The 70-year friendship of two Albert Leans is featured in the May/June issue of a national magazine.

Reminisce Magazine is running a photo taken in 1931 of Mark Jones and Dolly Sichko in front of Jones’ house at 216 Fountain St., as well as a photo the pair had retaken last year in about the same spot. The magazine’s feature is called &uot;Then and Now: ‘Double take’ photos capture the looks and lives of readers &045; yesterday and today.&uot;

In a letter he wrote to Reminisce, Jones said, &uot;I have lived all my life in a Queen Anne Victorian house built by my great-grandfather, Dr. A.C. Wedge, in 1887. It is the only home that I have ever known. My children were also raised in it.

&uot;One summer day in 1931 my mother invited her good friend, Irene Jones, and her daughter, Dolly, for a visit. Although the two Jones families were very good friends, they were in no way related. Since Dolly and I were both born in the summer of 1928, we were both 3-year-old toddlers. The mothers thought it would be a good idea to take our pictures.

&uot;Now, Dolly has also lived in Albert Lea all her life and through the years she and I have continued to maintain a close friendship. One by one our parents died. This summer we thought it would be a good idea to duplicate the 1931 picture. The house has had minor remodeling, and except for a new hedge, the landscaping is pretty much unchanged. Dolly and I have each matured by 70 years.&uot;

Reminisce later contacted Jones for more information about the house and ran anecdotes about the cistern pump room, the tower room and the attic. For example: &uot;One Halloween when I was in third or fourth grade, we had a party, and one of my friends hid in a chest in the attic. When I took the other kids up there, he popped out of the chest. It was frightfully fun.&uot; That friend was Bob Maxwell, Jones added.

&uot;Nowadays when my grandchildren come to visit, they hear the stories. They are the sixth generation to stay in this beloved old house,&uot; Jones said.