CONFIDENTIAL

To: The Order of the Black

                Brothers, sisters, hikers with blisters, some have called us legends, others know us as titans, and still others refer to us as the dark knights.  But brethren, never let it slip from our frontal lobes that we are the few, the proud, THE TRAIL BLAZERS!!!  Trail Blazers we are, and Trail Blazers we will always be, but the winds have picked up, a gale force is approaching, the trade winds have shifted, yes brethren, I speak of none other than the winds of change.  Meteorologists can’t foresee it, science can’t explain it, but the winds of change have begun to swirl and rattle the constructs of our ancient, dark brotherhood.  To arms!!!  You shout, brandishing your preferred gauntlet weapon.  As you descend upon Weaver field to vanquish this unseen foe the winds pick back up and we collectively realize that perhaps this wind is not foe, but ally.  That’s right my esteemed darkness members, we have a new brother, a new force has risen to take its place beside the Trail Blazers of yore… 

 Introducing, THE PATHFINDERS!!!  A schism resulting from an ancient civil war, a family divided, generations separated and smoothed over by the sands of time, but at long last Trail Blazers and Pathfinders have been reunited, The Order of the Black has been made whole!!!  While Trail Blazers watch guard over the summer hikes, Pathfinders will claim dominion over all weekend events.  Hiking four of these weekend events (Fall hikes, Ocala or Blackwater winter hikes, Spring Hikes, or College Hikes) will transform the average hiker into one of the coveted and mysterious Pathfinders resulting in the immediate acquisition of the brand new Pathfinder Bandana made exclusively from dark matter from the center of a black hole.  It should be noted that we will all work towards this goal together; everyone starts at zero and must complete four future weekend events to gain access into the realm of the Pathfinders.  To this end weekend hikes will no longer count towards initiation into the Trail Blazer club.  The board, the hiking staff, the WT security team, and The Order of the Black stand behind this decision to revert back to the 150 milestone attainable only via four summer hikes.  So there you have it, The Order has spoken, the winds of change have rustled, and Pathfinders (four weekend hikes) and Trail Blazers (four summer hikes) have been reunited at long last. 

Change is upon us brethren, but we will embrace it, we will grow in numbers, we will expand our order, and we will scream even more excessively.  Trail Blazers, Pathfinders UNITE!!  This is the new dawn of darkness; this is THE NEW ORDER OF THE BLACK!!!!!!

From:  Shelter Steve

CONFIDENTIAL