The Fonda Blog

	Sand Flats Orchard 371 Martin Road Fonda, NY  12068 http://www.sandflatsorchard.com 518-853-4999 Sand Flats Orchard is a family farm owned and operated by The Hoffmans
	The Fall season is Apple season. Our offerings include U-Pick and picked apples.  Pumpkins, squash and other fall vegetables are available during September and October. Our bakery and store are open daily September and October! Fall Hours:  9:00am  —  6:00pm 7 days a week November & December: Sat & Sun 9:00am – 2:00pm Sundae on the Farm September 20, 2009 Presented by: Montgomery County Farm Bureau Sand Flats Greenhouse. Open April 25 – July 11th Monday – Friday: 10:00am – 6:00pm Saturday & Sunday: 9:00am – 5:00pm Hanging baskets, potted flowers, annual packs, geraniums, and vegetables. Strawberries We picked from 6/10 to 7/10
	I had the pleasure of visiting the orchard recently and I came away with a good sampling of fresh apples, raspberry spread, apple-cinnamon donuts and coffee. This is a genuine family-owned operation and you should stop by to sample the fresh produce and abundant hospitality!!  Mark Fonda

written by admin \\ tags: Business, Montgomery Co., News

Exhibits — Lorenzo Fonda: A Retrospective

Embassy of Italy - Washington DC - June 2007

(a past event… for the archives) The Embassy of Italy and the Italian Cultural Institute are cosponsoring an exhibition of artwork entitled “Lorenzo Fonda. A Retrospective.” The exhibit will be on display at the Italian Embassy until July 6, 2007. Maestro Fonda was born in Piran, Istria, in the former Yugoslavia in 1947. His family later moved to Trieste. He received a doctoral degree in medicine and surgery in 1976. His first personal show took place at the gallery “La Luna” in Perugia in 1969.

In 1984 Fonda had his first show in the United States at Andreas Galleries, in Washington D.C. His large canvas work “Trittico per la Pace” (1985) was presented to the town of Assisi, and is now permanently exhibited in the Sala della Conciliazione in Assisi’s Town Hall. In 1989, on the occasion of the USA / USSR Summit “Green Glasnost,” organized by actor Robert Redford, in Sundance, Utah, a large work of his became the symbol of that historical encounter. The work is now on display at the Institute for Resource Management. One of Fonda’s works is part of the permanent collection of the Michetti Museum in Francavilla al Mare, Italy. He has worked as set designer for Shakespeare in Jazz, with the direction of Giorgio Albertazzi, and, most recently, for the Teatro dell’Opera of Rome’s production of Richard Strauss Salomé.

written by admin \\ tags: Achievements, Art, Events

Raiders’ return never was assumed

East Peoria, IL – There was Julie Fonda on Thursday morning, driving the Glenbard South team bus on a familiar path to East Peoria.

Glenbard South's Danielle Chitkowski (left) gets some instructions from coach Julie Fonda in the bottom of the 7th inning during the Class 3A semifinal against Chatham at East Peoria Thursday.

Boy, has it been an interesting ride back.

Glenbard South, the lone team returning to the state softball tournament in either Class 3A or 4A, will play Chatham Glenwood today in a noon 3A semifinal at EastsideCentre.

The Raiders (24-12) lost five starters, including ace pitcher and 2008 Daily Herald All-Area captain Jill Trzaska, off last year’s third-place team. They started the season 1-8 but have been a different team since a 5-4 extra-inning win over Naperville Central on April 11.

Keying the Raiders’ resurgence are sophomore shortstop Jenny Wittenberg, senior center fielder Lauren Podgorski and freshman second baseman Brianna Meath. Sophomore pitcher Jess Wilkes has shut out two of the Raiders’ last three playoff opponents.

“That’s the goal, is to be playing your best at state tournament time,” Fonda said. “If you can play your best at the end, you have a chance of going somewhere.”

In an eerie parallel Chatham Glenwood (27-8) has not lost since an 8-0 defeat to Edwardsville, which will play Naperville Central today, on May 8. In supersectional Chatham Glenwood upset Mattoon, which beat Glenbard South in last year’s Class 3A semifinal and was ranked No. 1 in the latest Illinois Softball Coaches Association poll.

Leading the attack for Chatham Glenwood is senior catcher Kaitlyn England, hitting .416 with 17 extra-base hits and 39 RBI.

Fonda’s knowledge of her opponent is limited – but the same went for the Raiders’ supersectional opponent, Trinity.

“We’ll show up and play our game,” she said. “That’s the best we can do. We’ve been good at adjusting as the games go along.”

In the first semifinal Burlington Central (25-5) will play Oak Forest (29-4), which lost to Glenbard South in supersectionals last year.

Fonda is hopeful her group can draw on the experience of last year, both the highs and lows. Glenbard South lost a 5-0 lead in a semifinal loss to Mattoon, then rallied to beat Marengo in eight innings in a thrilling third-place game.

“That gives us an advantage,” Fonda said. “They know what the field looks like down here, and they know what it feels like to win and lose down here. I feel like that experience is definitely going to help us.”

written by admin \\ tags: News, Sports

The pre-club: Old Precinct finds a niche

Sometimes one-night stands turn into something more.

Youngstown, OH –  It certainly did for Old Precinct, a new downtown bar.  Manager T.J. Parker says the owner, Mike Fonda, 52, used to run a deli at the Phelps Street location but closed for about a year.

The Old Precinct in Youngstown, Ohio

Fast forward to February 2009, and Fonda asked Parker, 24, and his friends, Patrick Bokesch and Michael Howley, to open the bar up for one-night for the Kelly Pavlik fight. It went so well that Old Precinct is now open every Friday and Saturday night.

Fonda, a 17-year veteran of the Mahoning County Sheriff’s Department, says Old Precinct benefits from the increasing number of people coming to downtown Youngstown. “Downtown is becoming more of a destination itself,” he says. Parker says they’ve tried to keep Old Precinct “laid-back” and “chill.” He says it’s a place to “pre-game.” “We want it to be a place to go before you go out,” Parker says.

Parker, a teacher at Austintown Middle School, says Old Precinct’s crowd is generally made up of patrons in their 20s and younger 30s. The deli transitioned into Old Precinct with the addition of a bar, a renovated loft area and TVs. At first, it was only open Saturdays nights, but after about a month, Old Precinct was also open on Fridays. There’s a gentlemanly vibe to the building, erected in 1923, due in part to the Youngstown Police theme in the decór.

The music selections lend to the low-key atmosphere: While the sound of dance music echoes from Downtown 36 and the music of local bands emanates from Barleys, Old Precinct sticks to more mellow musicians like Dave Matthews Band, O.A.R. and Jack Johnson. In the future, Parker says Old Precinct will be open Sundays and Mondays for sporting events.

Fonda and Parker say that so far, they’ve relied heavily on word-of-moth advertising, although they plan on some marketing in the future. Additionally, they say oldprecinct.com is in the works. Parker says in addition to the wraps the bar currently serves, they plan on grilling out on the sidewalk more frequently this summer, including cooking on a spit. He says they also plan on a cornhole tournament.

written by admin \\ tags: Achievements, Business, News

Ten Things I Have Learned About The Sea

Ten Things I Have Learned About The Sea

Italy – I crossed the Atlantic one a ship a few years ago and after it I knew I wasn’t the same anymore. Director Lorenzo Fonda has also felt the powerful insights that only the ocean can reveal, and in his beautiful short film “Ten Things I Have Learned About The Sea” he details them.

The visuals are stunning – a sort of transcendent combo of nature and the ships man has built to traverse across it. The industrial symmetry and mechanical serenity in the work of photographer Edward Burtynsky.

I also have to give props to Fonda for saying under the film “it is 104 mb, there’s no low res version and it is 10 minutes long. let it load. if you don’t have patience or don’t know me personally, you might not want to watch this.” The confidence of that speaks for itself.

Click here to watch “Ten Things I Have Learned About The Sea.”

written by admin \\ tags: Art, News