With all the snow and cold weather we’ve been having lately, one club at Elder has been gaining a lot of attention. No, it’s not the Polar Panther Running Club but rather Elder’s own Outsiders Club. One of the privileges of being a senior at Elder High School is the ability to eat lunch outdoors in the Rudemiller Commons. In the earlier and later months of the school year, finding a coveted spot in the shade of the Wrestling Gym is nearly impossible due to an overwhelming number of seniors wanting to eat outside. As the leaves begin to drop and autumn turns to winter, most seniors make the transition from eating lunch outside every day to eating in the cafeteria. For a select group of Elder students, however, this transition never occurs. This group of seniors calls themselves the Outsiders Club. They have eaten outside every single day this school year—rain or shine, sun or snow. Literally. Last Thursday, fresh off our first snow day of the year, the Outsiders Club met outside at the usual 10:36 X Lunch Time. On that Thursday, countless students, teachers, and faculty members walked past Rudy Commons only to see a snowman built from Wednesday’s snow storm. Wondering who built it? You guessed it—none other than Elder’s Outsiders Club. The Outsiders Club consists of seniors Joey Maly, Greg Suer, Robert Cappanari, and Joe Pieper. Senior Drew Dressman can also be seen outside on many days, but, according to Cappanari, “He quit coming outside when the weather got too cold”. Every day when he walks past the Outsiders sitting in the cold, student body president Max Mazza looks at the motley crew and yells, “You guys are crazy”. I, for one, think Mazza has a point. When asked why they are willing to sit out in the cold, and sometimes rain or snow, Suer responded, “It makes us feel like we aren’t in school anymore. Sometimes we bring a football out to toss. One day I brought out my iPod Speakers and we jammed out during lunch.” Cappanari’s reasoning is somewhat similar to Suer’s. He said, “We eat outside because it brings us back to the days of grade school and recess.” Maly listed his top three memories eating in the Commons as the following: 1) Building the infamous snowman, 2) Purple Friday Ice Sliding (One day they slid across the icy Rudy Commons like penguins), and 3) Getting Pieper’s hat stuck on the ledge outside the Wrestling/Volleyball gym. Whatever their reasoning, the Outsiders Club seems to enjoy eating in the quiet peacefulness of the Rudemiller Commons—even in the rain and snow. This group of four to five seniors has a solid tradition going and expressed their hope that some of the underclassman will continue their strange lunch ritual as they take the reigns as seniors and gain the privilege to eat lunch outside on the beautiful campus that is known as Elder High School.