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Dec 20
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Local veteran presented Bronze Star
The Leader-Herald, December 20, 2008
Johnstown, NY – After waiting more than 40 years to receive official recognition for heroic military service, Joseph Fonda had a tough time waiting one more night. “He couldn’t sleep at all,” said his wife, Charlene, with a laugh.
U.S. Rep. Michael McNulty presents the Bronze Star Medal to Joseph F. Fonda in Johnstown on Friday. The Montgomery County man served heroically in the Vietnam War in 1967 and ’68. (The Leader-Herald/Bill Trojan)
On Friday morning, Fonda was finally honored. At the Fulton County Office Building, U.S. Rep. Michael McNulty presented a Bronze Star Medal to Fonda as his family watched with tears in their eyes. “It is my honor to make this presentation,” McNulty said. “The Bronze Star Medal is presented to very few individuals.” The act of Congress that established the medal says it recognizes “heroic or meritorious achievement or service … in connection with military operations against an armed enemy.”
Fonda, who grew up in the village that shares his name, went to Vietnam on July 20, 1967, as part of an infantry unit. He was 17 years old. “I volunteered to draft, and I volunteered to go to Vietnam. After that, I learned not to volunteer anymore,” he said, laughing.
On Nov. 7, 1967, 4th Spc. Fonda’s unit was stationed between a cemetery and a bridge in a Vietnamese village. “When the engineers left it that night, it kept getting blown up, so we were platoons on it every night to guard it so it got built all the way,” Fonda said. Fonda’s platoon was attacked. His men moved to go past the bridge, but Fonda stayed behind to try and protect them.
“They were doing good, but I just figured that, to get it so those guys could get out of there, I had to stay there and give them cover fire until they got past the bridge,” Fonda said. Fonda remained at the site and used up all of his ammunition in order to defend his position, throwing grenades behind him to try and defend his men. He also ordered his men to evacuate a wounded soldier that night.
He left Vietnam in July 1968. Years later, Fonda had settled in Glen. His old lieutenants encouraged him to try and pursue the award. Fonda thought paperwork detailing his accomplishment that could have made him eligible for the award was lost in the Tet Offensive. “All I know is I didn’t get it,” he said. McNulty aide Terri Jasewicz said she helped Fonda put in a request for the award through the National Personnel Records Center, but she said the process was “very time consuming.” “They needed more information. They went through that four or five times,” she said.
Finally, earlier this week, Jasewicz received a call that the request was finally successful. She called Fonda immediately. Preparations were made quickly, and McNulty, D-Green Island, was able to come and present the award before he leaves office Jan. 3. “Usually, it isn’t in a circumstance like this, when the individual being honored should have been presented with the award years ago,” McNulty said.
Thankfully, Fonda said, he has family to share in his joy. “It’s kind of more scary now, when you think about it, than when I done it, because you’re younger, and you just go for it,” he said. “Later on in life, when you have kids, grandkids, you start to think about it, thinking about the guys that died that don’t have what I got. That’s the sad part.”
Fonda said he has recently noticed others taking stock of sacrifices soldiers make. On Thursday, as he was getting a haircut in Scotia before his big day, his barber noticed his jacket emblazoned with a Purple Heart logo. The two got to talking about the war, and when Fonda went to pay for his trim, his young barber told him that the service was free, thanks to the service he had provided for his country.
“It’s like everyone’s starting to realize something, getting more patriotic,” Fonda said. “And that makes me feel good. People are starting to recognize what people do in the military.” He said he would be able to move on emotionally from receiving such an honor. “It means a lot to me, but it’s not going to change my life, I know that,” Fonda said. Still, Charlene Fonda said her husband might finally get some peace. “He’s very deserving of it,” she said, dabbing away tears. “He’s waited a long, long time. I hope this puts some of it to rest.”
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Nov 23
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Three from Harvard receive American Rhodes Scholarships
The Harvard University Gazette, November 23, 2008
Two Harvard College students and a Harvard Graduate School of Education (HGSE) doctoral student have received Rhodes Scholarships. Thirty-two Americans were chosen from among 800 applicants for the scholarships to the University of Oxford in England.
Kyle Q. Haddad-Fonda
Kyle Q. Haddad-Fonda, Issaquah, Wash., is a senior at Harvard College where he majors in history and near-Eastern languages and civilizations. Well-versed in Mandarin and Arabic, the Pforzheimer House resident conducted research in China and Egypt for his senior thesis on Sino-Arab relations. Haddad-Fonda was captain of the Harvard 2008 National College Bowl Championship team and plays the harp in the Mozart Society Orchestra. He plans to do a doctorate in Oriental studies at Oxford.
“I’m absolutely thrilled at the prospect of studying at Oxford next year,” he said, “and humbled by the caliber of the other students who went through the process as well.”
Haddad-Fonda said an early interest in geography and “the world and understanding other places” led him to his concentration. Current events, like the recent deal between Iraq and China in excess of $3 billion that will allow China to develop an oil field southeast of Baghdad, he noted, point to the increasing importance of Sino-Arab connections.
While at Oxford, he plans to continue his research and explore how this and other connections have developed in recent times.
“It’s a topic that is very current and very important. And it’s something that I want to understand and to understand in a historic perspective as well.” (…)
Elliot F. Gerson, American secretary of the Rhodes Trust, in a press release called the Rhodes Scholarships “the oldest and best-known award for international study, and arguably the most famous academic award available to American college graduates.” The scholarships were created in 1902 by the will of Cecil Rhodes, British philanthropist and African colonial pioneer. The first class of American Rhodes Scholars entered Oxford in 1904; those chosen this weekend will enter Oxford in October 2009.
Gerson said 3,164 Americans have won Rhodes Scholarships, representing 309 colleges and universities. The number of Harvard College students who have won American Rhodes Scholarships is now 323, more than from any other college. That number does not include Rhodes Scholars who were Harvard students who were citizens of other countries, and also does not include scholars who were selected while attending Harvard’s graduate schools.
In addition to the 32 Americans, Rhodes Scholars will also be selected from Australia, Bermuda, Canada, the nations of the Commonwealth Caribbean, Germany, India, Jamaica, Kenya, New Zealand, Pakistan, Southern Africa (South Africa, plus Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Namibia, and Swaziland), Zambia, and Zimbabwe. About 80 Rhodes Scholars are selected worldwide each year. Some countries have not yet announced their Rhodes Scholars.
The value of the Rhodes Scholarships varies depending on the academic field and the degree (B.A., master’s, doctoral) chosen. The Rhodes Trust pays all college and university fees, provides a stipend to cover necessary expenses while in residence in Oxford as well as during vacations, and transportation to and from England. Gerson estimates that the total value of the scholarship averages approximately $50,000 per year.
2 from region named Rhodes scholars
The Associated Press, by Dan Robrish, Monday, November 24, 2008
An Issaquah man who is studying history and Chinese and Arabic languages at Harvard University is among this year’s winners of the Rhodes Scholarship.
Kyle Q. Haddad-Fonda joins Mallory A. Dwinal, of Gig Harbor, and 30 other men and women from across the United States in winning the prestigious scholarships for study at England’s Oxford University.
The winners – announced publicly on Sunday – were picked from 769 applicants endorsed by 207 colleges and universities nationwide. The scholarships are the oldest of the international-study awards available to American students. They provide two or three years of study at Oxford University in England, commencing in October.
Haddad-Fonda, 22, grew up in Bellevue and graduated from Lakeside School in Seattle, where he studied Chinese and learned to play the harp. He plays in Harvard’s student orchestra and served as captain of the school’s College Bowl team, for the academic-oriented quiz competition along the lines of “Jeopardy!”
His senior thesis at Harvard focused on China-Arab relations in the 1950s. He plans to pursue the British equivalent of a doctorate in Asian studies. (…)
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Nov 22
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Shoreline rules pinch Coupeville property owner’s bottom line
Whidbey Examiner – September 26, 2008
The first complaint from a Front Street property owner about restrictions imposed by Coupeville’s new shoreline master plan has officials at Coupeville (WA) Town Hall barely holding back a big “I told you so.” “This is exactly the kind of situation we were trying to avoid,” Coupeville Mayor Nancy Conard said.
Coupeville property owner Millie Fonda stands in front of her building on Front Street. Fonda said restrictions placed on her building by Coupeville’s new shoreline master plan are putting her finances in dire straits.
Millie Fonda, the owner of a historic three-story building, recently inquired whether or not she would able to move into the bottom floor of her building. The space, which once housed Great Times Espresso, has been vacant since the Coupeville Coffeehouse closed last spring. Fonda said she has been unable to find someone who wants to rent the space for a business, in part because it needs considerable renovation.
But the work will take several months, and Fonda needs to earn an income from her building as soon as possible. “I need the revenue from that space to be able to pay my mortgage,” she said. The solution Fonda came up with was to make up the lost revenue by renting out the upstairs apartment where she currently resides. Her plan was to move her belongings into the former coffee shop and live there while she works on fixing it up.
Fonda said the building’s previous owner had once used the bottom floor as a residence, which led her to believe she could do the same. But when Fonda asked Coupeville Town Planner Larry Kwarsick for a permit to use the commercially zoned space for a residence, she was told her request would likely be denied. Fonda said she thinks the rejection is unfair.
“I am being denied the use of my property in a way it has previously and historically been used,” Fonda wrote in a statement she delivered to the Examiner. According to Conard, Fonda has not been denied the permit because she never actually applied for one. Conard said Fonda was simply advised that an application would likely be denied.
“Her right to apply has not been denied,” Conard said. “We just know what the law would support.” Fonda could apply for a conditional-use permit under the current shoreline plan, but Kwarsick said the process takes months and requires the approval of the state Department of Ecology. And based on the agency’s input regarding the recently approved shoreline plan, Kwarsick said he thinks the agency also would turn down Fonda’s request. (…)
Conard echoed those sentiments, saying that many of the people who criticized the plan probably didn’t realize all the consequences those complaints would have. She speculated that most would see Fonda’s request as legitimate. “This just breaks my heart,” Conard said. “I really feel bad for Millie.”
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Nov 04
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Freeport Says “No” to City Manager Referendum
WIFR.com – November 4, 2008
Freeport Boys and Girls Club
FREEPORT, IL – Freeport voters weighed in Tuesday on the city manager referendum and the numbers from Stephenson County show the measure failed.
A look at the numbers show 6,063 said no and 3,278 said yes to this ballot question. Supporters wanted someone trained in professional government running the daily city hall affairs and not Mayor George Gaulrapp. They say that’s a more efficient way of operating.
But opponents like Gaulrapp and didn’t see the need to hire someone else to do his job. The mayor says he’s glad to keep that job to continue a solid system at city hall under his leadership, but referendum supporters said the potential was there to make it even more solid.
“It works very well, it really does, it works well. You look both inside and outside this community and you see a changed city. You see a city on the move; a city working together.”
Dave Fonda says, “If we do a successful job in this community of transforming the government into a managerial form of government we’re going to be in a lot better footing than we are now.” Fonda was the man leading the charge for the city manager referendum. Going forward, he says he’s considering a possible bid for mayor in the next election.
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Oct 21
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Rev. Donald A. Fonda Jr.
Published in the Boston Globe on 10/21/2008
FONDA, Rev. Donald A., Jr. 70, exuberant & compassionate American Baptist minister. His smile was as wide as his open arms, radiating his love of life. Whether it was family, friends, parishioners or strangers, Donald A. Fonda (Jr.) enjoyed the people in his life. After encountering Don’s lively interest in a person’s story, one remembered his joy and compassion. Don Fonda’s exuberance flowed into the varied interests he shared with his wife, Jeanne Dancey Fonda: going to concerts and the theatre, traveling, gardening, doing family research and being a grandparent. It was while staying in Venice, Italy, beginning a vacation which would include family, that Don died in his sleep on October 11, 2008.
Rev. Donald A. Fonda, Jr.
Donald Fonda was born on 17 August 1938 in Washington, DC. He was the only child of Dr. Donald Albert Fonda, Sr. & Mary Gladys Speaker. He graduated from Ridgewood High School in Ridgewood, N.J., from Alderson-Broaddus College, Philippi, W.Va. (BA 1962), and from Colgate Rochester Divinity School in Rochester, NY (B.D./M.Div, 1966).
In 1966 Don was ordained an American Baptist minister in the Gaines-Carlton larger Parish, Albion, N.Y. Don was passionate in his ministry; ecumenical and interfaith activities were especially important to him. He served churches in four states which were: Warrenville Baptist Church, Ashford, CT; First Baptist Church of Youngstown, OH; First Baptist Church of Northampton, MA; the Federated Church of Bolton, MA (Baptist, Unitarian, and Quaker roots); First Baptist Church of Beverly, MA; and Church of the Master in Providence, RI.
During his 35 years in ministry, Don took an active leadership role in The American Baptist Churches of Massachusetts (TABCOM). With them he served twice as interim area minister and in his retirement he continued with TABCOM, working with two Baptist, Portuguese-speaking seminaries. In 2006 he became WatchCare Coordinator, preparing Baptists for ordination.
Don and Jeanne moved to Haverhill in 2001 to retire & enjoy their two married adult children and four grandchildren: their daughter, Debbie, husband Ed Kruzel, and granddaughters Niki and Kesli in Pelham, New Hampshire; and their son, Douw, wife, Sanne De Graaf, and grandchildren Aiske and Minne in the Netherlands.
A memorial service will be held for the Rev. Donald Fonda at the First Baptist Church of Beverly, MA on Wednesday, October 22, 2008 at 2 pm. In lieu of flowers, donations made be made to the “Don Fonda Fund” established for immigrant clergy support by The Conference of Baptist Ministers at 15 Spring Valley Road, Worcester, MA 01609.The Rev. Donald A. Fonda Jr., a Baptist minister in churches throughout the region over three decades, died of cardiac arrest Oct. 11 in his sleep at a hotel in Venice. He was 70.
Donald Fonda; served Baptist churches
Globe Correspondent, by Gabrielle T. Dunn, October 25, 2008
Rev. Fonda was born in Washington, D.C., and moved to Ridgewood, N.J., as a child. He graduated from Ridgewood High School in 1956. In 1962, he graduated from Alderson-Broaddus College in Philippi, W.Va., with a degree in history.
In 1966, he received his master of divinity degree from the former Colgate Rochester Divinity School in Rochester, N.Y. That same year, Rev. Fonda was ordained as an American Baptist minister in the Gaines-Carlton Larger Parish of Albion, N.Y.
Rev. Fonda went on to serve churches in four states over 35 years, including Warrenville Baptist Church in Ashford, Conn., from 1966 to 1969; First Baptist Church of Youngstown, Ohio, from 1969 to 1971; First Baptist Church of Northampton, from 1971 to 1986; the Federated Church of Bolton, from 1986 to 1995; First Baptist Church of Beverly, in 1995 and 1996; and the Church of the Master in Providence, from 1997 to 2000.
Rev. Fonda was also active in the American Baptist Churches of Massachusetts. With that organization, he served twice as interim area minister, from 1996 to 1997 and from 2000 to 2001, providing support and resources for local churches, including multi-ethnic congregations. After retiring in October 2001, he continued with the group as a project coordinator, working with two Portuguese-language Baptist seminaries in Lowell and Marlborough until 2006. He then became watchcare mentoring coordinator for the group, preparing Baptists for ordination.
In addition, Rev. Fonda was a volunteer with the Greater Lawrence Habitat for Humanity from 2002 to 2004 and was a board member of the Refugee Immigration Ministry in Malden, from 2005 to 2006. While working with the Malden group, Rev. Fonda offered support to refugees, immigrants, and those in need of asylum.
Rev. Fonda and his wife, Jeanne (Dancey), lived in Haverhill. The couple enjoyed going to concerts and the theater, traveling, gardening, and being grandparents. Since he was a teenager, Rev. Fonda had also been interested in genealogy research. At the time of his death, he was in Venice with his wife celebrating his 70th birthday, meeting Italian relatives, and investigating his Dutch family’s roots, which Rev. Fonda had been studying for the last eight years.
“He was full of life, love, joy, and a deep, humble concern for people,” his wife said.
In addition to his wife, Rev. Fonda leaves a daughter, Debbie of Pelham, N.H.; a son, Douw of the Netherlands; and four grandchildren.
A memorial service was held Wednesday at First Baptist Church of Beverly, where Rev. Fonda had been a member since serving as interim minister in the mid-1990s, said the Rev. Craig C. Collemer, one of the ministers at the church.
“Don was a wonderful gentleman filled with great joy,” said Rev. Collemer. “He had a marvelous sense of humor, and he was deeply committed to those who are on the margins of society.”
He said he often used Rev. Fonda as a bellwether for his sermons. “He was the most responsive parishioner I’ve had during my sermons in 37 years of preaching. He often would sit on the edge of his pew, smiling, nodding, and he would often offer an amen out loud. If he wasn’t giving those kinds of signs, I knew I was in trouble.”