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About Smoke signals. (Grand Ronde, Or.) 19??-current | View Entire Issue (March 15, 1996)
I Page 2 March 15, 1996 - SMOKE SIGNALS A letter from Casino president Dear Editor: I would like to respond to recent letters from concerned Tribal members about the Tribe's decision to serve alcoholic beverages at Spirit Mountain Casino's future Letters to the Editor Consignment shop has helped To the Editor: I am a tribal member and I'm writing in regards to the editorial about the consign ment shop new to our community. It is not a pawn shop. They simply cosign your items. They buy items, and the seller has the option of buying them back. If it wasn't for their services in this community, I as a tribal member would not make it through the months, as well as a lot more members of the community. Fast Cash has also done our community a great favor in assisting our local police department in retriving stolen goods. I feel Fast Cash is owed a big apology for your last article against them. Sincerely, Diana Bowers Isaiah Bowers No alcohol at casino To the Editor: I am responding to the letter from Vonnie Edmondson concerning alcohol at Spirit Mountain. I agree with her totally. I think we should be thinking about the damage that could be done to our children and grandchildren in the future if alcohol is allowed on our reservation. There are enough alcohol and drug prob lems out here now without our tribal mem bers contributing to the problem. We are already going to see more fami lies in crisis due to gambling. We need to think more about family val ues than about how much money can be made. Sincerely, Sharon Langlcy Dixon Member encourages drug-free lifestyle To the Editor: My name is Milton R. Sherwood, roll number 990. I recently requested a sub scription to Smoke Signals. I now reside in California State Prison, and am very pleased to have received an almost immediate response in this matter, being I am much farther away from the six counties and the Willamette Valley. In the February edition, 1 996, on drug and alcohol (at the casino): I want to tell all members that this is the reason for me be ing behind bars and so I encourage all mem bers to try and obtain a drug-free environ ment for we are not the only ones who suf fer. We are also hurting our children, and to me, that is the most important thing. I do miss my wife, Danyel, my girl, Kristine, and my son, Justin, who just turned one in Janu ary. I also want to encourage Council. I think they are doing a spectacular job in almost every respect. I send my love to all tribal members and encourage them to be strong agaist this war with drugs and alco hol, for life is a terrible thing to waste. Sincerely, Milton Sherwood, Jr. Member agrees with alcohol decision Dear Editor: I agree with Trina Green from Cloverdale, Oregon. Why should everyone do without a mixed drink, wine, or beer with a good dinner because of a few people who are having problems controlling their intake of alcohol? Like the lady said, if people want to buy alcohol, they can go anywhere, and buy it cheaper. Dancing Cloud McCorry steakhouse and lounge. As we discussed at a General Council meeting a couple of months ago, two decision-making bod ies decided this issue the Spirit Mountain Board of Directors and Tribal Council. The Board of Directors decided to recommend approval and Tribal Council decided to approve the steakhouse and lounge addition with alcoholic beverages. The consumption of alcoholic beverages will be re stricted to the restaurantlounge area and will not be permitted in the main casino areas. Spirit Mountain bases its business decisions on market needs and customer expectations. Since opening the casino, customers have consistently requested alcoholic beverage service to compliment their meals. Several tribal casinos in Oregon and elsewhere have already moved to add this service for their customers. In addition, our consultants advised us that our conference facility and steakhouse would not be competitive without the availability of alcoholic beverages. From a purely financial point of view, the correct decision was clear. Although the Board of Directors is charged with considering primarily financial issues, it also considered the social implications of serving alcoholic beverages and decided that these problems could be controlled with a careful and strict service policy. Tribal Council had a more difficult decision to make. Our Council had to weigh the economic benefits against the social implications and potentially negative reaction ; from some tribal members. Tribal Council recognized that many would object to the idea on principle, but concluded that the positive business and economic impact that the service of alcoholic beverages would bring outweighs the potential problems, in cluding the controversy. In reality, casino customers already have access to alcohol. There are bars located within one mile on either side of the casino. Customers wishing to consume alcohol do so in their cars, often times while driving. In many cases, we will have fewer problems by serving alcohol in a controlled environment. We will not offer discount prices or otherwise "push" alcoholic beverages and we will have a strict limit on the amount of alcohol we serve to each customer. We will continue to enforce our existing policy of excluding visibly intoxicated customers. We assure you that Spirit Mountain Casino feels and moral and ethical responsibil ity to all our customers, both tribal members and non-members. We will take every step we can to assure that service of alcoholic beverages does not cause potential prob lems or take away from the positive environment we have created at Spirit Mountain Casino. Sincerely, Bruce Thomas President Staff member apologizes for voice mail mix up To all tribal members: Recently, voice messaging was activated on my extension at work without my knowl edge. If you left a message on my voice mail extension 2030 in February and did not receive a reply, it is for this reason. Currently, I check my messages on a regular basis. I apologize for any inconve nience to you. Cindy Vincent Chemical Dependency (lOilOcilMMi (RilMirVi- iMHifc orcein? wmsm EDITOR: Tracy Dugan ASSISTANT COORDINA TOR: Kim Mueller Smoke Signals is a publication of the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde Community of Oregon. We have established an Editorial Policy to encourage input from readers about stories printed in Smoke Signals, as well as other tribal issues. Letters must be printed or typed, and cannot exceed 300 words. Smoke Signals reserves the right to edit any letter for clarity and length, and to refuse publication of any letter or any part of a letter that may contain libelous statements or personal attacks. Not all letters are guaranteed publication upon submission. Published letters do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Smoke Signals, tribal employees, or Tribal Council. ISB'&im- wens
