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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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Jul 29
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Crumbl Cookies set to open doors this week in Mentor (Ohio)
National chain aims to draw people in with sweet smells
By Jean Bonchak – Published July 27, 2021
Crumbl Cookies in Mentor is the popular franchise’s first store to open in Northeast Ohio. (Jean Bonchak)
In a move that would make Cookie Monster happy, Crumbl Cookies is set to open its doors in Mentor (Ohio). The new shop. with its modern, minimalist interior, is set to host a grand opening on July 30 at 9662 Mentor Ave., across from Target. Currently paired with its distinctive setup is a singular product — enormous cookies created in more than 150 specialty flavors that are offered on a weekly rotating basis.
A prolific research and development department in Utah, where Crumbl Cookies originated, develops new recipes “inspired by popular flavors, foods, desserts of all kinds — from pies to cakes to candies and more,” according to the company website. A themed “Carnival” week recently tendered caramel apple, cotton candy and cinnamon fry bread varieties, along with chilled sugar and milk chocolate chip, the only staple selections on hand daily.
Andrew Fonda, who moved to Mentor from Montana to open the franchise, worked as a chemical engineer prior to specializing in the sweet treats. He said that his initial introduction to Crumbl Cookies while visiting a shop a few years ago was an enticing experience. “The open bakery… you smell the cookies, see the cookies, it was kind of a cool space,” he said. Based on a suggestion from friends, he decided to check out the Northeast Ohio market, scouting possible locations. Ultimately, Mentor fit the bill. “We really like the Mentor area and the communities surrounding it, and we chose a convenient location where people will already be out shopping,” he said. “It’s a great retail area.”
Andrew Fonda is the owner/operator of the new Crumbl Cookies set to open on July 30 in Mentor. (Jean Bonchak)
Visitors to the store will find sleek black-and-white décor accompanied by punches of pink, a confectionary color used for their streamlined, signature cookie boxes. An open-concept kitchen allows patrons to take a peek at the baking process from its beginning, blending ingredients from scratch, to the final decorated product. Orders can be placed online or in-house. Delivery is also available. Fonda noted that the bulk of business takes place on site, where customers capture the cookies’ sweet, sugary smells.
Since its inception approximately four years ago, more than 200 Crumbl Cookies stores have opened in 32 states, and several more are planned. Fonda is already working on an additional establishment for the Mayfield area. A huge social media presence definitely has helped the company’s quick and steady growth. The first TikTok video featuring its cookies drew more than a million views. And its “Unbox the Pink Box” YouTube videos, which cleverly introduce the four specialty cookies being featured for the week, typically garner thousands of looks.
A June article titled “How Crumbl Cookies took over TikTok” by Maile McCann on modernretail.com states that “The keys to the brand’s success are a rotating flavor drop model, social media savvy and a commitment to digital integration at every touchpoint.” Among the batches and varieties presented, one cookie flavor rises to the top layer of crowd favorites. “Our milk chocolate chip is a staple on our menu for a reason,” said Anna Tibbitts, the company’s public relations specialist. “It’s not only award-winning but was the first cookie on our menu when Crumbl started.”
All cookies are boxed and may be purchased separately or in four-, six- or 12-pack assortments. Smaller-sized cookies are available for catering orders only. Boxes can also be customized with a bow, sticker and note for special gift-giving. Store hours are 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays; 8 a.m. to midnight Fridays and Saturdays; and closed Sundays.