line with the crash crew. He worked for the Owens Illinois Paper Mill for decades. Rachel Hastings worked at Southern Bell Telephone Company for decades and served a year as president of the Pioneers of Southern Bell Telephone Company.

But together, the couple spent time bass fishing. They sung together in the church choir but he had to stop because he “couldn’t keep his tuner tuned,” according to family. 

“James and Rachel often rode their BSA Golden Flash motorcycle on pleasure trips with other couples to Daytona, Gainesville, and Jacksonville, Fla., ‘back in the day,'” family said.

They went each year to the old South Georgia Legion Fair. They traveled to Six Flags Over Georgia where they rode their favorite ride, the Scream Machine.

“They always attended church at Naylor and Good Hope Baptist Church and have lived a Christ-centered life and say they will serve the Lord Jesus to the end,” according to family.

They lived for 45 years on Iola Drive in Valdosta before moving to Naylor in the early 2000s, when they were both in their late 70s.

Spending time together, doing things together, is the secret to the couple’s longevity, family said.

And keeping a sense of humor. “They love to laugh,” Van Hastings said.

“Mom and Dad were always proud of their family,” Van Hastings said. “They worked hard and accomplished a lot.”