Ogden Standard-Examiner, Wed. Evening, Nov. 28, 1979 AN ARTIST HE isn't, but craftsman Al Fontas looks like one to Red Cross staff members who have watched him patch and paint the Bonneville chapter house. Volunteer Repaints Red Cross Building A retired Red Cross worker who has nearly finished painting and repairing the Bonneville chapter house, has unofficially been dubbed the "Michelangelo" of the Red Cross. Al Fontas has been busy since Feb. 5, work¬ing in a volunteer capacity, six hours per day, repairing and repainting the local Red Cross offices. In the process he has not only pleased Bonneville Chapter staff members who say Mr. Fontas is a joy to have around, but fullfilled a long standing dream of Jess Hunsaker, former board president, who has long wanted the lovely old mansion restored. "Michelangelo" is the name he calls Mr. Fontas. The volunteer, who in his unpaid position as painter has become quite a fixture at the Red Cross, sometimes gets his artists mixed up. He is forever leaving large signs on the doors of completed rooms with directions as to when they can be used, how the doors must be left open for ventilation and with other in¬structions. These epistles he signs "Rembrandt," or whatever other artist's name happens to come to mind. Mr. Fontas, who during a series of two to three-year assignments as a field director with the American Red Cross, became some¬thing of a world traveler, regales the staff with stories of his adventures, says Lois Bar¬ker, Bonneville Chapter executive director. "And he has such a sunny disposition he is a joy to have around," Mrs. Barker reports. Formerly stationed for one of those short assignments at Hill Air Force Base, he re¬quested reassignment there shortly before he reached retirement age so that he could spend his remaining years in Ogden. Mrs. Barker claims Mr. Fontas has a big heart. "I don't think he knew what a handyman he would become when he volunteered for this job," she said. She pointed out that Mr. Fontas has not ruled out the dirty work such as repairing flood damage, scraping paint and cleaning up but has worked with zeal to get these jobs accomplished. ^And during his long tenure at the Bonneville Chapter house he has frequently been called on to solve such current problems as clogged plumbing, rearranging and cataloguing sup¬plies and other jobs neglected by busy staff members. He worked four nights as cashier this year at the haunted house and at other times, finding workers were hungry, "spearheaded" a group to go get pizza. Except for some painting as a child, Mr. Fontas was so unfamiliar with the art of redecorating that he had never seen a paint roller. "I refused to do the ceilings at first because I thought they would give me a crick in the neck," he said. But when he got his first introduction to a roller he soon made short work of the very sections he had thought would cause trouble. He said during his working years he was continually involved with people as a casewoker. "I was tired of that," he said, "I wanted to do something with my hands." Now, he said, he finds that he has learned a lot while engaged in his current project. "it's a two-way street," he says of the job-"I've enjoyed it. "What else am I going to do?" he asked, "sit around my apartment?" Mr. Fontas has also made himself useful at Hill Air Force base where he occasionally relieves the current field director when he can't be on duty. He also works on the bloodmobile when it is at the base or relieves the field director so he can serve in that capacity. He said he enjoys these brief episodes where, again, he works for short periods as a field director.