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About Smoke signals. (Grand Ronde, Or.) 19??-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 1, 2001)
NOVEMBER 1, 2001 Smoke Signals 7 ! f Lights in the Arizona Sky This sunset danced over Phoenix during the recent Society for News A&j Design Conference in Arizona. The annual conference is the premier gathering of media designers in the world. This traditional Hopi hoop dancer (right) entertained media professionals during a tour of the Heard Museum. 300 Willamina's New Culture Continued from front page of supporters, but also a lot of non-supporters." This was clearly evident during a recent gath ering of about 20 Willamina area skaters in front of the public library. A woman who asked not to be identified came up and said that she was fil ing a complaint with the city because of the gath ering and said: "We're going to get rid of these kids, once and for all, come hell or high water." The popularity of skateboarding, rollerblading and other "extreme" sports have has grown im mensely in the past ten years. There are about 10 million skateboarders nationwide, making it the sixth largest participant sport in the U.S. and the third largest for participants ages 6-18. The average age of a skater is 14. There is the misconception that only big cities in California have public skate parks. But most of the cities or towns with parks are relatively small, some with populations of only a few thou sand. Many towns with existing parks have re ported such success that they are planning sec ond and third parks. Surveys report an estimated 50 to a 100 users at any park on any given day, weekdays and week ends, at any time. Compare this to a baseball field that usually lies unused and at over three times the size of a large skate park, can only accommodate 16 players when used. Also, two tennis courts are roughly the size of a small skate park, but can only be used by a maximum of eight people at one time and are usually only used by four. Skate parks can also be used by freestyle or bicycle stunt riders an other sport that has gained in popu larity in recent years. Skateboarding remains safer than other recreational activities available to American youth, with only a .49 per cent injury rate. Baseball has an in jury rate of 1.26 percent, and football 2.57 per cent, according to the National Safety Council and the Consumer Safety Commission. And safety, to the group of local people, is what it's all about. "We will build a skate park, that's the bottom line," said Sheker-Robertson. "We can't give up on our kids." B Controlled Slide - Grand Ronde Tribal youth Gary Guzman, the son of Tribal member Val Sheker Robertson, performs a boardslide in downtown Wil lamina while a group of friends watch. This talented, but overlooked group of kids is hoping to raise enough money to have a skate park in place sometime next year. Veteran's Memorial Auction Continued from front page good cause they were supporting and bid left and right with gusto, offering up eight dollars here for a coconut cream pie and nearly $300 for tickets to a Portland Trail Blazers game. Also on the auctioning block were ornate carved antler keychains, an assortment of Grand Ronde Tribal logo gear and colorful Pendleton blankets complete with CTGR logos. The prized possessions undoubtedly were en larged photos from 2001 Pow-wow, by Portland photographer William Hunter Breedlove, who generously donated a half-dozen of his works. . Everyone was pleased with the turnout, as the Veteran's Memorial Committee raked in roughly $5,500 from the sales. Tribal Elder Kathryn Harrison punctuated the evening by announc ing she was donating $1,000 to the committee, pushing the total from the night's proceedings to over $6,000. One year ago the committee announced its goals of raising $300,000 for construction of the Veteran's Memorial Monument. With money brought in from this auction the fund is now close to $70,000, certainly a source of optimism. B Coveted Artwork - Portland photographer William "Hunter" Breedlove donated several pieces of his pow-wow art to the Veteran's Memorial Auction to help raise funds. It worked, as Breedlove's pho tographs brought in a significant amount of the evening's proceeds. A special thanks goes out to Carol Nelson, , Val Grout and Claudia Leno among others who worked so hard in the kitchen to make this event happen. V I ' V . 4' k ili "Sold To The Lady With The Blue Dress On!" - veteran Tom Cilenti (foreground) holds up a Tribal logo sweatshirt as Gary Bettencourt auctions it off to the highest bidder.
