The founding father
Ken Fenshaw and his wife Katy Fenshaw wear birthday hats for the Marche of Gwyntarian's 30th birthday. They are both from the Cleftlands chapter, which is one of many chapters that came out to help celebrate the event.
The Marche of Gwyntarian was founded at Kent State in 1974. It began when a student transferred from California and told her new friends about the society. Bruce R. Gordon, or Nigel Fitzmaurice, one of the founding fathers of the chapter, says a group of people just started fighting on campus.
Gordon, a 1976 Kent State psychology alumnus and freelance writer, says he is proud “seeing the way it’s endured over the past 30 years.”
“I think when we started in ’74, we didn’t think it would last that long,” he says.
Gordon says seeing the chapter “grow and change and face troubles” gives a “sense of accomplishment in and of itself.”
He says everyone joins the society for his or her own reasons. “For me, I take the society fairly seriously,” he says. “For many people it’s fun — a means of relaxation. For me, there’s a reason I am here. I think for me it is to preserve the history of where our society came from.”
Gordon joined the society because he had been interested in the living history movement for a while, so it was a “natural fit.” As the era of technology continues, he wants people to remember the way society was in the Middle Ages.
“It’s a thing to carry along with us so we do have a sense of our past,” he says.
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