Archive for the ‘Indoor Fun’ Category

Quite possibly the oldest fencing club west of the Mississippi, the St. Louis Fencers Club meets every Thursday night in North County.

If you ever find yourself in a church basement in Charlack, surrounded by sword-wielding men in masks and tight white pants, don’t worry. It’s only the St. Louis Fencers Club.

Since 1904, when legend has it that athletes training for the St. Louis Olympics first formed the group, it has attracted fencing enthusiasts from all over the metro area, each eager to learn the skills and subtle nuances of this ancient and intriguing sport.

The original St. Louis Fencers Club, which was based in Clayton, merged with the North County Fencers Club in the early 1990s, and weekly meetings have been held in NoCo pretty much ever since. These days, club members gather every Thursday at Stephan Memorial Methodist Church, just east of 170 at St. Charles Rock Road, and they come from nearly every walk of life and every corner of St. Louis.

Pat Dorsey, the current club organizer, is a writer from Webster Groves. The night I visited, he was joined by a West County surgeon, a Millstadt, Illinois, printer, a South City administrative assistant, a Ferguson retiree, and an interesting mix of probably ten other fencers who spanned all ages and backgrounds.

“What I love about fencing is that it’s a sport you can do your entire life,” says Millstadt’s Pearce Wilson, a scout leader who brought along two of the group’s youngest members, including sixteen-year-old Brett Beusink. “You might change the way you fence over time, but you can still fence even when you’re well into your seventies.”

“People assume that fencing is like what you see in Zorro or Robin Hood, but that’s movie stuff,” Dorsey adds. “In reality, you learn to become more efficient over time, and your movements become more conserved.” As an example, he points to club member Carl Herkstroeter, who at 73 is still considered one of the group’s toughest competitors.

“Carl is always in the right place,” Dorsey says. “He can move inches and score while other people will move a foot.”

Fencing Basics

In fencing, points are earned when your weapon makes contact with the opponent’s body. And yes, for one of the three varieties of fencing, that’s any part of the body. “If someone left their foot wide open and you hit it, that definitely wouldn’t be considered a cheap shot,” Dorsey says. “Fencing is about being cunning and stealth, and looking for that tiny window of opportunity. You never know where it’s going to be.”

The sport we know as modern fencing stems from Renaissance-era rapier dueling, which was a common and usually fatal way of settling disputes in Europe. Back then, the blade had a sharp edge. Today, fencers have a choice of three blunt-edged weapons, each with distinct rules and scoring targets, and they duel with them in an area measuring 15 yards by two yards – roughly the size of hallways in medieval castles.

Their first sword, the foil, originally a practice weapon for the rapier, has a slender, 35-inch blade that is often outfitted with a push-button electronic tip. Many fencers wear a vest made of metallic thread, which gets wired (via a long cord) into the electronic scoring system and lets it know if the foil’s tip hits a valid target on the torso.

Less flexible than the foil but equally sized is the epee, a triangular blade whose tip can score points on any part of the body. Fencers can also choose to duel with a sabre (the most pirate-looking sword in the bunch), which scores points anywhere above the waist, with either the tip or the “cutting” edge.

Members of the St. Louis Fencers Club practicing their footwork

A Rich History

“The sword is a weapon of honor in nearly every world culture,” Dorsey days. “Sabres, in particular, have been used by swordsmen and even soldiers for hundreds of years.”

Around the turn of the 20^th century, fencing for sport became very popular, especially with high-society women, who would often compete wearing skirts. Appearing at the first modern Olympics in 1896 and every Olympic Games ever since, it gained a sizable following in St. Louis, where teams from both the North Side and Central YMCAs sent talented swordsmen to the 1904 world championships. In 1901, the North Side YMCA even hosted a bout between one Mr. T.R. McGowan and Miss Julia Laughlin.

Perhaps it was these early YMCA athletes who founded the St. Louis Fencers Club? Records confirming that have yet to be discovered. Or maybe the club was founded a bit later by Arvilla Droll, the woman widely credited with bringing yoga to St. Louis, who also happened to be a champion fencer and fencing teacher. Her 1990 obituary says she was the club’s founder…though I’m not sure current members really mind either way.

The weapons of fencing: A) the epee, B) the sabre and C) the foil

An Intense Workout

Kathy Pogue, one of a handful of women who belong to the St. Louis Fencers, says that she enjoys fencing because it’s an incredible workout for both the body and the mind. She started coming to meetings with her ex-boyfriend five years ago and for most of that time she was the club’s only female.

“The guys were very welcoming from day one,” she says. “Because I’m so much smaller than most of them, my challenge is to try to get inside their reach,” noting that height and long limbs are a definite advantage in fencing.

“A lot of this relies on explosive power, so men do have some advantage,” Dorsey adds. “But then again, women can conserve their movements, and they’re often smaller targets.”

Pogue wears a protective chest plate when she duels. Like everyone else in the club, she also dons a protective helmet, thick gloves and a heavy white top that vaguely resembles a straight jacket. Apparently, the white uniform is a hold-over from the days prior to electronic scoring, when hits were verified by how many ink-tipped blades landed their target.

And does it hurt when the blade lands? Absolutely, says Pogue, who has gotten her fair share of bruises. Knee and ankle injuries are also not unusual in fencing, according to Dorsey. But he insists that the sport’s signature white jacket, or croissard, really does protect quite well. “It’s made of Kevlar so it’s made to stop things from penetrating,” he says. “Honestly, you’re more likely to pull your groin than get stabbed with a foil.”

Fencing is all about honing technique, so part of every weekly meeting of the St. Louis Fencers is devoted to practicing footwork. Members bend their knees in a wide “on-guard” stance, then move forwards and backwards again and again and again, as if they were dueling. Talk about a muscle burn.

Expert Guidance

Many in the club practice together informally, dueling multiple opponents and discussing tips and strategy. Members trickle in over the course of the evening, casually chit-chatting and seemingly ignoring the fact that swords are swinging everywhere!

In one corner of the room, five members are taking a private class from Hossam Hassan (above, in black), former coach of the Egyptian Olympic fencing team. In another corner, a group of fencers is talking about an upcoming tournament and admiring new swords that someone just purchased off the internet.

“You really have to buy the equipment online, but it isn’t that expensive,” Pogue says. A starter set can run anywhere from $125 to $195. On top of that, club dues are $75, but you don’t have to pay those right away. You also don’t have to show up with your own equipment on your very first night.

“We’re always happy to welcome newcomers at our meetings,” Dorsey says. “If you have workout clothes, tennis shoes and a leather work glove, we can provide everything else. It’s just great to be able to introduce more people to fencing.”

Right now, the St. Louis Fencers Club has about 25 active members, most of whom just participate in the sport recreationally. Sometimes, for fun, they’ll cover themselves in balloons and have a mass duel, and the last one standing with an unpopped balloon is the winner.

“This group is really about fun and fellowship,” Dorsey says. “At one point, all of us were new to the sport, and even the old-timers are still always learning, so we come together to help each other improve. If you want to learn about fencing, no matter who you are, you are always welcome here.”

The St. Louis Fencers Club meets every Thursday, 6:30-10pm, in the basement of Stephan Memorial Methodist, 2730 Walton Road, 63114. For more info, visit the club’s website.

Every month, the public can enjoy free viewings of the night sky at UMSL's Schwartz Observatory. Photo credit: Mark Scott Abeln, Rome of the West*

You may already know that North County played a huge role in the history of the US space program and that all of the Gemini and Mercury space capsules were built right here, at the former McDonnell Aircraft Corporation. But did you realize that NoCo is also home to two of the three public observatories in St. Louis?

Both UMSL and the Pattonville School District have observatories that are open to the public, for free, at least once a month for most of the year. And wow, what an amazing view they offer!

Technically, UMSL has the stronger telescope – a 14″ Schmidt-Cassegrain Celestron versus Pattonville’s new 10″ Meade – but Pattonville has the distinction of being the first school or college in Missouri to open its own observatory and planetarium, way back in 1967. Perfect for cloudy evenings, the planetarium can hold up to 25 people and offers a 360-degree projected view of the galaxy. And yes, it’s free too!

Both observatories have staff or students on hand to answer astronomy questions, so come prepared to learn. And if you’re heading to UMSL, dress for the weather. The observatory is outdoors.

For more info and specific directions to the upcoming open houses, just follow the links below:

Pattonville Observatory: March 5, 7:30pm. See Saturn, a near full moon, celestial six pack, M42, star birth, star life cycle and star colors.

UMSL’s Schwartz Observatory: March 20, 7:30pm. See Saturn, Mars, Venus, a first quarter moon and the Beehive Cluster.

UPDATE, 2/26: Turns out NoCo has THREE observatories open to the public! Thanks to Max Slover and KCFV’s Tim Gorry for letting me know that Flo Valley’s observatory, located on top of the college library, will be open for tours as part of the campus open house: April 10, 11am-2pm.

(*The lovely image in this post was taken by Mark Scott Abeln, a very talented photographer who runs a fascinating blog about Catholic St. Louis called Rome of the West. Check it out!)

Ice skating coach Becky Kern-Ryan (left) teaches fundamentals to a class of pint-sized beginners at the Ice Zone in Hazelwood.

Like me and many other NoCo natives of a certain age, Ferguson resident Becky Kern-Ryan grew up ice skating at the North County Recreation Complex on Redman Road. She got her first pair of ice skates for Christmas when she was 11, and before long, she had far surpassed us “casual skaters” (who showed up mostly to meet boys) and started competing in local meets.

“Over time, I became really involved with the synchro teams at North County,” Kern-Ryan says, referring to the sport of synchronized figure skating where anywhere from eight to 32 skaters perform what’s essentially a dance recital on ice. By age 18, she was not only competing as a synchro skater. She and a friend were also coaching beginner teams at the rec center – despite the fact that interest in ice skating in North County seemed to be waning.

“For a while, we moved over to [U.S. Ice Sports in] Fairview Heights because it was just more active over there,” Kern-Ryan, 33 and now a mother of three, says.

In fact, the number of skaters at North County Rec Complex had dropped off so dramatically in recent years that St. Louis County closed the rink in spring 2008. Its final season drew around 2,000 skaters between October and March, as well as a budget deficit of $160,000.

“People don’t think about it, but the cost of maintaining an ice rink is outrageous,” says Ken Daniels, manager of the Dellwood Soccer Complex, which stopped icing its rink way back in 1983. “All the compressors, the Zamboni…it’s easy to see why a lot of rinks have closed. And not just in North County.”

Daniels recalls the Ice Chateau that used to be on Larimore Road in the 1970s. For a time, the city of Hazelwood also maintained an outdoor rink at White Birch Park, but that was closed in the mid-80s and later converted to a BMX/skate park.

Since the 1990s, the St. Louis area has lost a total of three ice rinks. Today, just two remain in North County: the recently renovated facility at Florissant’s James Eagan Civic Center and the Ice Zone at Hazelwood Mills, where Kern-Ryan now coaches and the St. Louis Blues hold their practices.

Both rinks have had a busy season thus far, offering public and private sessions and skating instruction. The Ice Zone, in particular, has served as the primary training facility for a number of competitive young skaters.

“Having the Blues here really draws people in,” Kern-Ryan says of the Hazelwood rink, where former Ukranian pairs skating champion, Olga Vavilova, is also a coach. “We’re especially busy now, with the Olympics coming up and so many kids getting skates for Christmas.”

And the North County Rec Complex – what’s happening there these days? Following an extensive $1.8 million renovation, the center’s old ice rink is now home to several basketball courts, a volleyball court, a two-lane walking track and new community meeting rooms, all of which are about to be officially unveiled next weekend. I stopped by today and the place is gorgeous!

If you want to see for yourself, attend the open house on Saturday, February 20, from 1-5pm, at 2577 Redman Road, 63136.

You also still have plenty of time to take in some ice skating before winter is over. The Ice Zone has public sessions seven days a week – $5.50 per person plus $2.50 skate rental. Call (314) 227-5288 for specific schedules. The Eagan Ice Rink is also open seven days a week, with admission ranging from $1.50 to $4. For more info, call (314) 921-4470.

Where there was once an ice rink, the North County Rec Complex now boasts a brand new multi-sport facility, which officially opens on February 20.

At the Challenger Learning Center in Ferguson, you can take a journey to outer space and work inside the space shuttle without ever leaving North County.

The space shuttle Endeavor launched successfully this morning, carrying North County native Robert Behnken. But did you realize that NoCo also has another astronaut claim to fame?

The Challenger Learning Center in Ferguson is a hands-on space education facility for both kids and adults, where visitors can take a simulated trip to the space shuttle and discover what it’s like to work in mission control. One of only two such facilities in the state of Missouri, it’s part of a larger network of 47 Challenger Centers founded by families of the astronauts killed in the 1986 Challenger space shuttle disaster.

The St. Louis center, which hosts school groups, scout troops, summer camps, birthday parties and occasional public missions, is a partnership between the Ferguson-Florissant School District, Cooperating School Districts of Greater St. Louis and the St. Louis Science Center. It’s also THE place to be if you’re looking for a unique Valentine’s Day destination!

Mission control at the Challenger Center is modeled after NASA's Johnson Space Center.

This Saturday, February 13, the Challenger Center is holding its annual Fly Your Sweetheart to the Moon event, a couples-only mission that includes a two-hour moon orbit, light snacks and a flower for your favorite lady. Space is limited to only 15 couples, and half the seats are taken already, so sign up today if you’re interested! Tickets are $50 per couple.

To register, contact my good friend Heidi Lung, lead flight director, at (314) 524-3490 x103 or heidi@clcstlouis.org. The Challenger Learning Center is located at 205 Brotherton Lane, 63135. After Valentine’s Day, its next public mission will be held in April.

Rebel With a Cause: Local educator and McCluer North grad Vicki Adams moved from St. Charles to NoCo in 2005, eventually founding the nonprofit Metamo4ic Math Center.

It’s a simple phrase, uttered by countless people every day, but for Vicki Adams, it’s a call to action: “I’m terrible at math.”

Research shows that nearly two-thirds of American adults have math anxiety. In fact, studies by the American Mathematical Society reveal that the U.S. lags substantially behind other countries in math comprehension, largely because students here consider the subject “difficult” and “uncool.”

Adams is acutely aware of this problem, and it frustrates her to no end. That’s why, in early 2007, this passionate teacher and North County native cashed in her pension and opened the Metamo4ic Math Center, a nonprofit educational “museum” dedicated to hands-on learning experiences that make math more accessible.

Pronounced metamorphic, the center sprawls over 3,000 square feet on the top floor of First Baptist Church of Ferguson, and its mission is to cultivate a greater understanding of mathematical concepts by showing students, teachers and parents that not only is math everywhere, it can also be fun.

Four large rooms, each with a different theme, invite visitors to see math at work all around them – in games, in art and music, even at the grocery store. Some of the 80+ exhibits, all of which Adams designed and built herself, also cover math history, with profiles of ancient counting techniques (including math “bones”) as well as notable mathematicians like Fibonacci, whose system of number sequencing ties math and nature together in myriad amazing ways.

Gigantic Geometry is one of the themes in the math center's Orange Room.

“We’re not state of the art here, more state of the mind,” Adams says of the center, which actively engages a variety of learning styles. “Computers can do everything we’re teaching, but this is more about people. It’s about teaching kids how to think, not what to think, because that’s what really helps them grow.”

An out-of-the-box thinker herself, Adams was inspired to open the Metamo4ic while working as a teacher in the gifted program at Orchard Farm School District. A fellow teacher suggested that she develop her own curriculum and start holding traveling math fairs, building on her 20 years experience as a seasonal craft show vendor. But then Adams realized, “Who says I have to go to them? The students can come to me!”

That was in 2005. By 2006, while still working at Orchard Farm, Adams had not only developed her own curriculum. She had also registered the Metamo4ic Match Center as an official nonprofit and launched a summer pilot program at Walnut Grove Elementary in the Ferguson-Florissant School District.

The success of that project encouraged Adams to dream even bigger, but it also left her unsure of her next step. “By March of 2007, I thought either this goes forward or it goes into the garage,” she says.

Take a colorful trip to the Base Ten Addition Hotel, where adding is made fun.

So, armed with a binder full of exhibit ideas and a goal of finding a permanent location, she met with city officials, local church leaders, pretty much anyone who would listen, with most of those people (myself included) not recognizing exactly how tenacious this brave, visionary woman actually is.

A divorced mother of two, Adams, 51, put herself through college while working as a school bus driver for the Francis Howell School District, frequently parking the bus outside Lindenwood University to run in and take a class. Earning her undergraduate degree two days before her 40^th birthday, the former stay-at-home mom and one-time Wal-Mart employee then went on to achieve her master’s degree in education and is now pursuing her doctorate.

Even Adams’ children, both graduates of UM-Rolla, are driven to succeed. Her son, who is legally blind, has a degree in engineering management while her daughter’s degree is in nuclear engineering. “I guess we’re not really people who shy away from a challenge,” Adams says.

Indeed. And that’s exactly what Ron Beckner of First Baptist Church of Ferguson must have noticed when he offered to give the Metamo4ic Math Center a home. “He showed me the third-floor space and I just thought YES,” Adams says. “Ever since, I’ve been continually amazed at how generous everyone here has been. They really get what I’m trying to do.”

It may look like your average playroom, but in this sunny space at the Metamo4ic Math Center, you just might learn about logarithms!

With the church’s support, the center has been able to welcome more than 7,700 visitors since it opened in September 2007, including students from nearly every school district in the St. Louis area. Adams believes the facility has attracted many people who might have otherwise avoided North County, and says that most leave greatly surprised by what the center and the community have to offer.

“Just as the Magic House has become a major attraction in Kirkwood, I think we have the potential to do the same here in Ferguson,” Adams says. “If we could get support from local companies that have a vested interest in creating future scientists and mathematicians [Hello Emerson, Express Scripts & Boeing!], who knows how far we could take this.”

Perhaps even as far as the former Circuit City building on Pershall Road, which Adams is eyeing for a future expansion. “Ideally, I’d love to have at least 15,000 square feet so I could really create the exhibits that I want to,” she says, noting her four-foot protractor and other super-sized creations. “I’d also like to see the local universities involved. Some day…”

The most popular room in the center, the Green Room celebrates math in the form of hands-on and often HUGE games.

For now, Adams is aiming to win a grant from the National Science Foundation, which she hopes will supplement the center’s meager budget. She’s also working on attracting more homeschoolers and scout troops, hosting another successful “Pi Days” event in March, and boosting attendance and donations in general – all while teaching as an adjunct professor at Lindenwood.

“The thing that people need to understand is that I’m not a mathematician,” Adams says. “I don’t have a degree in calculus, but what I do have is a love of math. I always have. And because of that, I can stick to the basics here…math in its purest, everyday form…the patterns that are all around us…and hopefully, that will plant a seed.

“Hopefully, some of these kids (and maybe some of the adults) will walk out of here and something will have clicked.”

The Metamo4ic Math Center, located at 333 N. Florissant Rd in Ferguson, is open weekdays 9am-3pm and Saturdays 10am-2pm. Admission for the general public is $5 per child. Adults and kids under 3 are free. Enter the building through the NW corner of the church.

Help kick off the first day of Kwanzaa at Afro World's family-friendly Kwanzaa celebration this Saturday in Normandy.

Like many people who grew up celebrating Christmas, Kwanzaa has always been sort of a mystery holiday to me. I knew that it’s an African-American event and that it was created relatively recently, but I was surprised to learn that this week-long holiday is actually a celebration of family values and personal integrity, and that it’s rooted in African traditions dating back thousands of years.

Created in 1966 by California professor/activist Dr. Maulana Karenga, Kwanzaa runs from December 26 through January 1 and its name is derived from the Swahili phrase for “first fruits.” During Kwanzaa, people of African descent are called together to build and reinforce the bonds of culture, community and family, guided by seven core principles known as the Nguzo Saba.

Gathering around a table decorated with seven symbolic items, including fruit to represent the harvest and a mat to represent tradition and history, Kwanzaa participants discuss and celebrate one core principle each day, gradually lighting seven candles to symbolize each one. The principles at the heart of the holiday are unity, self-determination, collective work and responsibility, cooperative economics, purpose, creativity and faith.

In other words, Kwanzaa challenges African-Americans to be the very best they can be, offering a thoughtful and productive framework for positive change and cultural unity. It can also be fun, especially at Afro World!

This Saturday, December 26, the Normandy boutique will host its annual family Kwanzaa celebration, featuring storytelling by Redina Medley and Greg Reed, poetry and music by David A.N. Jackson, photos by the symbolic kinara candle holder, face painting, and gifts of books and fruit for children. The event runs from 1-5pm and is free and open to the public. Why not stop by and learn more about this empowering cultural holiday?

Afro World is located at 7276 Natural Bridge, 63121. For more info, call (314) 389-5194.