AUGUST 1, 2001
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Tribe. Hosts Annnma! Elder's Honor
Royalty, Tribal staff, Veterans and Tribal Council turn out to help, pay respect.
By Justin Phillips
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Thank YOU - Grand Ronde Tribal Elder Norma Lee "YOU Don't Say" - Tribal Elders Gene Hudson
receives a gift from Nicole Haskins. (left) and Leonard Vivette look over the day's agenda to
see what will happen next.
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Get That Camera Out Of Here -
Kitchen crew volunteers and Tribal members
Claudia Leno and Darlene Aaron get caught off
guard by the camera as they prepare sandwiches
for the Elders in the Community Center kitchen.
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1 direction.
The Elder Honor Day was held July 20 and 21
at the Community Center. Elders from different
Tribes all over Oregon attended the event.
The Veteran's Color Guard opened the ceremony
with the placement of the flags. Tribal Elder Ila
Dowd gave the opening invocation in Chinook.
Nearly 200 Elders traveled to Grand Ronde from
different Tribes around Oregon. There were 82
Grand Ronde Elders, 27 from the Siletz Tribe, 16
from the Umatilla Tribe, 27 from the Coos, Lower
Umpqua and Suislaw Tribe, 11 from the
Swinomish Tribe in Washington, 32 from the Co
quille Tribe, two from the Cow Creeks and two
from the Warm Springs Tribe.
The Elders were treated to lunch and dinner.
The Grand Ronde Royalty girls also helped pre
pare the meal and serve.
Bingo was also played throughout the day.
There were a total of 40 volunteers to take on
the job of making sure the Elders enjoyed their
day.
"It took a lot of people to do tables, chairs, cook
and serve," said Grand Ronde Tribal Elder Ruby
Bigoni. Bigoni was also in charge of registration
for Elder Honor Day. "It really turned out really
well. The food was wonderful. The girls did an
outstanding job, everything was so tasty. It was
just like home cooking; it was just really wonder
ful." The oldest Elders were honored with gifts. The
oldest gentleman was 92 years old and the oldest
lady was 100 years old.
Throughout the day, the Elders worked on crafts
and those were handed out as gifts.
On Friday night they were treated to the sound
of Gene and Patsy Pullin's music during dinner.
"They were an absolute 100 percent hit," said
Grand Ronde Tribal Elder Sharon Hanson, Chair
of the Tribal Elder's Committee. "There was a nice
crowd that stayed and enjoyed the music. They
were really impressed."
"Everything went really well," said Bigoni. "It
went really smooth."
"People were really pleased," said Hanson. "The
music was a really big hit. The food was great.
We could have never done it without Penny DeLoe.
We couldn't have an honor day without her. A
special thank you from the Elder's Committee."
Proud Royalty girls Allison Empey (center) and Emma Leno participated in the Elder's
Honor Day while Veteran's Norris Merrill and Gene LaBonte (right) look on.
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Well Attended - This year's Elder's Honor Day was the biggest yet. Nearly 200 "I Like It" - Visiting Elders were honored with gifts as well.
Elders participated in the event.