Nov 12

Internet café opens at Utica veterans center

By Emerson Clarridge, Observer-Dispatch

Posted Nov 07, 2009 @ 08:31 PM

William Fonda of Utica mingles during the grand opening of the Central new York Veterans Outreach Center's "The Bunker" internet cafe in Utica, Saturday, November 7, 2009.  Dave Londres / Observer-Dispatch

William Fonda of Utica mingles during the grand opening of the Central new York Veterans Outreach Center’s “The Bunker” internet cafe in Utica, Saturday, November 7, 2009. Dave Londres / Observer-Dispatch

UTICA — When he returned from Iraq in early 2005, Army veteran Gary Matt was quickly caught in labyrinthine bureaucracy.  Medical appointments often sent the 30-year-old Utica man to Syracuse.  “Even just going out to Rome is a pain,” he said.

Matt’s experience is typical of the disarray that meets former military men and women once they’ve left the battlefield and returned home, said Army veteran Vincent Scalise, who served with Matt.  “The government does what they can,” he said.  Yet often, he said, the assistance falls short.

To ease the transition to civilian life, Scalise began year ago to head an effort to convert the former 87,000-square-foot YMCA building on Washington Street in Utica into a single-stop veterans’ service clearinghouse that offers advice on legal matters, employment assistance and counseling.  Many of the services already are available at the Central New York Veterans Outreach Center, and construction began last week on 15 transitional housing units – apartments for veterans struggling to find a place to live – that Scalise said he hopes will be ready in mid-2010.

The center’s most recent addition is a first-floor coffee shop and Internet café called The Bunker, which celebrated its grand opening Saturday night to a steady flow of patrons.  Computers will be available from early morning to late at night so veterans can fill out online forms for Veterans Administration assistance and access the Internet for other purposes.  The space will be open to veterans and nonveterans.

“I want people from all different walks of life,” Scalise said.  Jessica Perusse, the center’s head social worker, said “it’s a very relaxing, calm space.”  A formal flag-raising, ribbon-cutting and open house is scheduled for Wednesday, Veteran’s Day.

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Sep 05

168th Fonda Fair – September 1 – 7

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Aug 05

Provincie Fryslân is inviting Americans with Frisian roots for a Festival and Friesland Day in New York

Thursday, 18 june 2009

Friesland (one of the northern provinces of the Netherlands) is inviting Frisian emigrants, descendants of immigrants and other Americans with Frisian roots for the Special Friesland Day on September 12th at the New isLand Festival in New York. By logging on to www.fryslan.nl/madeinfriesland interested parties can visit the festival at a discount.

This year the Netherlands are commemorating and celebrating 400 years of friendship ties with America. The province of Fryslân (Friesland) will also participate in the festivities in New York in September. The highlight is the Friesland Day on September 12th at the New isLand Festival on Governors Island off the coast of Manhattan. Frisian emigrants, descendants of immigrants and other Americans with Frisian roots will have the opportunity to visit the festival on September 12th, or any other day. For a pass giving access to the festival site, they do not pay USD 35, but only USD 25.

NYC Governors Island

Friesland Day: September 12th
The Frisian Oerol organization, together with several other organizations, is organizing the New isLand Festival on Governors Island. From September 10th to 20th 2009 the theme on the island will be the best the Dutch (and Frisian) theater and festival circuit has to offer. A number of Frisian artists will be performing. On September 12th Friesland Day will take place. This is a special day for everyone who feels connected with Friesland. During the day a book will be presented on 400 years of Frisian – American relationships. Also Frisian artists will be performing, such as the composer Sytze Pruiksma, fado singer Nynke Laverman and the striking poet Tsjêbbe Hettinga.

Frisian contingent gets sending off to festival in NYC Sept 10-20

Frisian contingent gets sending off to festival in NYC Sept 10-20

Signing up through the website
Interested parties can sign up through the dedicated website www.fryslan.nl/madeinfriesland. Submissions will be treated in order of entry. A limited number of discount vouchers is available. The discount card voucher can be exchanged for a discount on the pass on the day of choice.

Background information
In 2009 it has been 400 years since Captain Henry Hudson with his Dutch East India Company ship the ‘Halve Maen’ visited what is now known as New York. This led to the founding of the colony of New Netherland and the city of New Amsterdam on Manhattan a few years later. These historical facts are cause for various governments and organizations to give a new impulse to the relationship between the Netherlands and the United States. Given the particular historical relationship of Friesland with America, the province will join in the commemoration of 400 years of friendship with America. In February 1782 the Frisian States were the first in the Republic of the United Netherlands to recognize the independence of the United States of America. In 2009 it has also been exactly a century ago that a bronze plaque, the Memorial of Gratitude to the Frisian States was offered by America.

With the slogan ‘Made in Friesland’ the province, together with Frisian companies and institutions, will be presenting the qualities of Friesland. The aim is to strengthen existing relationships and explore new ones. From September 1st to 20th various activities will be organized in New York, such as a presentation on water technology at the H209 Water Forum, the opening of the Fryslân House for entrepreneurs and Friesland Day during the New isLand Festival on Governors Island.

For more information on the New isLand Festival, visit www.newislandfestival.com.

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Mar 01

AC Fonda – Charleston Stop

Anthony Cornelius Fonda (1818-1893) was the 6th of 10 children born to Cornelius Isaac and Alida VanVranken Fonda of Albany, New York.  He was baptized at the Boght Becker Reformed Dutch Church in Colonie, NY.  AC came from a family of farmers, but he took an interest in education.  In 1839 he graduated Phi Beta Kappa in Latin Salutatory from Union College in Schenectady.  He may have completed graduate work as well, as he practiced law in the area for a few years.  For unknown reasons,  AC headed south to teach in Natchez, stopping in Charleston, MS overnight… and he never left.  He married Mary Kernes Worley in 1842, in Charleston and had two children; after her death, he married Delilah Catherine Howard in 1854, in Charleston and had nine children. He taught school in the Rocky Branch community; in 1853 he was appointed surveyor for Tallahatchie County. He enlisted in the Confederate Army in 1862, joining Company I (Ballentine’s Regiment) of the 2nd Partisan Rangers of MS serving as SGT. In 1882 he became the first Superintendent of Education in the county. He had an active role in organizing three Presbyterian churches in Charleston, Pine Hill and New Hope.  He died May 20 1893, near Charleston, MS and is buried in Rowland Cemetery, Tallahatchie, MS.  AC Fonda had 11 children, 31 grandchildren and 123 great grandchildren.  There is a family reunion each year in Charleston, MS.

Photos courtesy Greg Stewart.

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Dec 20

Local veteran presented Bronze Star

The Leader-Herald, December 20, 2008

Johnstown, NY – After waiting more than 40 years to receive official recognition for heroic military service, Joseph Fonda had a tough time waiting one more night. “He couldn’t sleep at all,” said his wife, Charlene, with a laugh.

U.S. Rep. Michael McNulty presents the Bronze Star Medal to Joseph F. Fonda in Johnstown on Friday. The Montgomery County man served heroically in the Vietnam War in 1967 and ’68. (The Leader-Herald/Bill Trojan)

On Friday morning, Fonda was finally honored. At the Fulton County Office Building, U.S. Rep. Michael McNulty presented a Bronze Star Medal to Fonda as his family watched with tears in their eyes. “It is my honor to make this presentation,” McNulty said. “The Bronze Star Medal is presented to very few individuals.” The act of Congress that established the medal says it recognizes “heroic or meritorious achievement or service … in connection with military operations against an armed enemy.”

Fonda, who grew up in the village that shares his name, went to Vietnam on July 20, 1967, as part of an infantry unit. He was 17 years old. “I volunteered to draft, and I volunteered to go to Vietnam. After that, I learned not to volunteer anymore,” he said, laughing.

On Nov. 7, 1967, 4th Spc. Fonda’s unit was stationed between a cemetery and a bridge in a Vietnamese village. “When the engineers left it that night, it kept getting blown up, so we were platoons on it every night to guard it so it got built all the way,” Fonda said. Fonda’s platoon was attacked. His men moved to go past the bridge, but Fonda stayed behind to try and protect them.

“They were doing good, but I just figured that, to get it so those guys could get out of there, I had to stay there and give them cover fire until they got past the bridge,” Fonda said. Fonda remained at the site and used up all of his ammunition in order to defend his position, throwing grenades behind him to try and defend his men. He also ordered his men to evacuate a wounded soldier that night.

He left Vietnam in July 1968. Years later, Fonda had settled in Glen. His old lieutenants encouraged him to try and pursue the award. Fonda thought paperwork detailing his accomplishment that could have made him eligible for the award was lost in the Tet Offensive. “All I know is I didn’t get it,” he said. McNulty aide Terri Jasewicz said she helped Fonda put in a request for the award through the National Personnel Records Center, but she said the process was “very time consuming.” “They needed more information. They went through that four or five times,” she said.

Finally, earlier this week, Jasewicz received a call that the request was finally successful. She called Fonda immediately. Preparations were made quickly, and McNulty, D-Green Island, was able to come and present the award before he leaves office Jan. 3. “Usually, it isn’t in a circumstance like this, when the individual being honored should have been presented with the award years ago,” McNulty said.

Thankfully, Fonda said, he has family to share in his joy. “It’s kind of more scary now, when you think about it, than when I done it, because you’re younger, and you just go for it,” he said. “Later on in life, when you have kids, grandkids, you start to think about it, thinking about the guys that died that don’t have what I got. That’s the sad part.”

Fonda said he has recently noticed others taking stock of sacrifices soldiers make. On Thursday, as he was getting a haircut in Scotia before his big day, his barber noticed his jacket emblazoned with a Purple Heart logo. The two got to talking about the war, and when Fonda went to pay for his trim, his young barber told him that the service was free, thanks to the service he had provided for his country.

“It’s like everyone’s starting to realize something, getting more patriotic,” Fonda said. “And that makes me feel good. People are starting to recognize what people do in the military.” He said he would be able to move on emotionally from receiving such an honor. “It means a lot to me, but it’s not going to change my life, I know that,” Fonda said. Still, Charlene Fonda said her husband might finally get some peace. “He’s very deserving of it,” she said, dabbing away tears. “He’s waited a long, long time. I hope this puts some of it to rest.”

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