By Linda Kor Members of the Navajo County Sheriff’s Hashknife Posse are slated to leave this morning (Jan. 28) on the 57th Pony Express Ride from Holbrook to Scottsdale carrying the U.S. Mail. Each year the posse leaves Holbrook with bags of official U.S. Mail under the longest continuously sanctioned pony express mail contract held with the U.S. Postal Service. The ride begins at 8 o’clock this morning when the first rider leaves the Holbrook Post Office with a bag of letters to be carried over the Mogollon Rim and on to Scottsdale. The posse riders will exchange the mailbags every mile, relaying the letters to the next rider waiting alongside the roadway. All of the packed mailbags will be carried in turn over the route. Today, the pony express riders will travel over State Route 77 to SR 377, stopping in Heber for lunch, then going on through Pine, where letters will be added to the mailbags. The riders will arrive in Payson at 4:45 p.m. to deliver the mail at the Payson Post Office, where it will be held until Thursday morning. On the morning of Thursday, Jan. 29, the pony express riders pick up the mail at 9 a.m. and begin travelling down SR 260 to Fountain Hills, where the mail will be dropped off at the post office at 4 p.m. The following morning the riders resume their trek and arrive at the bronze Hashknife Posse monument in downtown Scottsdale on Friday, Jan. 30. The ride will finish when the mail is delivered at the main Scottsdale Post Office on Osborn Road at 12 noon, from which the mail will then be carried by conventional carriers for the remainder of the delivery. The Holbrook Senior Center is hosting a breakfast for the Hashknife Posse, and area residents and visitors at 6 o’clock this morning at a cost of $6 per plate. The public is invited. The fun continues Friday on Scottsdale’s Waterfront, next to the Passing the Legacy sculpture, where a free, family-friendly event will feature interactive children’s activities that honor the Old West and the spirit of the American cowboy–learning how to saddle a horse, fashion a cowboy hat and handle a branding iron. Children will also be able to dress in working cowboy gear for family photos. Authentic Hashknife memorabilia will be on sale, and riders will be available to sign gear and answer questions. A variety of art and merchandise vendors will be part of the festival, courtesy of Artisans Market. The Navajo County Hashknife Sheriff’s Posse organized in 1955 as a search and rescue group, and is still involved in these types of missions. It is an equipped and trained posse that can join searches wherever needed throughout Arizona. A total of 47 cowboys are participating in the annual ride, including the sheriff, 29 riders and 17 members of the support crew. The leaders of the 2015 ride are Sheriff K.C. Clark, Posse Captain Mark Reynolds, 1st Lt. Rusty Despain, 2nd Lt. Shawn Maestas and 1st Sgt. Pat Nichols. Riders include Tommy Allen, Sam Buckingham, Dan Buckingham, Richard Candelaria, Joe Chavez, Travis Chavez, Justin Deetin, J.R. DeSpain, Rusty DeSpain, Chris Eischen, Billy Fischer, Ted Greffe, Tim Kelley, Greg Long, Shawn Maestas, Jerry McGraw, Allen Mitchell, Bob Moffett, Sean Moore, Ernie Neff, Darrell Nez, Wayne Ramey, Carl Reynolds, Pat Reynolds and Byron Shelendewa. The support crew for the ride includes Del Allen, Bill Bridwell Sr., Dan Bielefeldt, Fizzy Chavez, Kevin Fetherston, Mark Jackson, Cloyce Kelly, Gregg Lucas, Jim Mobley, Pat Nichols, Bill Perkins, Andy Pickett, Bob Price, Dave Reese, Mark Reynolds, Steve Reynolds and Mark Salem.