The USU Fencing Club has currently been disbanded due to lack of fencers.

Dear Fencers,

Ron Barry, Nate Packer, and Brian Carver, I would like to thank you for supporting me in organizing the club and fencing with me. Without your help and advice, I couldn't have handled the club after you left. It was fun to go to Tanpopo with you guys. Hope it happens again!

I would also like to thank Janae Chapman for taking care of our website. You did such a great job! And thanks for always supporting me when I was faced with conflicts. You're an amazing woman!

Andrea, thanks for being always there! What I should get you to say thanks? You did so many things for me, and I cannot express how much I appreciate your wonderful friendship and kindness. You're the nicest, funniest, and best fencer!

Jody, thanks for being such funny friend. It was so much fun to go to events with you, and thanks for taking me with you. My fencing life in USU had changed after you came back! By the way, are you still planning to buy the "How to Behave" cassette tape for me?

Dean, thank you very much for teasing me for such a long time! And thank you for everything you've done for our club and your wonderful lessons for us. We wished you were a coach here! Besides fencing, thanks for supporting me and being such a good friend. I want you to know how much I appreciate your kind words every time I was faced with problems.

A special thanks to Mr. Okina. Thank you very much for donating so much fencing gear for our club. Thank you very much for giving me the chance to fence and for your generous teaching. Thank you very much for your patience every time I am stuck and have no idea what I should do. If I hadn't met you, I wouldn't be here and would have had a totally different life. You're the most wonderful coach and the most respectable person I've met.

Other than these, I have many people to whom I want to say thank you personally. Dr. Watson, Heather, Mike, Nicole, Vaughn, Dan, Justin, Jon, Glenn, Lynde, Jason, Tavia, Jeff, Seth, Adam, Dan and other many students who took my beginner's class, THANK YOU VERY MUCH!!! I'm looking forward to seeing you at the fencing competition someday at somewhere!

Best regards,

Mika Maruyama

I guess I'd like to add:

I can't express my sadness at seeing the Club shut down. It had been a long, hard road to keep it operational at times. Without the help and companionship of a number of people over the years I would never have been willing to put so much blood, sweat and tears into it.

Brian Carver and Nate Packer - you're both certifiable and damned if I'd take you any other way. I can clearly remember my first meetings with the both of you, and I can say without reservation that my first impressions of you turned out to be absolutely true.

Mika, you were a latecommer to this batch of psychotics, but you fit right in. =] This was a real crate of loonies you jumped in with, and I've been glad from day one to have you. I wish you the best in everything you do.

I'd like to add my thanks to two other people. Nate and I remember Chris Oversby, though nobody of the current 'generation' would. His determination to make this work rubbed off on me in a major way. He started this Club with two dry weapons and a couple masks. Everything we walk away from this experience with is attributable to this wonderful man.

Secondly, I'd like to thank Katrina Farrow. You meant more to me than I ever let on. Your spirit and character have been greatly missed. I hope you found everything you were looking for and more.

When I left Logan, I didn't really feel like I'd left anything behind. Most of the people I'd been through school with were gone, and Brian and Nate weren't going to be long before I expected to see them in Salt Lake. The school itself was a collection of mixed experiences and some disappointments. The moment I really felt that the life I had and the person I'd been had really ended, was when I unloaded the gear I had to bring back to Salt Lake from my car. That bloody box and all the electrical problems we'd had with it... the reels that I've re-wired more times than I can count... floor cords that were an unending nightmare... A flood of time and memories came back. Most of what I remember comes from the people...

Everyone that put up with my teaching and all the friends I made in that club - you have been a wonderful part of my life. Thank you so much for those moments. I'll treasure them forever...

rOn

Last Updated: 05/03/02
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