Bill Emerson brings Dueling Open to BHS on Aug. 24

At the regular meeting of the Belleville Downtown Development Authority on Aug. 21, Bill Emerson explained the 12 hours of fencing competition he was bringing to the Belleville High School main gym within a few days — on Aug. 24.
Emerson, introduced by DDA chairperson Rosemary Loria as the grandson of former Belleville Mayor Justin Emerson, said he grew up in Belleville and then went to East Lansing and now he lives in Denton.
(Emerson is the son of retired Belleville fire fighter and school teacher Bill Emerson and Mary Ann Emerson. Bill, Sr., said their son had to take one physical education class to graduate from Michigan State University and a friend encouraged him to take fencing. That’s where it all started, he said.)
Emerson told the DDA said he has a passion for fencing and teaches fencing at the Ann Arbor YMCA and in Canton at the Summit and started the Ann Arbor Dueling Society.
For 19 years he ran the dueling open in Ann Arbor and then it got too big, and they couldn’t fit the competitors in for the necessary 12 hours of fencing.
Then, he said they were at the Summit in Canton which was unable to accommodate everything they need.
“Now, we’re at Belleville,” he said, noting this is his 21st year of doing this. He said before he left home for the meeting that afternoon, 108 people had registered for the tournament. Then, when he looked at his phone in the meeting, it was up to 109.
He said people were coming from the University of California-Berkley, Chicago, Michigan, and Canada.
He said the local Holiday Inn cooperated by giving them a group of rates and referees who are coming from all over the country were getting the same rates. He said the referees are very important and hiring them is the main cost of the open.
The way the open is run allows them to register with USA Fencing.
“We fence in August and some places don’t have air conditioning” like BHS has, he said.
He said they will be fencing in three categories: foil, saber, and epee. He invited the public, noting it is free to attend.
He also promised them that if he does the open in Belleville again next year, he will be sure to let them know in advance, so they can alert the community.
When chairman Loria found out about event from Emerson’s family members, she called DDA Coordinator Carol Thompson who put together a flyer welcoming the Duelist Open 21 to Belleville and listing places to dine in the city and places to shop.