The Blades Fencing Club of St. Thomas/St. John and the St. John Fencing Club will co-host their third annual Summer Fencing Camp on July 23-29.
It's open to anyone interested in the competitive sport of fencing – youngsters from the age of 10 through senior citizens; beginners, intermediates, experts and those who would like to polish some rusty fencing skills from long ago.
"We do this for three reasons," Blades president Joyce Bolaños said. "To provide an opportunity for our fencers to get a level of training that the local volunteer coaches – and I am one of them – are unable to offer, to attract new young people to the sport of fencing, and to enable us coaches to upgrade our own skills as teachers."
This year's camp will be a week-long camping as well as fencing experience, at the Maho Bay Campground on St. John. In addition to taking two fencing classes a day and following a training regimen, participants will be involved in watersports, ecology projects and V.I. National Park activities.
Classes and other camp activities run Monday through Friday, July 24-28. On Saturday, July 29, the fencers will get to demonstrate what they have learned – to each other, family, friends and anyone else interested – in a fencing meet to be designed by the coaches that week.
For individuals 16 years of age and older who are unable to take a week off, there will also be beginning and advanced classes in the evening – without camping – tentatively scheduled for the Pine Peace School, which is home to the St. John Fencing Club.
"Our first two fencing camps were day camps, held at American Yacht Harbor on St. Thomas, with the students just coming in for classes and a competition at the end," Bolaños said. "This year, we are having an actual sleep-over camp that will allow the coaches to spend more time with the youngsters and give the students more opportunity to interact with one another and practice what they are being taught."
The guest coaching staff has doubled from the two earlier camps, too, St. John club president and coach Mark Hansen noted. "We have been able to bring in two really fine coaches this time – both internationally recognized and both ‘known entities' to our local fencing program," he said.
One is Rudy Volkmann of Augusta, Ga., the instructor for last year's camp. The other is Anthony "Tony" Gillham of Milwaukee, Wis., who spends some time on St. John each winter and donated his time and talents to work with the St. John club at the start of this year.
Gillham is certified by the International Fencing Federation as a referee and chairs the certification board of the U.S. Fencing Coaches Association, the U.S. organization accredited by the Academie Internationale d'Armes to certify fencing instructors and masters.
Volkmann served on the international armourers squad at the 1996 Summer Olympic Games and is the publisher/author of "The Big Book of Fencing," a training manual recommended by the British Fencing Federation and the Coaches College of the U.S. Fencing Association.
"The other really exciting aspect of this year's camp," Hansen said, "is that Tony will be offering a U.S. Fencing Coaches Association certification course. This will enable our volunteer coaches to upgrade their skills so we can improve the overall instructional program available year-round to our young people here in the Virgin Islands." He added, "Having certified coaches will enable the Virgin Islands to play a more active part in national and regional competition."
Last year, young people from St. Thomas, St. Croix and St. John took part, "and we expect the same this year," Bolaños said. "Fencing is not for everyone, but some kids find it both challenging and satisfying as a sport and a discipline." The most experienced youth fencers in The Blades today – Johan Brookes, 17, and Jared Etsinger, 14 – have been with the club since Bolaños started it six years ago.
In planning this year's camp, the two clubs determined to offer the classes and accommodations at Maho Bay Campground at no cost to youth participants. "The only costs to the young people will be a $50 registration fee and the charges for their meals and optional recreational activities during the week, plus whatever transportation arrangements they need to make," Bolaños said.
Both coaches emphasized that fencing is a safe sport. Fencers wear protective masks, jackets and gloves whenever facing another fencer using swords – the lightweight foil, less flexible epee and least flexible saber. All weapons have blunt tips, and with electric scoring equipment in use today, all that's needed in competition is a light touch to score a point.
"We'll be concentrating on foil for most of the lessons," Hansen said, "but some of our members are into epee now, too, so it will be covered. And we'll probably have an introduction to saber."
The Community Foundation of the Virgin Islands has provided a grant for the camp. Both clubs are soliciting corporate sponsors and have applied for International Olympic Committee "solidarity funds" which are earmarked for training in fencing federations around the world.
A maximum of 24 fencing campers will be accepted for overnight accommodations at Maho Bay. Additional students may commute for classes. Efforts will be made to accommodate all those wishing to take the 16-and-older evening classes. Anyone wishing a fact sheet with further information should promptly contact the St. John Fencing Club (phone or fax 779-4550 or e-mail to innisfree @ islands.vi) or The Blades (phone or fax 776-4812 or e-mail to jetsinger @ viaccess.net).

Medical researchers say evidence indicates that a significantly high number of U.S. military veterans have contracted the hepatitis C virus and may not realize it.
In an effort to help identify veterans infected with the virus, which can lead to a serious, potentially life-threatening condition, the American Liver Foundation is working with the Veterans Hepatitis and Liver Disease Council in a nationwide screening program that has outreach into the Virgin Islands.
The foundation will provide a free at-home hepatitis C testing kit to any veteran requesting one. The Hepatitis C Checksm test kits, marketed by Home Access Health Corp., are available to anyone who served in the armed forces or military reserve, according to a release.
Recent studies have found an incidence of 8 percent to 10 percent of HCV among veteran patients receiving services from the Veterans Health Administration. This is about five times the rate of the general population, 1.8 percent. There are approximately 26 million U.S. veterans today, including those who served in World War II, Korea, Vietnam and the Persian Gulf.
"The vast majority of veterans who are infected with hepatitis C do not have symptoms and thus are unaware that they are carrying the virus," the release states. This, combined with the prevalence of hepatitis C and the fact that it is a serious, potentially life-threatening condition, makes it "important to identify those veterans who are infected."
Toward that end, the American Liver Foundation will provide an at-home Hepatitis C Checksm test kit, a $70 value, at no charge other than $6 for shipping and handling, to any veteran requesting one. According to the release, the test kit is easy to use, the procedure takes less than three minutes to complete, and the confidential results are available within 10 business days.
Following is a series of hepatitis C risk assessment questions that veterans are asked to answer before requestion the test kit.
Are you at risk for hepatitis C?
In your military service, have you ever been in a situation in which you have had exposure to someone else's blood through contact with a bleeding wound, through needle-stick injury or in any other way?
Did you serve in Vietnam?
Did you have a blood transfusion or organ transplant before 1992?
Have you ever, even once, injected drugs?
Have you ever, even once, snorted or inhaled cocaine using a straw or bill?
Have you ever had unprotected sex with multiple partners?
Do you have a history of sexually transmitted disease? (Study findings indicate that the risk of getting hepatitis C through unprotected sex is low if you don't have multiple sex partners and if you don't have a sexually transmitted disease.)
Have you ever had a tattoo or had part of your body pierced using unsterile needles?
Have you ever had acupuncture with non-disposable needles?
Have you ever had hemodialysis?
Have you ever shared a razor or toothbrush with someone who may have been infected with hepatitis C?
Were you born to an HCV-infected mother?
Have you ever had an abnormal liver function test?
If you answered "yes" to even one of these questions, you may be at risk for hepatitis C. Please click below to order your free, at-home Hepatitis C Checksm test kit.
If you did not answer "yes" to any of the HRA questions but believe you may be at risk for hepatitis C, or are unsure, please also click below to order your free test kit.
To access the order form, click on www.liverfoundation.org/html/vetfram.htm
You can pay the $6 postage and handling fee on-line with a major credit care. If you want to pay by check or money order, please call toll-free 1-888-888-HEPC to reach Home Access Health Corp. to place your order.

The Hebrew Congregation of St. Thomas is facing a major challenge — a $100,000 challenge.
Neil and Trudie Prior have pledged that amount to the Campaign to Preserve the St. Thomas Synagogue, but to receive their gift, the Congregation must raise a matching amount by Dec. 31, 2000. Only new gifts will count toward the challenge grant.
"In effect this doubles the value of every new gift or pledge to help restore the Synagogue," said Donald Pomeranz, a past president of the Congregation and head of the Campaign Committee. "I feel confident we will rise to the Priors' challenge."
The St. Thomas Synagogue, which has been designated a National Historic Landmark, is the third oldest in the Western Hemisphere and the oldest in continuous use under the American flag. The Congregation dates to 1796, the building to 1833. Named "Bracha V'Shalom U'Gmiluth Chasadim (Blessing and Peace and Loving Deeds)," it has opened its doors over the years to the world — to Jews and non-Jews, residents and travelers, worshippers and visitors.
The comprehensive restoration project, which began in mid-1999, is now projected to cost $450,000. To date $225,000 has been received or pledged.
"The Priors' gift, with its match, will bring us very close to our goal," Pomeranz said, offering special thanks to Trudie Prior, president/general manager at Coral World and the Congregation's president, and Neil Prior, president/CEO of Atlantic Tele-Network and an active member of the Congregation.
The restoration of the 167-year-old Synagogue building — a classic example of Danish colonial architecture and a major attraction in downtown Charlotte Amalie to visitors of all faiths — is the most important capital project to be undertaken by this generation of the Hebrew Congregation.
"Though we all loved the exposed stone and rubble walls, we recognized that the experts were right — if we did not restore the walls to the original design, we would risk the collapse of the entire structure," Pomeranz said. "With new plaster walls, new electrical wiring for lights and fans, and new shutters and doors, our beautiful Synagogue will be in prime form for the new millennium and for generations to come."
The Campaign to Preserve the St. Thomas Synagogue is focusing on its own congregants and on friends and supporters worldwide. Donations and dedications of $1,000 or more will be recognized on a donor tablet in etched glass in the Weibel Museum, adjacent to the sanctuary.
For more information on the Campaign, call the Synagogue at 340-774-4312 or e-mail hebrewcong@islands.vi.

An audit of the Health Department has uncovered more than $2.2 million in overtime paid to employees over a two-year period, much of it without documentation or approval.
The audit released Friday by the V.I. Inspector General's office revealed many serious discrepancies in monitoring and calculating overtime. The report even suggested that some of the incorrect overtime computations might exist in the overall payroll system of the V.I. Government.
In a letter to Gov. Charles W. Turnbull, Inspector General Steven van Beverhoudt said, "We found that employees were claiming significant amounts of overtime without documented approval; there was no monitoring to ensure that the overtime was actually required or worked; and overtime payments were calculated incorrectly."
In the years covered by the audit, 1997 and 1998, four employees were paid $212,000 for overtime claimed. Two of them were maintenance supervisors who reportedly had to pick up the slack from a severely understaffed maintenance department.
However, there was little evidence for the other two of prior approval and the supporting documentation was "questionable."
One employee, the director of financial services, was paid for 1,348 hours of overtime over the two years covered by the audit. Only 162 hours had been approved by a supervisor. Of that, 123 hours were approved after the overtime was already worked.
The same employee, who retired from the department in December 1998, claimed to have worked 36 out of 52 Saturdays, 22 out of 52 Sundays, and nine out of 20 holidays in 1997. In 1998 the same employee claimed to have worked 40 of 52 Saturdays, 22 of 52 Sundays and nine out of 20 holidays.
The director's overtime, on top of her base salary of $60,000, amounted to earnings of $110,170 in 1997 and $98,017 in 1998.
The payroll supervisor, who also retired in December 1998, logged similar overtime hours, resulting in overtime payments of $26,348 in 1997 and $22,947 in 1998 on top of a salary of $30,321.
Both of these individuals had been claiming similar overtime since 1990 which, for the years that records were available, resulted in total overtime payments of $254,028 and $163,379 respectively.
The matter is being investigated by the V.I. Justice Department.
As a result of incorrect computations — they were paid double time instead of the appropriate time and a half — the same two supervisors were overpaid a total of $61,000 over the two years covered by the audit.
The other two supervisors who fell under the miscalculation overpayment were both maintenance supervisors.
The matter of the miscalculations will be discussed with the Justice Department to decide if the money can be recouped from the employees, van Beverhoudt's audit said.
The Finance commissioner recommended that the Justice Department be called in to find out if the mistaken double-time payments are being repeated in other government departments. However, while van Beverhoudt agreed that Justice should follow up on arranging reimbursement, he said each department should be directed to review their overtime records for a specific time period to ensure that overtime was recorded correctly.
The audit also exposed the widespread practice of paying employees even when time cards were not properly executed.
In one instance a time card was blank for a particular pay period, but the employee was still paid for 104 hours, including 24 hours of overtime for one two-week pay period.
In another instance an employee punched in and out for eight hours a day during the work week, but entered overtime on Saturdays and Sundays manually. The employee claimed 32 hours in overtime for that one pay period.
The audit discovered "numerous" examples of the same kinds of abuses.
Again, the IG recommended the overtime situation be turned over to Justice for investigation. Acting Health Commissioner Lucien A. Moolenaar agreed, saying the department's legal counsel was preparing the necessary documents to do that.
Moolenaar has also put the supervisory staff on notice that they must adhere to standard procedures for overtime, including requests for approval submitted to his office along with the reason for overtime at least five days before the requested work time, strict monitoring of performance to ensure overtime was actually required and performed, and proper review and approval of time cards to include the supervisors' signatures.

A 29-year-old Estate Profit man was arrested Friday on charges of involvement in a 1998 cocaine deal. Police said cocaine was found in his car when he was busted.
According to U.S. Attorney James Hurd Jr., Miguel "Cheechong" Diaz was wanted for selling 241.4 grams of powder cocaine to a "confidential source" in 1998. On Friday, officers of the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Task Force spotted Diaz in the Profit area and stopped him.
When officers approached Diaz’s vehicle he allegedly placed a plastic bag containing a white substance under the driver’s seat, said Hurd in a release. After Diaz was arrested, officers searched under the seat and discovered what was confirmed to be 282.7, or about 10 ounces, of powder cocaine and approximately 37 grams of suspected crack cocaine.
Diaz had his initial appearance before U.S. Magistrate Jeffrey Resnick on Friday and was ordered held in custody pending a detention hearing on July 18. He is charged with possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute and faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years to a maximum sentence of life in prison and a $4 million fine.

Saying the V.I. Labor Department is "falling apart," Sen. Roosevelt David agreed with a Senate colleague Friday to call a meeting to determine what's amiss.
David, chairman of the Senate Committee on Labor and Veterans Affairs, was responding to a July 12 letter from Sen. Adlah "Foncie" Donastorg who asked that the committee investigate Labor employees’ complaints about the way the department is being managed.
While neither senator went into detail about what the problems are, Donastorg said it is important that the committee follow up on the complaints because DOL employees "have no recourse – they work for the very agency that normally handles these complaints."
David agreed, saying, "If we have a problem within Labor, who is going to solve the problem? We must, at the end of these hearings, have some solutions to these problems."
On Friday, David said he had already scheduled meetings with Labor Commissioner Sonia Jacobs Dow earlier this month but they were postponed because Dow was ill. They have been rescheduled for July and August.
David and Donastorg agreed that the Worker’s Compensation Program and Industrial Development Commission beneficiary employment practices should be investigated.
In light of recent layoffs, Donastorg requested that the committee investigate labor practices at the Virgin Islands Telephone Corp., Bluebeard’s Castle and the Westin Resort on St. John.
At the end of May, Vitelco’s parent company, Innovative Communication Corp., laid off 18 workers, with 12 coming from the phone company. In February, 10 Westin employees were laid off without being offered jobs in other departments.
Still, in a somewhat prickly response to Donastorg's request, David said he doesn’t "subscribe to the practice of the Legislature’s micro-management of executive branch departments or agencies.
"I will, however, convene the committee based on specific and corroborated instances of the mistreatment of employees and/or unsavory labor practices in the government or private sector," he said.

Saying the V.I. Labor Department is "falling apart," Sen. Roosevelt David agreed with a Senate colleague Friday to call a meeting to determine what's amiss.
David, chairman of the Senate Committee on Labor and Veterans Affairs, was responding to a July 12 letter from Sen. Adlah "Foncie" Donastorg who asked that the committee investigate Labor employees’ complaints about the way the department is being managed.
While neither senator went into detail about what the problems are, Donastorg said it is important that the committee follow up on the complaints because DOL employees "have no recourse – they work for the very agency that normally handles these complaints."
David agreed, saying, "If we have a problem within Labor, who is going to solve the problem? We must, at the end of these hearings, have some solutions to these problems."
On Friday, David said he had already scheduled meetings with Labor Commissioner Sonia Jacobs Dow earlier this month but they were postponed because Dow was ill. They have been rescheduled for July and August.
David and Donastorg agreed that the Worker’s Compensation Program and Industrial Development Commission beneficiary employment practices should be investigated.
In light of recent layoffs, Donastorg requested that the committee investigate labor practices at the Virgin Islands Telephone Corp., Bluebeard’s Castle and the Westin Resort on St. John.
At the end of May, Vitelco’s parent company, Innovative Communication Corp., laid off 18 workers, with 12 coming from the phone company. In February, 10 Westin employees were laid off without being offered jobs in other departments.
Still, in a somewhat prickly response to Donastorg's request, David said he doesn’t "subscribe to the practice of the Legislature’s micro-management of executive branch departments or agencies.
"I will, however, convene the committee based on specific and corroborated instances of the mistreatment of employees and/or unsavory labor practices in the government or private sector," he said.

Saying the V.I. Labor Department is "falling apart," Sen. Roosevelt David agreed with a Senate colleague Friday to call a meeting to determine what's amiss.
David, chair of the Senate Labor and Veterans Affairs Committee, was responding to a July 12 letter from Sen. Adlah "Foncie" Donastorg asking that the committee investigate Labor employee complaints about the way the department was being managed.
While neither senator went into detail about what the apparent problems are, Donastorg said it is important that the committee follow up on the complaints because Labor Department employees "have no recourse – they work for the very agency that normally handles these complaints."
David agreed, saying, "If we have a problem within Labor, who is going to solve the problem? We must, at the end of these hearings, have some solutions to these problems."
On Friday, David said he had scheduled meetings earlier this month with Labor Commissioner Sonia Jacobs Dow, but they were postponed because Dow was ill. They have been rescheduled for July and August.
David and Donastorg agreed that the Workers' Compensation program and Industrial Development Commission beneficiary employment practices should be investigated.
In light of recent layoffs, Donastorg requested that the committee investigate labor practices at the V.I. Telephone Corp., Bluebeard’s Castle Hotel and the Westin Resort St. John.
At the end of May, Vitelco’s parent company, Innovative Communication Corp., laid off 18 workers, 12 of them from the phone company. In February, 10 Westin employees were laid off without being offered jobs in other departments.
Still, in a somewhat prickly response to Donastorg's request, David said he doesn’t "subscribe to the practice of the Legislature’s micro-management of executive branch departments or agencies.
"I will, however, convene the committee based on specific and corroborated instances of the mistreatment of employees and/or unsavory labor practices in the government or private sector," he said.

It looks as if all that's holding up dredging the St. Thomas harbor is a waiver on a Coastal Zone Management permit, a water quality study, a chemical determination of the harbor bottom, and an appeal the League of Women Voters has filed with CZM opposing the waiver.
At a Friday meeting of VI. Port Authority officials, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers representatives and other local and federal government officials, all of those issues were addressed except for the LWV appeal.
All parties agreed that VIPA's proposal to dredge the harbor to accommodate the megacruise ships that are to begin arriving in the fall is a sound idea. The proposed dumping of the dredged material into Lindbergh Bay is in question.
What to do with the estimated 200,000 cubic feet of dredged matter was the subject of a Senate committee hearing on July 7 where many voices were heard – the CZM, the environmentalists, representatives of three Lindbergh Bay hotels, the St. Thomas-St. John Hotel and Tourism Association and the St. Thomas-St. John Chamber of Commerce. The last three parties, along with environmentalists, strongly oppose the dumping in Lindbergh Bay. No conclusions were drawn at the hearing, and none were anticipated at Friday's meeting.
The meeting, conducted by Edwin E. Muñiz, the Army Corps of Engineers regulatory section chief in San Juan, was basically to thrash out the advisability of dumping the "spoils" – the dredged material – into a hole on the floor of Lindbergh Bay that was itself created by a dredging project in the 1930s.
Muñiz made it clear that the Corps of Engineers supports the harbor dredging. He encouraged VIPA to resolve the dispute about disposing of the spoils. He said he had visited alternative sites available for the spoils Friday morning. The West Indian Company has offered to store the material at its Long Bay landfill area temporarily until a final site is chosen.
Felix Lopez of the federal Fish and Wildlife Service and Barbara Kojis of the Fish and Wildlife division of the Planning and Natural Resources Department strongly favor placing the dredged matter in Lindbergh Bay. Lopez has extensive knowledge of Lindbergh, having done diving and studies on it 10 years ago. Kojis said, contrary to enviromentalists' concerns, that filling the hole would, over the long run, refurbish and preserve the bay. "If it goes on too much longer unfilled, there will be major problems with beach erosion," she said, citing deterioration she has observed over the last decade. Amy Dempsey of Bioimpact, VIPA's environmental consultant, agreed: "Until the hole is filled in, it will only get worse."
Island Resources Foundation researchers, Ed Towle and Bruce Potter have said in commentary in the Op-Ed section of St. Thomas Source that they see "no significant long-term risk in filling the existing dredge hole in Lindbergh Bay," although they said there would be short-term turbidity until particle matter settled.
The factions opposed to the Lindbergh Bay dumping see it as ruining the beach and posing a serious threat to tourism in the area. Carib Beach Hotel owner William Dowling, who has lived in the area for nearly 50 years, said the sand comes and goes and should be left alone to let nature take its course. "It's hard to predict what would happen," he said.
Lopez said the depression in the bay is impeding bay's natural processes. "If it hasn't replenished itself in the 70 years since the hole was dug, it won't do it any time soon," he said.
Dempsey described a sea grass protection project under way in Charlotte Amalie harbor that she said must be finished before the dredging begins. "We have to relocate the habitat the dredging will destroy," she said.
Port Authority executive director Gordon Finch, in obvious exasperation, said, "If something isn't done in a timely manner, the whole thing will end up in court, and there goes the cruise ship season, the economy, and it'll probably wind up in Washington."
Muñiz assured Finch that the Corps of Engineers has no formal objection to the dredging. He said he appreciated Finch's time frame concerns. He also noted that there is dredging equipment on St. Thomas now, and that bringing such equipment in again later would add to the project's cost.
Dempsey said that chemical analysis of samples of dredged matter sent to a mainland laboratory on Wednesday would be e-mailed from the testing company.
Port Authority planner Darlan Brin, who had spoken at length at the week-earlier Senate hearing, said VIPA plans to spread the dredged matter over refuse at the Bovoni landfill. He said everything else is in the hands of Planning and Natural Resources, which was not represented at the meeting. The only CZM board member present was Austin Monsanto, who said he could make no decision without the other two commission members, who were unable to attend the meeting. Also not in attendance was CZM director Janice Hodge.

Disruption will be the order of the day Saturday and Sunday as the Water and Power Authority installs an underground electrical duct near Nisky Center and ties in pump station feed lines in Hospital Ground.
A section of the westbound lane from the stoplight at Bellows International to Nisky Center on the Moravian Highway will be closed from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.
Westbound traffic will be detoured through Sub Base from the One Stop in Altona. Traffic emerging from Sub Base by Pueblo will be able to travel east. Anyone wanting to go north or west should exit from Sub Base at the Nisky intersection.
From 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, water service will be interrupted in Hospital Ground and Bergs Home while WAPA ties in fee lines to the new water main at the Hospital Ground Rehabilitation Project.
The water interruption will affect upper Hospital Ground and Bergs Home, according to a release from WAPA.