The Fonda Blog

Bright Idea: The Compact Fluorescent Light Bulb

Since its creation by Thomas Edison in Menlo Park, New Jersey in 1879, the light bulb has undergone a number of changes. Many of the innovations that make the incandescent bulb what it is today came out of General Electric’s laboratory in Schenectady, New York.

Dr. Gorton R. Fonda (1884-1973) scientist for General Electric Laboratory in Schenectady, NY

The first major advance was crafting a tungsten filament, the wire the electricity heats to create light. When Edison first invented the bulb, he used a carbon filament which has a much shorter lifespan than tungsten. Although others attempted to make the thread out of tungsten, they found it too brittle to mold into the needed shape. However, working in the Schenectady laboratory, Dr. William Coolidge discovered how to increase the wire’s flexibility in 1909. To this day, manufacturers continue to use tungsten in incandescent lights.

Dr. Irving Langmuir, another scientist in Schenectady and a Nobel Prize-winner, made two other major discoveries. A significant problem with light bulbs was that they blackened as the filament burned, decreasing the amount of light produced over time. In 1912, Langmuir realized that if you filled the bulbs with a neon-like gas, you could prevent this effect. He also developed the technique of coiling the filament, which doubled the bulb’s lifespan.

In addition to incandescent bulbs, the Schenectady laboratory also played a role in the development of the compact fluorescent light bulb. Although the “spiral” fluorescent was officially invented in an Ohio General Electric laboratory by engineer Ed Hammer, Dr. Gorton Fonda** in Schenectady played a key cooperative role in its development. Unfortunately, when it was created in 1976, the company decided it would be too expensive to mass produce. Thanks to modern technology, fluorescent bulbs are now both economically and environmentally smart.

**For info on Dr. Gorton R. Fonda, see rootsweb and findagrave listings.

written by admin \\ tags: Achievements, Business, Schenectady Co., Science

Lightning Strikes – Suffolk County

Hudson River

ECOs Vernon Fonda and Jason Curinga were checking fishermen at a popular spot in Shoreham as a thunderstorm approached. The officers had separated in order to complete their checks before the storm arrived. ECO (Environmental Conservation Officer) Fonda was talking with a fisherman when a person ran toward him screaming for help. ECO Fonda ran to where he saw a woman lying on the ground. The womans family members said she had been standing in the water when lightning struck nearby. A quick check revealed that the woman was not breathing and did not have a pulse. Officer Fonda immediately began CPR and the woman began to breathe on her own. When ECO Curinga arrived to assist, the woman lost her pulse and ceased breathing again. ECO Fonda resumed CPR, assisted by an EMT who had just arrived. The two rescuers revived the woman, and she was transported by helicopter to Stony Brook Hospital.

written by admin \\ tags: Achievements, Environmental, Government

The book, “Famous Frisians in America” is now available for purchase.  There are 8 pages on the Fonda Family which detail the history of Jellis Douw Fonda, who emigrated from Amsterdam to New Amsterdam in about 1650.  It provides some ideas on his origins in Holland including some new angles on how he came to live in Eagum (Friesland) near Leeuwarden, ending up in Amsterdam, marrying Hester Jans, and then taking the voyage to America with a young family of five.  It goes into the colorful life of Hester Fonda, long after Jellis passed away, and the plentiful progeny they created, including many modern-day Fonda’s talented in acting and the arts.

My father and I were honored to be present at the Friesland Day ceremony on New York City’s Governor’s Island on September 12, 2009, which unveiled the book.  We were very pleased to meet the book’s editors, Peter de Haan and Kerst Huisman, as well as the Queens Commissioner of Friesland, John Jorritsma, and also many others from the Frisian Provincial contingent and fellow Frisian-American descendants.  The book is a wonderful accomplishment, providing the history of Friesland’s support of United States sovereignty, based on a solid basis of exchange between the two regions which continues to this day.  There are many prominent Frisian families in the US including such names as Stuyvesant, Douw, Jansen, Banta, Fonda, Isaacs, Dykstra, Hyma, De Vries, Fridsma, Hofstra, De Jong and Hageman.

The book is available on Amazon and is highlighted on-line at the New Netherland Institute, US Embassy The Hague, and Calvin College Dutch Department.

Albert Mark Fonda, admin
(12th Generation Descendant of Jellis Douw Fonda)

written by admin \\ tags: Achievements, America, History, Holland, Surnames

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

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