The Fonda Blog

Longtime University Professor Honors Mother, Assists Students by Establishing New Endowed Scholarship

President Bob Suzuki accepts a check for $10,000 from Animal & Veterinary Sciences professor Edward Fonda. The donation will fund a new endowed scholarship at Cal Poly Pomona.

Ed Fonda remembers how his mother influenced him and his sister to pursue advanced degrees. Each eventually obtained a Ph.D., degrees that opened doors of opportunity in both their lives.

Mary McNellis Fonda passed away in February 2001. Ed Fonda, in his 20th year at Cal Poly Pomona where he is presently professor and chair of the university’s Animal & Veterinary Sciences Department, has chosen to honor his mother’s memory by establishing the Mary McNellis Fonda Scholarship.

“My mother was so supportive of education. The mother of two kids, she came from a farm, became a nurse, earned two masters degrees and eventually became head of nursing administration for a large hospital in New Orleans,” says Fonda. “She encouraged me and my sister to continue our education. I see this as a wonderful tribute, establishing a memorial that will enable other students to further their educational dreams.”

The Mary McNellis Fonda Scholarship will be awarded each year by the College of Agriculture through the Cal Poly Pomona University Educational Trust. It will annually recognize a full-time student who is a U.S. citizen with a GPA of 3.0 or higher majoring in Animal & Veterinary Sciences. First preference will be given to a qualified graduate student.

“My mother had two graduate degrees and encouraged both her children to get graduate degrees, so I believe it’s fitting we try to recognize a graduate student with this award,” adds Fonda. “So many times scholarships are established for undergraduates and we may forget the importance of graduate training. I feel this is a good chance to create an opportunity for those students looking to continue their educations.”

Fonda’s $10,000 gift creates a continuing endowment for the scholarship. After one year, that endowment will qualify for matching funds provided by the Kellogg Foundation.

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Further details from Inland Valley Daily Bulletin (Ontario, CA) – May 3, 2002:

When Mary McNellis Fonda died February 2001, her son, Upland resident Ed Fonda, feared her passion for healing, education and animals would die with her.  To perpetuate his mother’s fine qualities, which others shared, Fonda established the Mary McNellis Fonda Scholarship fund.  The scholarship will be awarded each year to a Cal Poly Pomona student majoring in animal and veterinary science.  Additional criteria for the scholarship include being a United States citizen and holding at least a 3.0 grade-point average. First consideration for the scholarship will be given to graduate students.

Fonda is a professor and the chairman of the university’s animal and veterinary sciences department. He started the fund with a personal $10,000 donation which was matched 50 percent by the Kellogg foundation. The first recipient will be chosen in late May by a committee made up of the agricultural department’s faculty.  The amount of the annual scholarship will vary from year to year depending on interest earned from the principal, Fonda said.

He chose this type of scholarship because his mother was born on and raised on a farm; and Cal Poly’s picturesque setting, rolling hills and lush landscaping would make the perfect backdrop for his mother’s lasting tribute.  “My mother would have loved this place,’ said Fonda about the university where he has taught for more than 20 years.

Fonda’s mother was born in 1913 and grew up on her family’s farm in Iowa. She was one of three children whose parents valued education. Though she was a young woman who became college age during the depression, her father insisted she further her education. She graduated from Iowa State University with a bachelor’s degree in nursing.  McNellis married Ed Fonda Sr. and the couple had two children. She worked as an Registered Nurse until her husband died in 1953, then she packed up her kids and moved back to the farm.

She loved the outdoors and the animals. Fonda said his mother believed that her children would benefit greatly from growing up on a farm as she had.  The Fondas raised cattle, pigs and turkeys. Their farm also grew such crops as wheat, soybeans and corn.  “She was tiny and she was tough,’ Fonda said of his mother. “She could drive any type of farm equipment work any piece of heavy machinery. She was amazing.’

Though his mother valued the practical education her children were receiving from farm life, she held formal education in the highest regard and moved back to the city where she believed there were more educational opportunities, Fonda said.  McNellis Fonda herself went back to school and earned two master’s degrees: one in nursing and the other in nursing administration.  She eventually became the the director of nursing at a large hospital in New Orleans.

Her example influenced both her children. Fonda has a bachelor’s degree in biology from Tulane University in New Orleans, a master’s from Louisiana State University in reproductive physiology and a Ph.D. in animal science and reproductive physiology from the University of Georgia.

Fonda’s sister, Jean Westin-Legotic has a Ph.D. in art history from Pennsylvania State University and a law degree from the University of Florida.  “My mother was a great lady and I miss her greatly,’ Fonda said.  It was because of all his admiration for his mother that Fonda wanted to create a lasting memorial for her.

“There were so many things I could have done, but I wanted to do something that really represented what she was all about,’ he said. “I couldn’t think of anything better than something that helped students further their education especially in an area she held so dear.’

Diana Sholley can be reached by e-mail at d_sholley@dailybulletin.com or by phone at (909) 483-8542.

written by admin \\ tags: Achievements, Biographies, Education, West Coast

Attorney Honored with Community Service Award

Fayette County resident and attorney Angela Hinton Fonda was recently awarded the Justice Robert Benham Award for Community Service, presented by the State Bar of Georgia and the Chief Justice’s Commission on Professionalism. She was the 6th Judicial District recipient at the 11th annual award presentation Feb. 16 at the State Bar Center in Atlanta.

Fayette resident and Atlanta Assistant City Attorney Angela Hinton Fonda (far left) recently received the Justice Robert Benham Award for Community Service presented by the State Bar of Georgia and the Chief Justice’s Commission of Professionalism. Joining Hinton Fonda at the ceremony were (from left) Fayette County DFCS board member Pete Nelms, Fayette County Commission Chairman Jack Smith, therapeutic counselor Connie Thomas and Carol Nelms.

“Although I am deeply humbled for being selected for the Justice Benham Award for Community Service, I regard it as an affirmation of the values of Fayette County,” Hinton Fonda said. “I was, and am, honored to have been chosen to serve with the wonderful members of the Fayette County DFCS (Dept. of Family & Children’s Services) Board. Fayette residents are kind and generous in times of trouble. I am glad to have the opportunity to contribute to our community in such meaningful ways and I am proud to call Fayette County my home.”

Hinton Fonda last week commented on her service with Fayette County DFCS and on some of the aspects of of that service that put an undeniable human face on those receiving services.

“In the course of my service on the Board, I discovered that children who were aging out of foster care were sent off to college, trade schools or independent life with their belongings in trash bags. What a humiliating message for those children. I thought about what it must be like to arrive at school alone, with no one to fret over whether your room will be comfortable or whether you have enough study snacks. The absence of a parent can be explained, but the indignity of bringing everything you own in trash bags has no easy explanation,” Hinton Fonda said. “Community leaders and churches donate backpacks and school supplies for grade school and high school students but there is, generally, no collection for students aging out of care. After getting an assessment of needs from Fayette DFCS, I got community members to buy brand new suitcases for the college students. We put a set of towels and an alarm clock with a battery backup in the bags and gave them to DFCS to pass along. The point was to give the newly-independent young people the appearance of normalcy, and a few ‘life tools,’ for this new phase of their lives. I anticipate an expanded effort in the coming months.”

Hinton Fonda was nominated by therapeutic counselor Connie Biemiller Thomas for her work on the Fayette DFCS Board and on behalf of families and children in crisis and based on a career-long history of community service and involvement in Fayette County and in Chatham County, her previous home.

In addition to her work with the Fayette DFCS board, Hinton Fonda led a Leadership Fayette project with the assistance of the Southside Chapter of the Georgia Association of Women Lawyers to collect career-appropriate clothing for women at the Promise Place domestic violence program.
“We received donations from as far away as Alpharetta and the donations included shoes, purses, and scarves, all of the ‘uniform’ elements of a successful interview candidate. It is my hope that the clothing will be a confidence booster to the recipients as they build independent lives,” Hinton Fonda said.

Since 1998, the Justice Robert Benham Awards for Community Service have been presented to honor lawyers and judges in Georgia who have made significant contributions to their communities and demonstrate the positive contributions of members of the State Bar of Georgia beyond their legal or official work.

Bar members have served a wide range of community organizations, government-sponsored activities, and humanitarian efforts. Their fields of service include: youth athletics and mentoring programs, literacy programs, social and support services, church and religious activities, politics, conservation and the environment, promotion and support for legal aid programs, community development, health, education, sports, recreation, and the arts.
The awards recognize the commitment of Georgia lawyers to volunteerism, encourage all lawyers to become involved in community service, improve the quality of lawyers’ lives through the satisfaction they derive from helping others and raise the public image of lawyers.

Hinton Fonda serves as Atlanta senior assistant city attorney and holds a J.D. from Duke University and a B.A. cum laude State University of New York at Albany.

Among her many accomplishments with the Georgia Bar Association and the American Bar Association, Hinton Fonda also affiliated with the Promise Place Women’s Shelter, the Arts Leadership League of Georgia, the Georgia Association of Woman Lawyers and the State Bar Fee Arbitration Panel.

New vehicles granted to county departments

Fayette County resident and Atlanta attorney Angela Hinton Fonda was also applauded for her commitment to public service. Fayette Commission Chairman Jack Smith recognized her for receiving the Justice Robert Benham Award for Community Service. The State Bar of Georgia selected Fonda for the prestigious award, which Smith said she was very deserving of. He also noted Fonda’s diligence as a board member of the Fayette County Department of Children and Family Services.

written by admin \\ tags: Achievements, Business, Legal, SouthEast

Fonda-Fultonville stops Watervliet for Class B title

Hidde leads Braves to first sectional crown since 1970

2010 Section II Class B Champion Fonda-Fultonville Braves

Glens Falls – The drought is over.  The Fonda-Fultonville boys basketball team downed Watervliet 62-54 in the Section II Class B final at the Glens Falls Civic Center on Sunday to clinch the program’s first sectional title since the 1969-1970 season.

Seth Hidde scored 22 points and pulled down nine rebounds to lead the top-seeded Braves (22-0 overall) and keep their perfect season alive.  “It feels great,” Hidde said on winning the title. “That was a good team effort for us on both sides of the ball. Both teams played well, but it was a good feeling to get a sectional title after coming up short the past few years.”

FFCS was making its fourth trip to the Glens Falls Civic Center in the last five years. This season was the first time the Braves advanced to the finals, and they made the most of it.  Hidde scored six of the Braves’ first eight points to help FFCS jump out to an 8-2 lead. He also scored six points, while keying a 12-0 run in the third quarter to help the Braves distance themselves from the Cannoneers.

“A lot of guys were finding me with good passes,” Hidde said. “Our chemistry was flowing all game. Everyone had their heads up looking for people, and we were dishing the ball around, making good passes for easy shots.”  Hidde finished with 12 points in the quarter; including two three-point plays to help FFCS outscore Watervliet 27-15 in the period and take a 52-35 lead into the fourth quarter.

“Seth [Hidde] is a great player and a phenomenal athlete,” Fonda-Fultonville coach Eric Wilson said. “It was nice to see him break out a little bit and get some opportunities where he caught the ball in good spots. He was finishing his shots and had some huge rebounds for us. It’s nice to see him step up for us in a game like this.”

FFCS never allowed Watervliet (18-4 overall) to get into its trademark run-and-gun transition offense, holding Section II’s top scoring team 17 points under its average.  “It was a total team effort,” Wilson said. “The kids came out focused, and I think we had a pretty good game plan going in, and we executed it.”   (…)

FFCS silenced its critics during the run to the Class B crown. The Braves beat three Colonial Council teams, a league in which they’ll be moving to next season, as well as local rival Johnstown.  “Since we are in a lower league, people don’t think we’re that good,” Hall said. “But we’re definitely good, and we proved it tonight.”

Hidde was named the tournament’s most valuable player.  “That caught me off guard,” Hidde said with a laugh. “I didn’t see that coming, but it’s definitely a good feeling.”  He was joined on the all-tournament team by teammate Brandon Mercado, Watervliet’s Jordan Gleason and Nick Durocher, Johnstown’s Ian Yost, and Schenectady Christian’s Chris McCarty.

FFCS advances to the regional semifinals where it will face Section VII champion Plattsburgh (17-4 overall) on Friday at 6 p.m. at Hudson Valley Community College. The winner moves on to face Section X champion Potsdam (18-2 overall) in regional finals on Saturday at HVCC.

“I couldn’t be more proud of the group of guys in there,” Wilson said of his team. “They deserve this. They have worked so hard this year and have been committed and dedicated. They work hard every day in practice. I’m happy for them.”

written by admin \\ tags: Achievements, Montgomery Co., Sports, Village of Fonda

The Prince Street House

“The Prince Street House,” located on Prince Street in Berkeley’s south end, is filled with messy-hair-sporting, big-glasses-wearing, thrift-store-junkie type kids drinking cheap wine. Milling around the collection of paintings, photographs and other mixed media, Anthony Fonda instructs the crowd to go ahead and listen to that music on the Ipod nailed to the wall. It works and yes, it’s art.

Fonda, an eccentric local artist from West Oakland, was showing at the Prince Street House art show Saturday night along with many other local artists. Fonda, with his piercing black eyes and the wild hand gestures he threw while speaking about just about anything, stood out amongst the other artists by his palpable passion for creating.  Desiree Dedolce, who has known Fonda since he moved to Oakland two years ago, gushes of the passion Fonda feels for things in his life. “He goes 100 percent for whatever he wants. He just manifests things, I wish I had that trait,” says Dedolce.

West Oakland Beat

Fonda, 24, originally from Santa Monica, California, moved up to the Bay Area in August 2007 to escape the dead-end road he was traveling on.  “I just worked two sh–ty jobs in restaurants, making no money and unable to make art from the hours,” said Fonda. “I just packed up and left trying to find an environment I fit into better.”  He could not have found a better place. Fonda lives in the Vulcan Lofts on West Oakland’s San Leandro Street. These lofts and others located in West Oakland’s warehouses are a popular place for young artists to take over.

Although Fonda says there is no “real apex” for the art scene in the East Bay, West Oakland seems to be one of them. The cheap rent and relative freedom an artist has to do what he or she wants with the property keeps the art scene strong in this part of Oakland. Young artists are able to live in the many warehouse lofts for rent hovering around $100 to $200 a person, if they decided to live with others.  Artists from West Oakland, and other parts of the Bay Area, will get together and hold events to showcase their budding talents. Interdisciplinary shows are mostly on the bill, which include an assortment of different media, music, painting, collage, performance art, and interactive art.

Fonda’s passion for art crosses many mediums, but his main focus is paint and collage. At the recent art show at “The Prince Street House,” Fonda showcased two huge oil paint portraits of a pelican and a zebra. Both, though dull in color mostly, had such detail and layering it looked as if the animals were alive within the canvas.  Swapping is a main factor Fonda focuses on in his interview. He speaks often of the “art world” and those who inhabit it with such distaste. “I’m into swaps because artists don’t have a bunch of money,” says Fonda. “The art world is full of elitists who use money to buy creativity, galleries are full of garbage.”

“People like to buy into that sh-t, the art scene, young people scene. It’s all about appealing to someone,” said Fonda.  Where does school fall into place with these kids, and even Fonda? Many of the young artists have been to some form of instruction yet most drop out after a few years. Elise Mahan, an art history major at San Francisco State University, says she can see where the mindset of these kids comes from.  “I think they see art as an extension of themselves and not necessarily as a career,” says Mahan, “When they are in school they feel like it is as if they are working towards a career, that takes the passion out of it, makes it mechanical.”  It’s not something Fonda has a choice in either. When asked if he ever thought about quitting art he said, “it’s not something you quit, it’s not an occupation.”  Fonda’s philosophy on life seems very Marxist in nature. The swapping of goods according to one’s ability, the communal living and the freedom of “chance operations” would suggest this.

Fonda hopes to perpetuate the environment he so craves and to keep the creative spirit alive in his neighborhood of Oakland. A steady art space and “maybe” an art buyer, someone to commission and sell his art for him, are two of his main dreams.  “I want a place where kids can come and just create,” says Fonda, “ trade pieces, just keep the flow of creative ideas out there.”  Every hello is triumphant, every good bye a heartbreak with Fonda. In his usual dominant manner he exclaims, “Here’s your theme, I’m looking to be successful as an anti-academic, which will probably fail, but I have a lot of fun.”

Posted by Jocie at 2:33 PM

written by admin \\ tags: Achievements, Art, Blogs, West Coast

Gotta be “Fonda” the Tigers

Vohland Fonda running for Caruthersville Tigers

Caruthersville, MO — Something had to give going into Monday night’s second-round playoff game between the Caruthersville Tigers (10-2) and Crystal City (7-5) at Hopke Field.  The Hornets came in averaging 46 points per game in its last four contests, while the Tigers’ defense had allowed just six points and pitched three straight shutouts during that same span.  The CHS defense bent, but did not break and allowed only a last second score in dominating the visitors 35-6 to advance to the round three Saturday at Brentwood.

Meanwhile, the Tigers got five touchdowns and 278 yards on 30 carries from star running back Vohland Fonda, who continued his impressive run in the playoffs. Fonda has now rushed for 550 yards and eight touchdowns in the two Caruthersville wins.  Caruthersville coach Brad Gerling said he challenged the Tigers to be at their best on every play and they delivered.  “That is what they stepped up and did. I really think they answered that call this week. They came out and battled on every single snap whether it was nothing to nothing at the beginning of the game or 35 to nothing at the end of the game.” (…)

Middleton hit speedy Peter Lloyd for gains of 15 and 35 yards and after two runs by Antonio Hopkins out of the “Wild Tiger” set netted 18 yards, Fonda took it in from 22 yards out at the 1:11 mark to make it 6-0. Jeffery Massengale, who was a perfect 5-for-5 on the night, added the PAT to make it 7-0. (…)

Middleton found Lloyd for a 29-yard hookup on third-and-12, with Lloyd making a circus catch to keep the drive alive. Three plays later, Fonda made it 14-0 with a nine-yard run with 2:41 left in the half. (…)

The Tigers got a first down and goal from inside the one yard line when Smith hauled in a 28-yard reception from Middleton, but were unable to punch it in on two running plays to Fonda before Middleton was picked off in the end zone. (…)

A late hit by Crystal City on Fonda set up the Tigers’ third score. Fonda then took it from midfield to the house with 5:33 left in the third quarter to make it 21-0.  Fonda added a 12-yard TD run with 3:06 left in the third quarter to make it 28-0 and the Tigers invoked the mercy clock on an opponent for the second week in a row when Fonda broke a 94-yard touchdown run with under 30 seconds left in the third quarter.  (…)

Vohland Fonda was selected for the 2009 Semo-Central All-Conference Team 1st Team.

Also see article on the Caruthersville Basketball Team.

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