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About Spilyay tymoo. (Warm Springs, Or.) 1976-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 19, 2009)
Pdge 5 November 19, 2009 Spilyay Tymoo, Wgrm Springs, Oregon An American Idol plays Kah-Nee-Ta B y Duran Bobb Spilyay Tymoo “It’s good to live your dream and have your daughter see that,” American Idol 2 finalist Josh Gracin, 28, says. “When she grows up, if she has any doubts about what she wants to do, I can tell her, ‘Hey, I fived my dream!’ ” Gracin, who performed at Kah-Nee-Ta on November 6, has a father who is of Croatian descent. His mother, Brenda, is Native American and a former newspaper editor. Born and raised in Westland, Michigan, Gracin learned at an early age to appreciate some of his parents’ favorite recording artists like Elvis and the Beatles. Country music entered his life when he was 11 years old, as the local radio station switched its format to country music. Suddenly, G racin’s world opened to the sounds of Garth Brooks, Randy Travis, George Straight, and Joe Diffie. When he was in the eighth grade, Gracin entered a talent com petition, singing G arth Brook’s hit Standing Outside the Fire. The rest is just history. “After the reaction I got from the crowd,” he says, “I knew right then and there I wanted to sing country music.” As a junior in high school, Gracin began tutoring a class mate, Ann Marie. “She was failing miserably in history,” he says with a grin. “I was one of the good students... so that’s where it all started.” T he two began dating in 1997. O ne year after high school, Gracin enlisted in the U.S. Marines, and shortly after American Idol 2 finalist Josh Gracln performed at Kah-Nee-Ta earlier this month ity show,^4»«n'f«« Idol. He mar ried Ann Marie, and the two were blessed with Brianna, his daughter. Two years after enlisting, when he received the approval from headquarters (and at the insistence of Ann Marie), Josh Gracin auditioned for Idol in 2002. Seventy-thousand people tried out. Twenty million people watched from home. Gracin was known on the show for his charming lack o f dance-moves, his incredible pipes, and his abil ity to m atch Simon Cowell, word- for-word. Although Gracin was even tually voted off the show in the fourth-place slot, the music dream machine had been set in On the evening that he was voted off, Gracin pulled his daughter on-stage with him in an unscripted move. “I wanted to show her that it was possible to go from where I had been to where I was then, and that someday she would be able to do the same if she’d try hard. I’m no longer just some kid with a dream. I’m a father and a husband and this has turned in to an accom plish ment.” The bass player o f Rascal Flatt, Jay DeMarcus, had seen Gracin’s performance on Idol, and was impressed. He put Josh in touch with the folks at Lyric Street Records, the record label that eventually signed him. Gracin’s hits include Brass t h a t h e f i r s t s a w F o x ’s n e w r e a l m o tio n . Bed, T W ant To Live, Favorite State The Warm Springs Tribal Credit Enterprise is inviting all community members to enter their ideas for the Tribal Credit Logo Contest. Submissions will be accepted through November 30 at the Credit Office, located at 1236 Scouts Drive. First place prize is $500. Second place is $300. Third place, $200. The theme for the logo con test is “Money.” Darkness to Light training Duran Bobb/Spilyay of Mind, and Nothin’ to Lose, which occupied the number one slot on country music charts nation wide. “I don’t see myself as a ce lebrity at all,” G racin says. “I ’m very shy and not all that self-confident, and I feel like an ordinary person, a normal guy w ho’s very approachable. A nd if I get a little carried away, I ’ve got my wife to keep me humble and bring me back down td earth.” G racin ’s p erfo rm an ce at Kah-Nee-Ta High Desert Re sort & Casino was playful to a packed house. For more information on fu ture events at the tribal resort, and to purchase tickets, go to www.kahneeta.com. Moody doing better after serious car accident Keith Moody is recovering from a serious car accident that happened in September. M oody works at the fish hatchery in Maupin. In September he was driving from Maupin to Pendleton in order to be with family o f a good friend, Thane Colwash, who died in a boating accident on the Columbia River. Pete Cash prizes in Credit logo contest Good Lance also passed away in the boating accident. D riving on 1-84 to Pendleton, Moody was rear- ended by a vehicle driven by, a woman from Canada. Moody’s vehicle was forced off the road and rolled over. The other ve hicle also went off the road. Moody was taken to the hos pital in Hermiston, and then taken by LifeFlight to the hos pital in The Dalles. He suffered a serious neck injury, and chest and head inju ries. The days after the accident were the most trying o f times, as the accident happened as families were already mourning the loss of the two fishermen, and making funeral arrange ments. Keith is in physical therapy now, and is doing better, said his mother Charlotte Herkshan. Warm Springs Victims o f Crime Services will present its next three-hour Darkness to Light child abuse prevention training for tribal employees on Thursday, Nov. 19 at the Family Resource Center. The training begins at 8:30 a.m. There will be a breakfast served at 8 a.m. for those who arrive early, and a lunch at noon. Victims o f Crime Services (VOCS) is inviting tribal man agers and various department heads, BIA management and other community partners to this training. VOCS will have regular D arkness to Light training throughout the remainder o f 2009 and during 2010. For more information about the D arkness to Light child sexual abuse prevention work shop, contact Juanita Villa or Aurel Stinson at VOCS, 553- 2293, or visit the Darkness to L ight Web site at darkness21ight.org. Museum on winter schedule The Museum A t Warm Springs has started its win ter schedule. The museum will be closed to the public Sundays and Mondays until April 1,2010. For further in formation, contact the Mu seum at 541-553-3331 or see the museum’s Web site at: w w w .m useutnatw arm springs.org. s h im soundz UNLIMITED C ar ÄlÄfäcßW ÜW-Æ&d/'os Madras, OR 97741 475-7123 Are You Planning for a Giveaway or Memorial? Shawls & Handicrafts fo r Sale Call Darlene at 553-3062 or 550-6138 Opal Day Spa Coloring Contest Opal Day Spa Gift Certificates available for... Facials, Hair, Nails, Massage, Steam Bath, and Dry Sauna. www.opaldayspa.com 162 SW 5th St. Madras Or, 97741 I - - • ‘ 475-4677 Hey, kids, want to win a free haircut and facial for you mom for Christmas? Color In the drawing and bring It to the Spllyay at the media center, or send It to PO Box 870, Warm Springs, 97761. The contest Is open to kids up to age 12.
