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About Smoke signals. (Grand Ronde, Or.) 19??-current | View Entire Issue (April 1, 1992)
Page 3 April 1992 Smoke Signals Siletz tribe consid ering Salem an op tion in their search for a casino location By Anastasia Athon Courtesy of Statesman Journal Salem is on the short list of possible locations for a $7 million casino that the Siletz Indian Tribe hopes to build, a spokesman for the tribe said Monday. "Salem is obviously one of the places we are looking at because it's suitably zoned and adequately serviced," Pat McCormick, of the public affairs consulting firm Conkling Fiskum & McCormick, said. The tribe, which last month aban doned plans to locate the casino near Donald, retained the PortlandSalem based firm to handle public relations, McCormick said. Although he declined to disclose the potential sites, McCormick said the tribe was considering two locations in Salem for the casino, which would employ 600 people. A decision could be made as early as Friday. Other sites besides Salem also are being considered, he said. Plans for the site near Donald partly were derailed because it was zoned for farmland. The Salem sites are zoned for com mercial uses, McCormick said. The Siletz had taken out an option on 20 acres of land near Interstate 5, just north of Donald. When these plans were scrapped, Delores Pigsley, the tribal chairwoman, said the tribe would look at other parcels along 1-5 between Salem and Portland. The tribe has requested time on next Monday's City Council agenda to present information to local officials, Mayor R.G. Andersen-Wyckoff said. Andersen-Wyckoff said that members of the tribe informed him last Thursday that they officially were interested in exploring two sites in Salem. Editor's Note: The official position of The Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde is to not pursue gaming at this time. In fact, the Tribal Council has decided to leave the option of gaming open only as a last resort. Indian Church opens for all Indian Church Services are now being offered in the Grand Ronde area every Sunday at the home of Linda Smith, 48478 Hebo Rd, Grand Ronde (next to the Spirit Mountain Store). The services will be held from 12:00 to 2:00 on Sunday and a potluck will follow. Everyone is welcome and , encouraged to come. For more informa tion, please call 879-5932. lit III VI I IM A. Tnj M m T T U i A Community Encourager's Report By Michael J. Larsen Community Encourager I'm glad to report that everything is coming along fine with the "Chee Mamook" project. The community health council has been meeting regularly for training and information gathering. I would like to take this opportunity to openly thank the community health council. This group of people have a lot of energy and I think we are on our way to getting a real important project done for our tribal community. We will have another meeting on April 7, 1992 at 6:30 p.m. in the tribal council chambers. Also, we are tenta tively planning for our tribal community wide meeting on April 25, 1992 at the Grand Ronde Elementary School. There will be flyers sent out soon to confirm this. If one of our community health council members contact you for help or information, I encourage you to help in any way that you can. Your input can ' help all of us. ELIZABETH FURSE FOR CONGRESS If I' 1 I f A- Ak "At Oregon Legal Services for Indian treaty rights, or orga nizing to oppose the nuclear arms race, I've fought to right wrongs and Fve made a difference.... I will bring home those federal dollars to restore the salmon runs and create a prosperous salmon fishery for all This will be an investment that will really pay dividends." -Elizabeth Furse, candidate to represent the people of Oregon 's First Congressional District in the United States Congress. Desert Storm surplus food distributed Three months of organizing and preparing for the big shipment of Desert Storm leftovers finally paid off for the Grand Ronde tribal members. The ad hoc volunteer community service committee, created to manage, store and distribute the food, accom plished their goal of helping tribal members during these bad economic times as the last box of food went out to a needy tribal member on March 21. One-half of the surplus Desert Storm food donated to The Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde Commu nity of Oregon by the U.S. government was then donated to the community of Willamina and Wes Shenk of Grand Ronde Good Neighbor, co-founder of a charitable organization called Good Neighbors. The tribe received two out of the 26 truck loads of food products distributed in the state so far, according to Kim Thomas, a spokeswoman for the Portland-based Oregon Food Bank. Fruit Cocktail, bread, chili, sugar, and margarine are only a few of the types of food included in the donation. Local elders and shut-ins were delivered to before the rest of the food was packaged for distribution among other tribal members in the area. It was on a first come, first serve basis. Over all, around 150 tribal members received food. "The combined effort from all parties made this whole operation run smooth," Wes Shenk said. P. ' VWX' !! V 0 u m.,y--'- r 4i r Iff 11 iti a ABOVE: David Shenk helps unload the 40-ft trailer full of food. Right: (left to right) Russ Leno, Victor Branson, Dean Mercier, and Wes Shenk pose for a group shot.
