8 JUNE 1, 2002
Smoke Signals
Elders Say "Thank You Very Mulch"
Volunteers spend a Saturday helping the Elders
spruce up their yards with new dirt.
By Kimberly Campbell
The morning haze lifted and it
was a clear, sunny
spring day filled with
laughter, smiles and
hands clenched around
coffee mugs.
In Hip Tilixam - the
Elders' Housing devel
opment in Grand Ronde volun
teers and residents gathered to as
sist the Elders with the spreading
Let's Get Together - Travis
Kellogg (L) and Steven Akers worked
with Tribal Elder Bill Kellogg to get his
and many others homes looking good.
of mulch on Saturday, May 18.
Residents requested that the hous
ing authority
help them get
some good af
fordable dirt to
place around
their personal
areas for
planting.
The mulch was donated to the
Elders by the Housing Authority.
Captains were chosen for each of
the cul-de-sacs. The captain for
Beaver Court was Harvey Grout
and the captain for Eagle Loop was
Leon "Chips" Tom. Coyote Court
was captained by Bill Kellogg and
the captain for Blue Jay Court was
Ruth Rickard. The volunteers
spread mulch, raked and hauled
wheelbarrels full of dirt and drank
coffee.
Larry Leith the Tribe's new Rental
Housing Coordinator worked with
the Housing Authority's Landscape
Committee to make this event pos
sible. Members of
the Landscape
Committee are
residence and vol
unteers Harvey
Grout, Donna
Casey, Leon
"Chips" Tom and
Ruth Rickard,
members from the
housing authority
are Larry Leith,
Dwayne Hussey
and Lonnie Leno.
Cal Kearns owner
of C & D
Lanscaping is on
the committee as
well.
Tribal member
Michael Reibach stopped shoveling
long enough to show off several of
the native plants that were cho
sen and planted around the com
plex. He enthusiastically began
eating several of the varieties. "If
you ever get stranded in the woods
Service With A Smile - Jan Michael Reibach
watches his uncle Michael Standing Elk Reibach spread new
dirt in the yard of Lana Takhar at the Elders' Housing devel
opment in Grand Ronde on Saturday, May 18
these will do ya," said Reibach.
When the work was done and the
shovels put down, Tribal member
Debby Larsen was pleased.
"It went well," she said brushing
her hands together.
New Rental Housing Coordinator Was Born In Willamina
Larry Leith likes to listen to Jimmy Buffet music and saves the weekends for his Harley.
By Peta Tinda
Larry Leith, the new rental hous
ing coordinator for the Tribe, has
been in rental properties for ten
years, likes to ride his Harley
Davidson on weekends and oh
yeah, he's a Parrot Head. A Jimmy
Buffet fan, that is.
"Anyone who knows Jimmy Buf
fet will know what I'm talking
about," he said.
Leith, who was born in Willamina
and went to Oregon State Univer
sity in Corvallis, has an 11 year
old son, Jacob and his wife Mary
has worked in the Tribe's Human
Resources' department for just over
a year now. Mary, who is a Grand
Ronde Tribal member, is the
daughter of Ralph and Etta
Hansen (Porter) and the grand
daughter of Cecil Porter.
When he's not riding his hog or
jamming out to Buffet, Leith can
usually be found in the Tribal
Housing Authority building, re
viewing tenant applications, mak
ing calls and looking after the 38
units in the Tribal Elders' housing
development.
"I really like my new job," said
Leith who started working for the
Tribe in April of 2001. "What strikes
me is the amount of services avail
able to Tribal members, particu
larly the Elders.
"I also handle any complaints
that come through," said Leith.
"And after the new Tribal housing
is built, I'll handle the waiting list
for that."
Leith said his favorite part of the
new job is his coworkers.
"I really like the people here.
We've got great people in this de
partment. I also like this job be
cause it's providing a service and I
really enjoy seeing people get into
their new places."
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New Registered Triage Nurse Now On Duty At The Health and Wellness Center
Gayle Stamnes moved to Oregon in 1999 and said she "loves" it here.
By Peta Tinda
The word Triage
derives from the
French word
"trier" which
means to sort or to
choose. Triage is
the process by
which patients are
sorted according
to the type and
urgency of their
conditions or
symptoms.
And that's ex
actly what Gayle
Stamnes, Regis
tered Triage
Nurse at the
Grand Ronde Tribe's Health and
Wellness Center, does.
"People call in who need help, we
talk to them and see what kind of
help they need," said Stamnes.
The Triage system classifies prob
lems or symptoms into three
groups: Emergent problems, which
are life or limb threatening, such
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as chest pain,
severe burns or
lacerations, or
fractures where
the bone has
broken through
the skin. Ur
gent problems,
which are those
which require
prompt care,
but is not life
threatening -like
abdominal
pain, fractures,
or fever less
than 103.
Thirdly, non
urgent problems that require
evaluation and treatment, but time
is not a critical factor, such as
rashes, sprains, upset stomach.
From her office at the Wellness
Center, Stamnes handles calls
from people seeking to see doctors,
make appointments, or just want
ing some advice.
"That's what I like to do, is to talk
to people, let them know that it's
all right. I like to see people get
healthy," said Stamnes. "And like
any nurse, I love to educate people
to better care for themselves."
Originally from the small town of
Rancho Palos Verdes in California,
Stamnes moved to Oregon in 1999
to help with the care of her elderly
parents.
"I just love it here. I even like
the rain. I like having seasons.
They say in California you have
four seasons: earthquake, flood,
fire and I forget the other one but
it's equally bad," said Stamnes. "So
I love it here. The people especially
have been really nice and helpful.
And I have great patients, so that
helps."
Often, Stamnes has the some
what sticky job of deciding who gets
to be seen by the doctors. This de
pends entirely on the urgency of
their condition.
"The toughest part of this job is
telling people that they don't need
to be seen," said Stamnes. "Most
people think 'I'm sick, I need to be
seen' and that's only natural. But
if it's really serious, we'll get them
in to be seen. The problems is, a lot
of times the providers are booked
solid, so it's not fair to the provider,
because they will have less time
with someone who has made an
appointment. That's the hardest
part of my job," said Stamnes.
Ideally, Stamnes would like ev
erybody to be seen on the same day
they call in, but given the size of
the Wellness Center and the
amount of doctors on call, that isn't
always possible.
"The other important part, the
ones we get concerned with, are the
(Tribal) Elders. They don't do a lot
of calling, so we know that when
one does call in, they're sick," said
Stamnes. The Triage station makes
every effort to get people seen as
soon as possible, Stamness says.
"Nobody is ever turned down."