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Dec 20
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Mountains to Miracles veteran gift drive a success
Posted by Recorder News – Dec 19, 2017 – by Chantelle DeRose, Recorder News Staff
Chantelle DeRose/Recorder staff
Mountains to Miracles Veterans’ Foundation Office Manager Charlene Fonda organizes donated gifts for veterans.
A gift drive for local veterans and their loyal service dogs was held recently through the Mountains to Miracles Veterans Foundation office on West Main Street.
Mountains to Miracles — an organization founded in 2012 by Tribes Hill native Paul DuBois — provides a plethora of services to local veterans including support groups, transportation, personal care items, furniture, food, clothing and referrals for treatment of depression and similar illnesses. DuBois and a group of volunteers eventually formed the Woofs for Warriors Project following the success of Mountains to Miracles. The program matches local veterans suffering with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, traumatic brain injury and military sexual trauma with service dogs. To date, a total of 61 dogs have been placed with veterans in need.
A holiday gift drive, overseen by the Amsterdam Office Manager Charlene Fonda, turned out to be a major success. Donations for the drive were made by the Glen Reformed Church, the Glen-Mohawk VFW Post 942 and the county Christian Women’s Group. Donations from Johnstown, Burtonsville and local farmers were collected for the drive as well. A check in the amount of $1,000 was also presented by representatives from the Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers’ Local Union No. 83 in Clifton Park.
Mountains to Miracles Veterans Foundation (MMVF) is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization established to help and serve our veterans in the Northeast who are in need.
According to Fonda, Woofs for Warriors adopts suitable dogs from shelters or rescue groups. The dogs are then trained and the program attempts to help with the cost of veterinary services and dog food. Local veteran Scott Clancy said the program has had a profound impact on his life. Kent, a 6-year-old Boxador, was placed with Clancy on May 18 in 2016. “He knows what he needs to do for me if my PTSD kicks up. Even if he’s laying down, he’ll come and he’ll push me back,” Clancy said. “He keeps track of my blood sugar. He’ll turn the lights on for me when I go home and he’ll search the house to make sure nobody is in there.”
Clancy also said that Kent goes shopping with him and sits behind him to make sure he isn’t startled. Kent also knows how to hand Clancy his medication if he is unable to reach it himself. “It’s amazing what they can teach these dogs,” Fonda said. “The vets would be lost without them.” Clancy said he has seen the program grow since Kent came into his life. “When I got Kent there was only about 20 dogs [with the program]. Since I’ve had Kent over 60 dogs now have been placed,” Clancy said. “They find a good match for the vets. He was probably the sixth or seventh dog. They went around the country looking before they got him in South Carolina.”
Clancy said his life was “a mess” before Kent became his service dog. He described himself and Kent as “the perfect pair.” “Everything about having him is something I didn’t expect. Years ago, I never even would have considered it. He’s actually given me my life back,” Clancy said. “Life right now is actually pretty good. It still has its moments when things get hairy, but I’ve got Kent to help me.”
Fonda said that the not-for-profit organization is in need of donations now that Christmas is quickly approaching. Large scale gift drives, Fonda said, usually deplete much of the organization’s funding. Monetary donations to assist veterans with rent, heating, utilities, food and any other service they need can be made payable to: Mountains to Miracles Veterans’ Foundation. 347 West Main St., Amsterdam, NY 12010. Those wishing to donate can also contact the office by calling 518-842-6683.
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Aug 25
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Big plans in Fonda’s future
The Leader-Herald – August 25, 2017 – Kerry Minor, Reporter, kminor@leaderherald.com
Shown are conceptual plans for the future of Fonda. (The Leader-Herald/Kerry Minor)
Fonda – The village is planning a new comprehensive plan to plot out what the future of the village might look like. During Tuesday’s unveiling for the new Nathan Littauer Primary Care center, village mayor Bill Peeler discussed the plan, and how the new facility fits into it.
Peeler said the comprehensive plan will serve as a map of the wants of the community. He said the goal is to make sure village residents are getting what they want and not just what village officials preserve them as wanting. “We have a lot of ideas, but we want to make sure that is the vision that our people have,” Peeler said.
Peeler said the village has involved both communities and businesses both in and out of the village in the comprehensive plan. He said a draft plan has been created. Peeler said he is asking residents to let village officials know what they want to see and why they have chosen to live here. “This will go out to the public for approval and changes, amendments and the like, because we want to make sure what ever we are shaping is exactly what folks in our community want to have,” Peeler said.
Primary considerations for the plan is infrastructure and its impact on development. “We cannot have facilities like [Nathan Littauer Primary Care] if we cannot provide them proper services,” Peeler said.
Village Mayor Bill Peeler speaks during the event. (The Leader-Herald/Kerry Minor)
Peeler said recreational facilities are also part of it, along with historical preservation. Residential improvements to the older inventory of homes and creating new housing are touched upon in the plan. Economical development, disaster mitigation and fiscal planning are all a part of the plan. Peeler said the village is also looking at shared services, including meeting with the village of Fultonville. “A river does not separate us, it’s just a river. We are Fonda-Fultonville. We will always be Fonda-Fultonville,” Peeler said. “We want to work with our neighboring communities to keep improving not just our community, but their communities as well.”
Peeler said the village will look into creating a zoning plan. He said Fonda is one of only two communities in Montgomery County without zoning. “That is going to be vital to us getting grant funding,” Peeler said. The plans are not just economic however, Peeler said the village is looking to bring entertainment to the village park with a stage for concerts and other events and creating a campground facility.
Peeler said the county’s plan to move out of the Park Street Office Building and DPW facility will help the village with its waterfront vision. Peeler said the Park Street Building could be turned into condominiums and the DPW facility could be turned into an entrance to the campground. “The goal of our efforts is to make our community a place where we can enjoy our rural culture while seizing economic opportunities. A place you would want to come to visit and live,” he said.
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Mar 21
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15-Year-Old Cancer Patient Meets Tennis Star Andy Murray
By Laura Rodriguez – Friday, Mar 21, 2014
Kyle Fonda, a 15-year-old battling Hodgkin’s Lymphoma had the opportunity to meet tennis player Andy Murray, thanks to the Make-A-Wish foundation.
Kyle Fonda made a wish and it came true. The 15-year-old with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma met tennis player Andy Murray and also got to practice with the champion on a Sony Open court. The Make-A-Wish Foundation flew Fonda and his family down from Gloversville, New York, to Miami to make his wish come true.
“It was awesome. To hit with Andy Murray, it was just really cool,” said Kyle Fonda. The teen was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma six months ago. He is now in remission and was able to make the trip to meet his favorite athlete.
“I hope he has a great day and if I contributed a little bit towards that then great,” said Andy Murray. Fonda has only been playing tennis for about two years, but Murray says he put on a pretty good match.
“He was better than my hitting partner today, that’s for sure. My hitting partner was making a lot of mistakes. But [Kyle] was good,” joked Murray. After playing tennis with Murray, posing for pictures, and getting fitted with Fila tennis gear, Kyle received much more than he wished for. The teen also got to watch Rafael Nadal practice and sat in at a press conference with more of the sport’s best players.
“It’s just awesome,” said Fonda. Kyle also got a tour of the Sony Open Tournament facilities. On Friday, he will have the opportunity to flip the coin prior to Murray’s match.
Wish Granted
His name won’t show up on the Sony Open score sheets, but Kyle Fonda hit some of the most memorable shots against defending champion Andy Murray on Thursday morning.
Kyle Fonda, 15, got to hit balls with his idol, Sony Open defending champion Andy Murray.
Fonda, a 15-year-old from Gloversville, N.Y., has Hodgkin’s lymphoma and spent the day at the tournament through the Make-a-Wish Foundation. Fonda plays tennis for his high school team, and his wish was to attend the Sony Open and meet Murray, his favorite player.
He got to hit with the world No. 6 and attend Murray’s news conference. He also met Federer and Nadal, and attended Serena Williams’ afternoon match. He was outfitted with FILA shoes, shirt, shorts and socks. He will be back Friday night to see Murray begin defense of his Sony title against Matthew Ebden on Stadium Court.
“It was really awesome to meet Andy,” Fonda said. “He took it easy on me. I’ve only been playing tennis for two years, but it’s my favorite sport. When they first told me about this wish being granted, I didn’t believe it. I believed it when we got on the airplane.”
Fonda was accompanied by his father, Tim, mother, Amy, and siblings Josh, 18, and Caitlyn, 11. Asked what most surprised him about meeting the world’s top tennis players, Fonda smiled and said: “They’re just normal people.”
Consider supporting Make-A-Wish
April 14, 2014 – The Leader Herald
I know a lot of charities are worthy of your attention and contributions, but I want to take this opportunity to tell you about my family’s experience with the Make-A-Wish Foundation. The foundation generously granted a wish for my son Kyle, who is a cancer patient. Kyle, a tennis enthusiast, wished to watch a professional tennis tournament and meet tennis star Andy Murray.
The foundation and its remarkable wish makers and volunteers got right to work on Kyle’s request. They sent Kyle and his immediate family to the Sony Open tennis tournament in Miami. The foundation spent thousands of dollars to fly us from Albany, N.Y., to Miami, put us up in an upscale hotel and give us VIP treatment at the tennis tournament. Kyle not only was able to meet Andy Murray, but actually play tennis with him on a practice court. Kyle also met several other players such as Roger Federer and Serena Williams, and watched several matches with his family. In addition, Kyle played golf at a beautiful golf course and spent an afternoon on Miami Beach, all courtesy of Make-A-Wish.
It’s difficult to put into words how all of this lifted Kyle’s spirits. I am proud to say, on the day Kyle watched Murray defeat one of his opponents and shook Murray’s hand moments after the victory, I realized Andy Murray and Kyle Fonda have at least two things in common: They both enjoy tennis and they both are winners – Andy on the professional tennis tour and Kyle in his fight against cancer.
Everyone we met from Make-A-Wish and the Sony Open were kind, generous and friendly. Everything they did was designed to create happy moments and cherished memories for Kyle, and they succeeded. Kyle beamed with the widest smiles I’ve ever seen him show.
The people at Make-A-Wish are the type who make our world a better place. We didn’t know much about the foundation before our experience with it. It certainly exceeded our expectations. We encourage you to consider supporting this worthwhile organization. Make-A-Wish granted wishes to nearly 14,000 children with life-threatening illnesses in 2012 alone. Its website address is wish.org.
AMY FONDA
Gloversville
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Sep 11
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Floodwaters can’t stop Fonda Fair
Spirited effort to clear damage preserves 170-year-old tradition
By Carol DeMare, Staff Writer – Friday, September 2, 2011
FONDA — For 170 years, the Fonda Fair has gone on as scheduled, attracting those from the surrounding farm communities as well as outsiders who come for the food, the rides, the entertainment and even the monster trucks. This year, Tropical Storm Irene and the Mohawk River got in the way, delaying the opening by two days. But even the onslaught of floodwaters couldn’t make this popular fair a wash-out. Fair-goers and exhibitors alike — all of them fair lovers, of course — came to the rescue. They cleaned the 60-plus acres of the Montgomery County fairgrounds over more than two days, doing what amounted to grunt work.
On Thursday, as he drove around the property in a golf cart, past the numerous amusement park rides, the cotton candy stands, the barns with the livestock and horses, the junk cars that the monster trucks would go to work on, the huge arena where Kellie Pickler will perform Saturday night, no one could be prouder of how it all came together than fair president Richard Kennedy. Officially, the gates opened Thursday at 5 p.m., and the fair will run through Monday. The seven-day event originally was scheduled to open Tuesday.
Kendall Kennedy of Fort Plain, 11, stays with her holstein Tish in the 4-H Cattle barn at the Montgomery County Agricultural Society's Fonda Fair just a few hours before the 5 pm start of the annual fair on Thursday Sept. 1, 2011, in Fonda, NY. (Philip Kamrass / Times Union)
This year’s fair theme is “American Made, American Pride,” Kennedy said. “And the pride is showing through,” added the owner of a horse and dairy farm in Fort Plain. Hundreds of volunteers, some from as far as Lake George, converged on the fairgrounds Tuesday morning.
The Mohawk runs alongside the fairgrounds and Fonda Speedway, which are adjacent to each other — actually, the fairgrounds owns the speedway and leases it out. On Sunday, the river, fueled by water from the Schoharie Creek, overflowed its banks and Kennedy was taken in a sheriff’s boat to assess the damage. That was at 7 a.m. and by noon that day, the water was down by 2 feet.
As soon as the locks opened, the water dramatically receded and by Tuesday morning, it was 90 percent dry, Kennedy said. The Cook family of Bleecker, Fulton County, had smiles Thursday as they walked around a clean fairgrounds, not far from their stables where they will show eight of their 12 horses from their “hobby farm.” Ron “Chip” Cook, 44, and his wife, Becky, 41, along with children David, 11 and Bethany, 18, were all involved in the cleanup. Three other daughters, Abigail, 15, Moriah, 14, and Sarah, 12, also deserve credit, their mother said.
Everyone shoveled out stalls, pressure-washed the walls and disinfected everything, the parents said. The kids — all are members of the 4-H — cleaned and painted the poultry barn where they will exhibit their rabbits. “This has been our family vacation for years,” the father said. “We look forward to it.” “It’s an agricultural fair,” he said. “It’s all family down here, not blood-related but family.” In years past, some 70,000 to 80,000 turned out over the seven days of the fair, Kennedy said.
The flood ruined equipment in the four concession stands at the speedway, concession manager Randy Yurkewecz said. At 6 foot 2, he was removing food from freezers as the water rose to his chest and he was told to get out. The 49-year-old Yurkewecz said a flood in 2006 also destroyed equipment in the concession stands, but the track still stands, and the resilience of the speedway workers will come through again. There will be races Sept. 17 and the 24, Yurkewecz said.
Kennedy, who also is a territory manager/equine nutritional consultant for Cargill Animal Nutrition, is in his 11th year on the fair’s board and sixth year as president. He was around for the 2006 flood as well. This time, he told the eight to 10 superintendents of the fair to get the word out a massive cleanup would begin at 8 a.m. Tuesday and he needed volunteers. The local newspapers and radio stations also put out the word.
By 8 a.m. 100 to 150 volunteers had showed up, including the Mohawk Fire Department with a pumper truck and high-pressure wash for the buildings. “It took them 12 hours and it would have taken us two weeks,” Kennedy said. “The volunteers shoveled and swept and carried tables and chairs out of buildings.”
Students showed up to work, he said, including the great-grandchildren of Mike Scott, who was a fair director and dairy farm and the legend for whom Scott Hall is named. Eileen Douglas, 68, a dairy farmer from Fort Plain organized the clean-up and then the setting up of exhibits at the Agricultural Awareness Building. Her 12-year-old granddaughter Alexis Douglas was helping set up Thursday.
“I sincerely believe the public needs to know where their food comes from … and that it’s safe,” said Douglas, who’s been exhibiting at the fair for 40 years. “Agriculture puts the roof over your head, the food on your table and the clothing on your back.” Her daughter, Sandy Douglas, 48, also of Fort Plain, helped with the cleaning. As soon as Route 5S was open for travel, “we were here,” she said. Her first reaction to the mess left by the flood waters was, “It was overwhelming.”
Reach Carol DeMare at 454-5431 or cdemare@timesunion.com
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Mar 08
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Fonda-Fultonville stops Watervliet for Class B title
Hidde leads Braves to first sectional crown since 1970
By Derek Dunning, The Leader-Herald, Posted: March 8, 2010
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.”