JULY 1, 2000
A
ngela Ellis, Leonard mrgsfcein named to
Spirit Mountain Community Fund posts
Grand Ronde Tribal member
Angela Ellis has been
named administrator of the
Spirit Mountain Community Fund
and Leonard J. Bergstein of Portland
has joined the Spirit Mountain Com
munity Fund Board of Trustees.
As the Community Fund adminis
trator, Ellis reviews and evaluates
grant requests for the Tribal Council
and the Community Fund Board of
Trustees. She works closely with
grant recipients and helps build pub
lic awareness of the Community Fund
as a significant recourse to non-profit.
Ellis has worked in the marketing
and other departments at Spirit Moun
tain Casino since it opened in 1995.
She earned her bachelor's of science
degree in public policy and adminis
tration from Western Oregon Univer
sity in 1999. Ellis grew up in Grand
Ronde and has three daughters.
"The Community Fund has become
a valuable partner to community or
ganizations that are making tremen
dous accomplishments in improving
the lives of people in their communi
ties," Ellis said. "As a Tribal mem
ber, I am proud of the way the Con
federated Tribes are able to give back
to their community and to Oregon.
I'm delighted to be closely associated
with that work."
As a Tribal member, I am proud of
the way the Confederated Tribes are
able to give back to their community
and to Oregon. I'm delighted to be
closely associated with that work.9
Angela Ellis
W ' Vim
Bergstein was named to the seven
member Community Fund Board of
Trustees by the Tribal Council.
Bergstein is founder and president
of Northwest Strategies Inc., a public-affairs
consulting firm in Port
land. For nearly 20 years, North
west Strategies has advised compa
nies on many of the regions most
sensitive issues: environmental regu
lations, financial services, health
care, business development, land use
and transportation. Prior to start
ing his firm, Bergstein was a staff
assistant to Governor Bob Straub
and Neil Goldschmidt.
Bergstein serves on the Spirit
Mountain Development Corp. and
Spirit Mountain Gaming boards. He
serves on the Board of Trustees of
the Oregon Children's Theater, sits
on the Executive Committee of the
Portland Sports Authority and for
merly served on the Board of trust
ees for the Oregon Museum of Sci
ences and Industry. Bergstein and
his wife, Betsy, live in Portland and
have three children.
"It's an honor to be selected by the
Grand Ronde Tribal Council to join
their distinguished Board. The Com
munity Fund helps organizations
meet such basic needs as education
and health care," Bergstein said. "It
is helping to preserve Oregon's cul
tural history and its natural environ
ment. In three short years, the Com
munity Fund has established a solid
reputation for making grants that
truly make a difference in the qual
ity of life in Portland, Salem, Eugene,
and small communities throughout
the West Valley. It is another effec
tive way in which Grand Ronde
Tribal members are turning lives
around."
In addition to Bergstein, the Spirit
Mountain Community Fund Board
of Trustees consists of the following:
D Kathryn Harrison, Grand Ronde
Tribal Council Chair
D Ed Pearsall, Grand Ronde
Tribal Council Secretary
B June Sell-Sherer, Grand Ronde
Tribal Council member
B Kate Brown,
State Senator
B Ron Dodge,
Polk County Commissioner
fl Sho Dozono,
Portland businessman
B Kristine Olson,
U.S. Attorney for Oregon
The Confederated Tribes of the
Grand Ronde created the
Spirit Mountain Fund in 1997
as a way to practice the Tribe's
age-old tradition of giving back
to the community. Each year, the
Community Fund distributes 6 of
the profits from Spirit Mountain Casino
to worthy organizations and causes in
the 11 Western Oregon counties that
make up its ancestral areas. So far,
nearly $9 million has been distributed,
making the Community Fund Oregon's
eighth largest grant maker, based on
annual distributions.
Salem Art Association
receives contribution
The Salem Art Association (SAA),
one of the largest non-profit arts or
ganizations in Oregon, was recently
the recipient of a large contribution
from the Spirit Mountain Community
Fund. The grant of $37,600 will help
fund two flourishing art-based pro
grams at SAA: The Ceramics Educa
tion Program at the Marjorie T.
Sherman Community Ceramics Cen
ter; and the Exhibition Series at the
Bush Barn Art Center.
At the Ceramics Center, the mon
ies from the Community Fund will
provide weekly workshops for com
munity non-profit organizations for
one year; subsidize the Family Clay
Sunday program, which is composed
of workshops for parents and chil
dren to explore clay creations; and
fund a series of opportunities for
Grand Ronde Elementary School stu
dents to participate in special work
shops by SAA's teachers. It is the
second year that the Community
Fund has supported programming at
the Ceramics Center.
For the third consecutive year, a
portion of the grant will be used for
SAA's Exhibition Program, which
features monthly exhibitions in the
A.N. Bush Gallery of local regional
national importance. The Gallery is
one of the few professional venues
in the Willamette Valley dedicated to
promoting and presenting contempo
rary art.
The Salem Art Association manages
and operates the Bush House, the
Bush Barn Art Center, and the
Marjorie T. Sherman Community Ce
ramics Center, as well as a wide range
of arts education programs, and the
annual Salem Art Fair and Festival.
Grand Ronde Tribe, Spirit Mountain Community
Fund award grant to Willamina Fire Department
New ambulance, equipment will make responding quicker.
The Willamina Fire Department
will add a new rescue unit to serve
the Grand Ronde area as a result of
a grant from the Confederated
Tribes of Grand Ronde through its
Spirit Mountain Community Fund.
The $110,000 rescue unit will al
low the volunteer fire department to
better respond to all kinds of emer
gencies in the Grand Ronde area
faster and more effectively, said Fire
Chief Ted Lake.
The $244,500 grant also will pro
vide a new ambulance, and purchas
ing additional Life-pak and suction
units and new turnout gear, radios
and pagers to outfit additional vol
unteer firefighters.
"This will allow us to more effec
tively answer emergency and fire calls
in our coverage area," Lake said. "It's
a major upgrade to equipment that
was in need of repair or replacement."
The added equipment will help the
fire department respond to increas
ing medical calls.
"This equipment will significantly
improve the ability of the fire depart
ment to save lives in the Grand
Ronde community," said Ed Pears
all, secretary of the Confederated
Tribes of the Grand Ronde Tribal
Council and a member of the Spirit
Mountain Community Fund Board.
"This is an effective way for the Com
munity Fund to give back and help
West Valley communities."
The Community Fund has the Wil
lamina, Newberg and Sheridan fire
districts in the past by purchasing
"jaws of life" equipment and a High
way 18 Incident Response Vehicle.
The Community Fund recently made
a $431,319 grant to the Polk County
Sheriffs Office for enhanced law
enforcement coverage for the Grand
Ronde area.
Willamina's new rescue unit will
respond to medical calls, motor ve
hicle crashes and structure fires. In
addition, it will provide assistance on
high-angle rescue.
The rescue unit has a compressed
air foam unit which allows it to more
effectively respond to motor vehicle
accidents and car fires. It provides
the fire department with increased
stocks of compressed air, so the
firefighters, adding to the depart
ment's ability to handle situations
quickly.
The fire department provides ser
vice to 4,000 citizens of Polk County
and Yamhill County and about 1,000
to 4000 visitors to the area per day.
The department has 50 volunteer,
part-time and full-time personnel.
Burns Paiute Tribe buys land lost to feds long ago
More than a century ago, the federal government
dismantled the 1.7 million acre Malheur Reservation
in Central Oregon, leaving its Paiute inhabitants scat
tered across the West.
Recently, Northern Paiute people from four states
gathered at the foot of Strawberry Mountains with the
Burns Paiute Tribe to celebrate its first big land acqui
sition on the former reservation.
"To me, its been a long time coming," said Lillian
Maynard, a Burns Paiute Tribal Elder and member of
the Tribal Council.
The purchase of the 1,760 acre ranch in Logan Val
ley was made possible through a $2 million wildlife miti
gation grant from the Bonneville Power Administration.
But for the Buns Paiute, it goes beyond wildlife. It is
a way to reconnect the young members of the 300-mem-ber
Tribe to their heritage, Maynard said.
The former cattle ranch, once part of the large Oxbow
Ranch, now will be managed by the Tribe to enhance
the fish and wildlife on the high meadows near the head
waters of the Malheur River, said Dan Gonzalez, fish
and wildlife program manager for the Burns Paiute.