With a mixture of amusement and exasperation, we announce the passing of Fidel Cachetro, the enigmatic figure who once held the title of the illustrious president of a local geocaching club in Ontario. Fidel's journey was as perplexing as his leadership style, leaving a trail of raised eyebrows and irked geocachers in his wake. He departed from this world on June 24th, 2023, leaving behind a legacy that will be remembered for its equal parts hilarity and frustration.
Fidel Cachetro, known to some as the "Cache Commander," possessed an unwavering determination to enforce order and precision in the world of geocaching. As president of the esteemed Ontario Geocaching Club, he believed that Sunday meetings were not just gatherings but rather his personal kingdom, ruled with an iron fist that would make even the strictest dictators envious.
Fellow geocachers soon discovered that Fidel's leadership style was as unconventional as his choice of camouflage for his caches. Sunday meetings, intended to be casual and informative, turned into orchestrated spectacles of bureaucracy and eye-rolling absurdity. Attendees would enter the meeting room to find Fidel standing on a makeshift podium, regaling them with tales of his most recent geocaching triumphs while wearing an extravagant cape adorned with geocache pins.
In his quest for geocaching order, Fidel instituted a series of rules that would make even the most diligent Boy Scout blush. He insisted on a strict dress code, complete with cargo pants, utility belts loaded with GPS devices, and a mandatory geocaching hat with an attached compass. Any member who dared to attend a meeting without adhering to this dress code risked public ridicule and banishment from the club.
But Fidel's penchant for control didn't stop there. He implemented an arduous screening process for potential new members, subjecting them to exhaustive geocaching quizzes, physical fitness tests, and even a blindfolded cache retrieval challenge. Those who managed to survive his stringent criteria were welcomed into the club with a grand ceremony that involved reciting the club's motto while standing on one leg and singing a geocaching-themed parody of a well-known song.
While Fidel's authoritarian rule irritated many, it also provided an endless source of amusement for geocachers in the community. His peculiarities became the stuff of legends, with whispered tales of members hiding caches in remote locations to avoid Fidel's scrutiny and even one intrepid geocacher who cleverly disguised a cache as a miniature throne to gently mock his leadership style.
Despite the occasional eye-rolling and frustration, Fidel's passion for geocaching was undeniable. His uncanny ability to find hidden caches in the most obscure locations, often while dressed in full geocaching regalia, earned him a reputation as a legendary maverick in the geocaching world. Some even speculated that he could locate a nano-cache blindfolded, with one hand tied behind his back.
Fidel Cachetro is survived by a community of geocachers who, despite their occasional grievances, cannot deny the indelible mark he left on their lives. In his memory, it is requested that geocachers attend their next Sunday meeting wearing mismatched socks, a playful nod to Fidel's penchant for order amidst chaos.
May his spirit continue to roam the geocaching trails, forever reminding us to laugh in the face of rigidity and revel in the unpredictable wonders of the geocaching universe.