Many generous families have placed WONDERFUL items in the donation box which remains in the fencing gym. Your help and kindness is appreciated by ALL who enjoy the club. We have received: paper towels, trash bags, sponges, waste paper bas-kets, toilet paper, toilet bowl cleaner, window cleaner, soap, shampoo & conditioner for the shower, stapler & staples, pens, pencils & markers, paper & miscellaneous office supplies, light bulbs, building materials for improvement to back rooms and a telephone just to name a few of the items. Without your help, what would we do? THANK YOU! THANK YOU!

After one tournament, some parents, fencers and coaches made their way to a polish buffet dinner at a Chicago restaurant. It was late when they arrived, so the management encouraged them to 'eat more'. Our club expert on polish cuisine, coach Bednarski, was heard saying 'try this and that'. You should have seen some of those boys eat! The polish food was delicious! M-m-m those perogies!

Recently, Janusz purchased a beautiful new set of weights for the training program. Our kids are lucky to have this equipment available to them, and they have really been enjoying working out and conditioning together. (It's funny to spot them feeling the size of each others muscles!) Thanks Coach Bednarski for providing this great improvement to the club.

Physical fitness is an important aspect of the fencers ability to be competitive. Jim Mathias has volunteered his expertise and time to work with our fencers during the evening. Working with Janusz they have developed a comprehensive weight training program to better prepare our fencers for the rigors of competition. We are most fortunate to have Jim working with our fencers.

Jim has a BE degree from the University of Toledo with a comprehensive major in Health & Physical Education. He currently holds a Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist certificate with the National Strength Coaches Association. In addition he has a Level 1 Coaching Certification from the United States Weightlifting Association.

• Physical Director at the South Bend YMCA for four years. During this period the YMCA became nationally recognized as a fitness center.

• Served as a conditioning consultant for the Toledo Goaldigger Hockey team in the IHL the year they won the IHL Turner Cup.

• Coached and participated in Olympic style weightlifting. He was 3rd in the state of Indiana in 1980. One of his lifters placed second in the United States in the 132 lb. class.

• Taught Physical Education, K-7 at Washington Local Schools in Toledo Ohio for 6 years. Coached wrestling, basketball, soccer, girls gymnastics and track. His track athletes broke long standing school system records (13 elementary schools) in the 4x100 girls relay and the boy’s long jump. He started a unicycle club which grew to over 100 students from the 3rd to 7th grades. The club performed in parades, at malls, and gave half time performances at basketball games for local high school , colleges and even the Detroit Pistons at COBO Hall.

• Coached soccer locally with MSA for a number of years and with boys and girls soccer teams at Mishawaka High School.

Please take note of the mail distribution center near the front door of the club. The boxes have been reassigned. If you are an Escrime du Lac member, then there is a box for you! If we have missed you, our apoligies, (nobody's perfect!) Just leave a note in the "Hagerty" box letting our in-house postal inspector know you need to be assigned a space. Many times information sits in the boxes for weeks on end. Please make a habit of checking for current information and correspond-dence. Also, check with your fencer to see if they are sharing the information he/she gets from the box with good ole' mom and dad. Don't forget Valentines Day is just around the corner. Use your club postal station to let your friends at the club know that you care.

Our club members and their parents have continued to keep up the clean up effort!! Thanks to the following families who have volunteered their time to do the housekeeping for all to benefit from. Please consider taking a turn and volunteering to help keep the club clean. You can sign up for a week, a month, or whatever suits your time schedule best. Be a gem and fill your name into a time slot on the sign up sheet which hangs on the wall at the club.

• December: The Casas and Hagerty families
  

• January: The Kastner family
  
• February: The Leighton family

It is neat when there is a tournament close to home and affordable for us to travel to watch our fencers. Recently, our kids participated in the four high school tournaments - Stevenson H.S. Invitational, Lincolnshire, IL - Catholic Memorial H.S. Invitational, Waukasha, WI - New Trier H.S. Invitational, Winnettka, IL and the Midwest High School Championships back in Lincolnshire, IL. The following parents were there to cheer the kids on: Thomas, Joy, Kebrdle, Mathias, Bednarski, Garceau, Casas, Hagerty, Goetz, Trundle and Eppich. (We just may need to invest in some cheerleading outfits for some of these moms!) So, parents who want or need a day away from housework, chores, etc..., know that this a good time and alot of fun. The High School tournaments have a "team in the huddle" spirit. - A very different atmosphere than we find at the NAC's. We had fun cheering for our own, and each others kids.

Coach Bednarski has asked for parent volunteers to please come forward to work in the armory. He is looking for several moms or dads to be available in the armoy,to help fencers fix their weapons when problems arise. Perhaps a group of parents could take turns at this job for 1 to 1-1/2 hours per evening. If you already possess the needed skills, WE NEED YOU! If you would like to learn, COME BY THE ARMORY AND PICK UP A REPAIR TRICK OR TWO!! We can all learn from each other, and make friends at the same time while helping our kids. Please contact Janusz if you can help.

Our team has been very fortunate this season that Janusz has provided them with the opportunity to work with several different coaches who have been guests at our club. Our faithful leader periodically brings in other coaches to observe and work with our team on club nights, and during camps. Recently our guest coaches have visited from Illinois, Michigan, Ireland and Australia. The Irish coach ( who teaches the Irish military fencing, as well as runs clubs and university programs) was a favorite of many of our kids, and they enjoyed taking lessons from him on several evenings over a period of a couple of weeks. It's great that Janusz exposes his students to different coaching techniques and styles.

In November, several club families responded to a call to prepare Thanksgiving dinner baskets for two local needy families. It was great to see the kids work together to provide a happy day for these two families. The food was truly appreciated by those who received the beautiful baskets prepared for them. The Chapin Street Clinic sends its' thanks to the club for answering their call to help.

Thank you to Yves Auriol for the donation of a ping-pong table for our club. What fun the kids, (and parents) have had playing and at the same time developing those grasps and hand muscles. Thank you Yves for your continued interest in our kids!

Thanks also go to Michelle Kastner for putting out the November issue of the Parent Newsletter, and to Edie and Arnold Casas and Mike Hagerty for contributing to this issue.