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Apr 22
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West Kauaʻi, Where Locals Preserve the Island’s Soul
by Bianca Wagner·April 21, 2025
Fonda’s Daughter (Retail)
Nestled next to Hanapēpē’s Hawaiian Congregational Church, Fonda’s Daughter co-founders Natalie Fonda and her husband Kekoa Seward have opened a Hawaiiana vintage store that feels like stepping back in time. The extensive curation put into this collection of items — from mu’umu’u to aloha shirts to old music records — is so clearly a labor of love, one can’t help but be drawn in by what Fonda describes as an “organized treasure hunt.” At Fonda’s Daughter, Fonda and Seward specialize in showcasing and preserving vintage pieces, often rescuing items that might otherwise be thrown away, ensuring that a piece of history lives on.
Growing up on O‘ahu, in the windward community of Ka‘a‘awa in the 1990s, Fonda was raised with the love of all things vintage. Her father, Fulvio Fonda, moved their family to Hawai‘i from the Bay Area in her early childhood. Being raised by a vintage dealer with a passion for aloha shirts meant that as a little girl she would tag along every weekend to the Aloha Stadium swap meet, a formative experience that shaped her deep connection to vintage Hawaiiana culture and inspired the shop’s name, Fonda’s Daughter. As an adult, Fonda continues to travel to O‘ahu every Sunday, joining her father to search for exciting finds in a ritual that demonstrates the intergenerational labor of love that underlies the heart of the shop’s endeavor.
Scattered around the little shop, one will find handwritten signs that designate each rack with the item’s name in ‘ōlelo Hawai‘i, a handmade touch from Seward’s mother, who can often be found lei-making out front on Hanapēpē Friday Art Nights, to imbue the space with a sense of Hawaiian identity. “Any opportunity we have to teach visitors the history and culture, it’s important,” Fonda says. “I think we have a responsibility to do that. I wasn’t born here, but I was raised here from the time I was 5-years-old and my husband’s family goes back generations. My daughter is part-Hawaiian. I believe we have a duty to teach her the history as well.”
For visitors, the shop provides an opportunity to move beyond surface-level experiences of Hawai‘i. Fonda and Seward encourage tourists to immerse themselves, learn about local perspectives, and connect with the island’s true essence. For locals, it’s a nostalgic dive into our recent past, delighting local customers young and old who find beautifully maintained vintage mu‘umu‘u or a graphic T-shirt that reminds them of the one their uncle used to wear. Fonda is committed to keeping prices reasonable so locals can continue to shop hvere. “I know the history and the story that comes with a mu’u mu’u or an aloha shirt,’ she says. “Everything has a memory behind it and I think that’s most important. Sometimes I have people coming in and saying, ‘Oh I wish I had saved a bunch of my grandma’s things,’ and seeing their faces light up when they pull an item and go, ‘Oh my gosh, I see my grandma or my grandpa in this…’ They bring so many good memories with them.”
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Nov 12
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Christmas On A Budget: What To Do If Your Kid’s Favorite Toy Is Sold Out
If you’ve seen the film Jingle All The Way with Arnold Schwarzenegger then you know that this can become an emotionally charged and very vexing problem. What you don’t know is that there are simple solutions that leave everybody cool and collected.
By: WordCraft Club
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – Nov. 10, 2024 – PRLog — Pat Fonda, author of titles like Supercommunicator Spouses, Storyteller Mom/Dad and Gaming Addiction In Children is pleased to announce an important update to her Kindle book, Merry Little Christmas On A Budget: Give Kids And Loved Ones Memorable Holidays Without Running On Empty Emotionally Or Financially.
A new chapter has been added that helps parents and gift-givers, who may find themselves in the same quandary as Arnold Schwarzenegger’s character in Jingle All The Way, worm themselves out of the fix – without the toy, it has to be said; but they will enjoy the respect and admiration of their kids for being resourceful… and living up to their promises!
“It’s hard to disappoint a child when they have their heart set on something,” says Pat Fonda. “And this is where parents get ensnared. They forget that a kid’s desires are extremely malleable – the younger, the more malleable!”
If you’ve been with kids 3-7 years or so in an ice-cream joint, maybe you can relate: one second she was sure she’ll take the pink scone with frothy white top, and the next few seconds she shouts out, “No; I’ll take the white scone with the frothy pink top!”
Don’t take this literally – but we guess you get the point.
Lean more here: https://www.patfonda.com/2024/11/merry-little-xmas-on-budget-concise.html
The thing is, according to Pat Fonda: “It’s us the adults who make Christmas hard, not the other way around.”
This new chapter will show parents and gift-givers that they have options – seven to be exact – how to find wiggle-room without hurting your child’s feelings, or ending the kid’s expectations; or their respect for you; or their trust that you’ll make good on your promises!
With the Christmas shopping frenzy just beginning to heat up parents and gift-givers can save money – and still give their kids great gifts and great holidays – without running on empty emotionally or financially.
Pat Fonda offers a full range of solutions to help you raise happy, resilient kids and robust families over at her website: https://www.patfonda.com
Contact
WordCraft Club
***@patfonda.com
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Oct 01
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20 years of the School for Curatorial Studies Venice
Interview with Aurora Fonda of the School for Curatorial Studies Venice
by Alessandra Galletta
More than a school for curators, it is now a cultural institution frequented by young people from all over the world who want to participate in the art of exhibiting art. He turns twenty years old School for Curatorial Studies Venice founded by Aurora Fonda and Sandro Pignotti in 2004 in Venice with the aim of creating an open laboratory for the visual arts and for all professions related to contemporary art. The Summer School has also been active since 2015, bringing together participants from all over the world. We retraced 20 years of training with Aurora Fonda in this interview.
Since 2003 you have been the director of the AplusA gallery in Venice, and only a year later you had the idea of founding a curators’ school from scratch. Lack of available professional figures, or desire to implement a new teaching of contemporary art?
It can be said that this need was born in the field, in carrying out my role as director of the gallery, in particular since it is the official home of the Slovenian Pavilion on the occasion of the Biennale. When a gallery transforms into a national pavilion, interesting positions open up for interns, trainees and students who want to experience working in the field.
Offer them an opportunity to learn and have direct discussion with the hot topics of curation, exhibition design, communication…
The boys were all very active, proactive and willing, and complained about the fact that their university studies did not include the practical experiences that would certainly have complemented the theoretical lessons. I felt the sense of their lack, and I thought about how to contribute to the training of future international curators. The more contemporary art can count on trained spokespersons, the stronger and clearer its message will arrive.
Where did you start?
Once I realized that in 2004 there were no real courses for curators in Italy – with the exception of a small one in Florence – and that no public institution was offering them, I thought that structuring a real curator course should be born in the private sector.
We started with a first three-week edition which was immediately a great success. The participation was so numerous that we immediately organized a second edition and since then the number of students has always grown.
What aspects of curating do you pay most attention to, what are your privileged experiences?
Already from the first edition of the course it was clear to me that the children not only did not foresee a direct relationship with the artists, but they struggled to find a way of relating with them, because they were unfamiliar with artist studies and consequently with their practice. For my training, however, this is a fundamental aspect, both for the profession of curator and for personal enrichment.
So it can be said that the first supporters of the school were the artists themselves?
Not only that, even later. We started inviting artists and organizing a full calendar of visits to their studios; in this way the program was lengthened from time to time, as we added lessons, meetings, workshops… Fueling the activities in direct collaboration with the artists has definitely made our school grow.
Has the demand from foreign students also grown over time?
Yes, a lot, and to deal with this demand in a more structured way, since 2015 we have activated the Summer school, a program in English aimed at international students which brings together people from all parts of the world. While with the pandemic we began to offer online courses, which instead of limiting moments of dialogue, discussion and discussion on topics, have contributed to strengthening that sense of community, where everyone feels part of a project.
Another strong point of the school is that a lot of theory is studied… but at a certain point it must be put into practice
After understanding the complex concept of “exhibition”, thanks to the fundamental contribution of the teachers, students are asked to discuss and develop the creation of an exhibition concept. Once the methods and motivations have been approved – expressed in a project already developed at a professional level – we proceed with the choice of the artists, the selection of the works and all the organizational phases are gradually carried out, from transport and insurance up to the preparation of the exhibition and its correct communication.
(continued on webpage)
Also see:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/aurora-fonda-20965821
https://www.curatorialstudiesveniceonline.com/the-tutors-i-docenti/aurora-fonda
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May 09
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Bob and Jen take a class at Nuesole Glassworks
by Bob Herzog and Jen Dalton, WKRCMon, May 6th 2024
Ali Fonda of Nuesole Glassworks in Cincinnati, OH
CINCINNATI (WKRC) – We like to keep things classy but today we are going to keep things glassy.
“One of the first things I talk to people blowing glass is that you will learn a lot of patience. It’s going to be really frustrating, those pieces often hit the ground,” said Ali Fonda.
Fonda is just one of the teachers at Nuesole Glassworks.
She says it can take years to master the art of glass blowing but no need to worry, if you come in as a beginner, she has you covered.
“We do all of the really complicated things until you really come and do it for a while.”
After a quick lesson, they are actually going to let us try our hand at glass blowing.
We are going to be making something called a witches ball, or a fairy orb.
With that we were ready to get to work, and of course safety first.
The gas powered furnaces clock in at more than a thousand degrees Fahrenheit.
We put on our protective equipment while Ali gathered a ball of molten glass on a long metal pipe.
The next step in this process is to create a perfect sphere.
Bob tapped away, providing the hot air as usual.
And while that was happening, Ali and Jen used a wooden tool that was soaked in cool water to create the sphere.
This is where the fun really started. With a sharp tool we stabbed holes in our sun catcher.
Ali told us to trust the process and that this would make the final design extra special. Not going to lie, this was a little violent.
After the stabbing was done, Ali took a blow torch to the orb and with one crack, our creation was freed from the metal pole and ready to go into a kiln where it would harden.
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Mar 30
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Sisters discover letters to their father from his friend killed during WWII
By Elizabeth Pritchett, Fox News
March 27, 2023
Most people never have the opportunity to gain insight into what their parents were like during their younger days, but two sisters in New Jersey did after discovering letters written to their Navy veteran father from his best friend during World War II.
Al Sitarski, left, and Fred Fonda, right, shortly after enlisting in the Navy in 1942. Susan Sitarski Sturm
Susan Sturm and Cindy Sommer were tasked with the responsibility of cleaning out their parents’ home following the death of their 96-year-old mother in January 2021. The women had lost their father, Al Sitarski, years prior in July 2012 at the age of 91.
While in the attic, the sisters came across a brown envelope with the words “A Very Sad Story About WWII” written on the front in Sitarski’s handwriting. Not knowing many details about their father’s four years in the Navy, they opened the envelope and discovered it was stuffed with letters from his longtime best friend, Navy Lt. Fred Fonda.
“The letters in this envelope were a collection in chronological order of all of the letters that Fred wrote to my dad,” Sturm said, adding that the finding was “very touching and amazing.”
Prior to finding and reading the letters, Sturm and Sommer knew of Fonda, but were not aware of the extent of his friendship with their father – a friendship that would come to a tragic end with Fonda’s death in November 1945. Strum said she believed it affected her father for the rest of his life.
Fred Fonda, left, and Al Sitarski, right, pictured outside Cornell University in May 1943. Susan Sitarski Sturm
The sisters ultimately decided they were going to read every letter in the envelope, starting with Sturm. When she was finished she gave them to her sister, who ironically read them on Memorial Day 2021.
“These two men had such a bond,” Sturm said before taking the story back to where she knows it started – Sitarski and Fonda’s high school years.
Both men attended Linden High School in Linden, New Jersey, and were “dearest, closest” friends, according to Sturm, but she thinks the friendship could have gone back further. Sitarski had been in Linden his entire life. Fonda, on the other hand, migrated to the area from Italy and became a nationalized citizen in 1931 at 10 years old.
After high school, they both attended the Newark College of Engineering before enlisting in the Navy in 1942. Both men also completed naval training at Cornell University before they were separated.
Sturm said her father remained on the East Coast while Fonda was mostly on the West Coast. Both men also spent time on various ships.
“My dad’s ship was YMS104 based out of Solomons, Maryland. He actually made a replica of the ship,” Sommer said in an email. “I found the plans to the ship too. I think he must have learned every inch of it.”
Upon being separated, the men wrote to each other often.
Though the sisters only have access to the letters Fonda wrote Sitarski, Sturm said it was clear both men had a great sense of humor while sharing their life updates.
The conversations centered around women, hobbies, career updates and the future. Sturm said there was hardly any talk of the war, at least from Fonda’s end.
Navy Lt. Fred Fonda was pictured holding a dog while at sea sometime in the 1940s. Susan Sitarski Sturm
“I think in their heart of hearts they pictured the war will eventually be over, we’ll both be married, settle down and have children, our wives will be friends, and we’ll have BBQs,” Sturm said. “But it never happened.”
On Nov. 9, 1945, just days after being promoted to lieutenant, Fonda was killed while decommissioning the USS Greene. The ship was one of many damaged beyond economical repair a month prior during Typhoon Louise in Okinawa, Japan.
Fonda was the lead damage control officer in charge of a group removing ammo from the ship’s aft handling room when an unknown gas surfaced and overtook the four men working in the magazine. Fonda attempted to rescue his fellow sailors, but ultimately died with them.
Fonda died at 4:12 p.m. from accidental asphyxiation due to oxygen deficiency, according to Medal Mulisha, a website that shares the stories behind unclaimed medals. He was initially buried at the Island Command Cemetery in Okinawa, Japan, before being repatriated to Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia.
Because of his actions, he was posthumously awarded the Navy and Marine Corps Medal.
“[He] died a hero,” Sturm said. “Dad never really spoke of it very much, but based upon their correspondence and their friendship, you could tell dad and Fred were dear friends.”
USS Greene (DD-266) pictured by the U.S. Navy at some point between 1919 and 1922. U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command
Though the letters came to an end, the women are hoping to find the missing pieces of the story.
“At this point, we had all the letters Fred wrote to my dad, but we obviously did not have the letters my dad wrote to Fred,” Sturm said.
After Sommer read the letters on Memorial Day, she came across a post by Medal Mulisha about Fonda. Not knowing anything about the site, she was convinced it was a sign from her father and Fonda that they are reunited in Heaven.
Since then, the women have been working to see if their father’s letters are somewhere out there by researching Fonda’s family and trying to connect with the relatives they find. They were able to contact a cousin of his in Italy, but that person was not able to help and said communication with the Italian relatives dwindled after Fonda died.
They discovered Fonda had a sister named Anna and, as of February, are still searching for her. Strum said she would be 103 years old, and could possibly be deceased, but neither one of them have found an obituary for her.
Sturm did some digging and found who she thought owned the former Fonda home in Linden, but he was a renter.
“I was hoping and praying in some way, shape, matter or form that maybe the letters that dad wrote Fred were sitting in the attic of the house,” Sturm said. “You never know.”
Navy Lt. Fred Fonda and shipmates on board the USS Greene. Susan Sitarski Sturm
The renter put her in contact with the property owner, who knew of Fonda’s story, but he told Sturm he was not the one who purchased the home directly after the Fonda family lived there.
Though the women are unsure of the letters’ whereabouts, they did receive some insight into what their father might have written to Fonda during a project with Voyage Media’s True War Stories: Mission Report.
In a Feb. 6 podcast episode titled “A Wartime Hero’s Letters,” the show used Sturm’s and Sommer’s research and Fonda’s letters to reconstruct what Sitarski might have said back to Fonda. Because of the 42-minute episode, the sisters were able to imagine what their father’s letters looked like.
“Oh my gosh, I feel like I knew dad when he was 18, 19, 20 years old,” Sturm said.
Though their mission is not yet complete, Sturm said simply finding Fonda’s letters to her father was “so wonderful.”
She added that sharing the stories of veterans, even from decades ago, is “crucially important” so that “people continue to understand what these men and women do to protect us” and are aware of the dedication and sacrifice involved.
Also see: Findagrave Memorial, Fonda Military