August 15, 1996
SMOKE SIGNALS
VoOtbQO tLOO
11
Miss Tiny Tot and her family give thanks
We would like to thank all of our family, friends,
Tribal employees, the Royalty Court, and everyone
for their love, encouragement and support before
and during Halona's year of reign. With your help
Halona sold over two thousand raffle tickets for last
years pow-wow and became the 1995-1996 Grand
Ronde Tiny Tot.
Halona is the four year old daughter of Lee and
Cindy, and the big sister of two year old "Brother."
This will be Halona's second year at the Twa
Sunchako Tribal Preschool in Grand Ronde. Halona
has been attending pow-wows since she was born and has been drumming, singing and dancing
from the moment she was able. Halona is a Grand Ronde Tribal member and is also Silctz and
Yurok Indian. She dances in exhibitions at schools and other organizations throughout the
school year with the Siletz dancers as a part of a cultural awareness program.
Halona is very proud to have been given the opportunity to represent the Tribe this last year
and we thank everyone from the bottom of our hearts for supporting our little Angel Girl.
Thank you --- Lee, Cindy, Brother and Halona Rae Butler
" v1"- -
Royalty thanks members
for help and donations
THANK YOU!!!
. Thank you to the anonymous
elder who donated $ 1 00 to help
fund the Royalty Events.
We appreciate your support
and your generosity.
GREAT JOB!!!
The Royalty Court earned $90
in a car wash fund-raising on
July 3 1 at the Community Cen
ter parking lot. Thank you for
your support!
Youth Crew hard at work during the summer months
By Chris Mercier
Although it is not illegal to employ
a minor at a casino, the presence
of gambling and alcohol usually
make it less accessible for those underage
than for their "adult" counterparts. That is
why Human Resources (HR) hunkered down
and created its own land of opportunity.
Manny Mercier:
cool water on a hot day
HR began its test run of the Summer
Youth Employment Program these past
months, successfully creating jobs for mi
nors out of an environment that by law is
required to be selective. The positions made
available to the youth are those which do
not necessarily have to deal with the legal
ity of gaming or alcohol. The jobs have
varied retailing, maintenance, and secre
tarial. None of them have to work within
the often erratic gambling environment.
The objective of the program goes beyond
simple summer employment. Career devel
opment, amassing job skills, and beefing up
ones resume are all more of the long range
goals hoped for. Unlike a lot of the posi
tions in the casino, jobs attained through the
program are designed not to be permanent.
Hence the requirement that applicants be be
tween 16 and 20 years of age; enrolled in
school, high school or post-secondary; and
above all they must be tribal members. Em
ployment is usually full-time, for the dura
tion of the summer. HR believes the pro
gram to be a stepping stone for the partici
pants. Tribal youth who have participated this
summer are:
Nick Bailey, Ben Bishop, Manny Mercier,
Bob Mercier Groundskceping
Courtney Galligher Receptionist
Marissa Lcno --- Outfitters
Brian Kreiblc --- Kitchen
J.R. Jones Human Resources
Misty Carl Buffet
Some of the opinions of the participants:
Courtney Galligher (with a devilish
smirk): "Through the Tribal
Summer Youth Program I have gained a
better understanding of the casino. My job
as a receptionist has been rewarding and I
have met many diverse people and made
many new friends."
Manny Mercier: "Man, its hard work, but
somebody gots to do it."
Bob Mercier: "I enjoy it. We get a lot of
compliments, people telling us what a great
job we're doing."
J.R Jones: "Its been a great learning ex
perience. I've enjoyed getting to know
people."
The idea for the Summer Youth Em
ployment may have found its roots
in a similar program began by Natu
ral Resources five years ago. In 1991, For
estry had devised a Summer Youth Crew
under the same intentions to provide full
time summer employment to young tribal
members. Prior to the casino (and even af
ter to some degree), finding work in Grand
Ronde was nearly impossible, particularly
for the underaged.
Natural Resources has since then contin
ued to maintain its Summer Youth Crew.
The job description has not changed much,
as a good portion of the work still takes
place on the reservation, doing Forestry-like
work such as traildigging and recently,
stream surveying. On occasion the crew,
has been called upon to do community ser
vice. Not long ago they worked for the city
of Willamina, painting the historical jailsite
and nearby curbs. Earlier projects include
some work for the Salem Audobon Soci
ety, replacing a worn out trail near Walker
Middle School. The crew now numbers half
a dozen. They are: Cheri Berkcy (the crew
leader), Pierson Schloedcr, Laura
Peedcrson, Mike Smith, Blake Birchcll,
and Adam Leno.
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J.R. Jones at the switchboard.
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Young people from the Forestry Crew generally work outdoors.