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About Smoke signals. (Grand Ronde, Or.) 19??-current | View Entire Issue (March 15, 2002)
MARCH 15, 2002 Smoke Signals 5 Smoke Signals recognizes those in the community whose accomplishments are many. By Chris Mercier We've all got our lives to live, and if given the chance, no doubt many of us could put out fairly impres sive biographies. We at Smoke Signals want to draw attention to humble Tribal members and workers who've gone out and done a fair share of deeds and accomplished notable things in their own right. Dr. Joseph Stone of Social Ser vices pointed us to achievements in the ranks of his own staff. Congratulations to Karen Scharf for her recent certification as a Chemical Dependency Counse lor Level III CDC III. And ku dos to Laura Burton for her own accomplishment: Provisional Certified Alcohol & Drug Coun selor II. "It is the maintenance of this type of professionalism that has allowed the A & D (Alcohol & Drug) program to function at 115 percent of the nationally ac cepted community standard of practice for the past several months," said Stone. We agree. Human Resources has reason to be proud, also. Tribal Mem ber Connie Holmes earned a Pro fessional Human Resources cer tificate through Portland Com munity College. And Kathryn Smedema also earned some merit in the form of the Senior Professional Human Resources certification. Connie and Kathryn, we salute you. One unfortunate demographic about Native Americans is the high incidence of high school dropouts. For whatever reasons, many Natives are unable to get their diplomas. We admire those people who hunker down and pursue their GED's, because really, it would be so easy to not try at all. The Smoke Signals says "good job" to Tribal mem bers Sam Kottke (4629) of Keizer, and Sonia Whitefeather (2937) of Vancouver, Washing ton for successfully getting their GED's. Kottke, 25, completed the GED course at Chemeketa Com munity College in November. He also offered an enormous "Thank You" to the Education division, Kevin Simmons and Joanne Carr. Whitefeather wrote us a lengthy, inspiring letter detail ing the numerous obstacles that have stood in her way. Yet she persevered and is now planning to attend Clark Community Col lege to study Psychology with hopes of one day being a domes tic violence and substance abuse counselor. Speaking of careers, you have to be thoroughly impressed by the accomplishments of Tribal Member Gary Soderberg of Poison, Montana. He recently graduated from the Northwest Lineman College with a GPA of 4.0. It marks a career switch from 25 years as a logger. In ad dition to the 550 hours of train ing, he had also to take two hours per day of academic studies, memorizing stuff like Ohm's Law, Watt's Law, comprehensive knowledge of electricity and as sorted technique for dealing and establishing power lines. Soderberg grew up in Lake Os wego but moved to Alaska back in 1978 to begin a career logging. Now 42 years of age and begin ning a new profession, Soderberg's story should remind people "It's never too late." For those of you in the Tribal loop, the name Wanda McCoy probably draws some recogni tion. A Tribal Elder, Wanda ap pears periodically at functions, known for possessing a winning smile, unbeatable work ethic, and now Goodwill's Graduate of the 3rd Quarter, an award not handed out frequently. Wanda has been in volved with Goodwill Industries for 20 years. Not too many are sur prised by Wanda's achievement. Connie Hanson, a manager at Ross Dress for Less in Salem where Wanda works setting up linge rie and in-store dis plays, claims our fellow Tribal member is one of the best workers around, never failing to show up on time each and every day with a refreshingly pleasant attitude. Wanda also worked nine years in a nursing home kitchen, raising eye brows by failing to ever break a single dish in that span, which surely has to be a record of some sort. Wanda lives in Salem, engaging in restaurant hopping in her spare time. When given the chance she likes to come out to Grand Ronde to visit friends and fellow elders, and on occasion, hit up Spirit Mountain Casino. Wanda rarely misses a General Council meeting on Sundays. Congratula tions, Wanda. tifw . ' " ,'ft .' , ,.. f i 'vi'i A y V x I Kathryn Smedema : i i ... vr' , 1 .. , I - 1 - " J , v J V, "'.(; v Wanda McCoy j 3 , x r if ' ' ' ' Dr. Joseph Stone .... ; j C ; - tV ''). . ( H'; : , rf4 -! '. ; Nv J- !1- . . 1 Vl ; 1 1 1 1 I , t ! ' ' f t'iJt I ' 1 - ' ' ....... j f, ; V?,. JohnBellville Connie Holmes Laura Burton
