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About Smoke signals. (Grand Ronde, Or.) 19??-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 1, 2003)
DECEMBER 1, 2003 Smoke Signals 3 Grand Ronde Station Set To Open In December With New Manager On Board SI-'";' f ...J.JI.U...- "' '''.. ''."I ' ''I JlJl 4 i.t ' ' ' ' ' " V J V " -' Ready To Go Grand Ronde Station Manager Darrel Qlark stands in front of the nearly finished facility expected to open in December. With one drive-thru for three different franchises inside, the station also will feature a car wash and cross-promotions for Spirit Mountain Casino. Hard-riding Cherokee Darrel Clark wants to offer the "best" service to customers. By Ron Karten Darrel Clark comes from a hard riding family. His father and uncle, Gene and Bobby Clark, were rodeo clowns inducted into both Rodeo and Cowboy halls of fame. His brother went into rodeo competitions, too, send ing him off another way to stake his claim, in football and baseball, a track he now says gave him the reputation of being the black sheep of the family. Still, he knew how hard their jobs were. "It's the hardest thing in the world to make people laugh when you're about to be run over by a ton of bull," he said. Every spring, he'd leave school a month early to hit the rodeo trail, and come back to school a month late, af ter a circuit that took him across this country and through Canada. Born in southern California ("not L.A.," he said) and raised outside of Burns, Or egon, he said that the one thing all this travel instilled in him was, "I'm not afraid of change." In the years since, he has owned res taurants and delis and catering out fits (serving 2,000 meals a day to the staffs of Intel and Fujitsu in the Port land metropolitan area), he's been a rental agent for construction equip ment and a stock broker (not livestock, particularly after the market crashed). As a Cherokee, he was particularly interested in serving an Indian com munity when the opportunity to man age the Tribe's soon-to-open conve nience store came up. But he quickly found out that the Grand Ronde Sta tion was not going to be your everyday C-store. With the blueprint for the facility spread out under his elbows on a con ference table, he started to tick off all the extras that go beyond a generic C store. He listed the Taco Time, TCBY and Boyd's Coffee franchises that will fill the drive-through end of the facility. "The menu board," said Clark, "will have a lot of options." The genius of it, he added, is that the coffee, espresso and pastries part will dominate in the morning hours with Taco Time and TCBY filling later cravings, giving customers a reason to stop by during any of the seven days and 24 hours that the facility stays open. The denim shirts that some 30 em ployees will wear while on duty have the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde logo stitched onto the front with the logos of Taco Time and TCBY stitched onto the sleeves. Also beyond normal C-store fare, said Clark, are gas pumps, stations to pro vide propane for RVs and a car wash. As the days dwindled before the open ing in mid-December, Clark was con sumed with everything from where to hang a buffalo head to a supplier balk ing at requirements for working with an Indian nation to knitting together four different computer systems. The things that are driving Clark crazy are going to be real advantages for customers, however. Buy whatever you like in the store, from franchise sandwiches or coffee to regular refrig erated sodas and packaged bear claws, and you pay for it all at the same check out line. Likewise with the three fran chises: order from all at one drive through, or inside, for that matter. Buy a car wash and the facility will give you a break on the price of gas. Tribal and casino employees as well as all Tribal members will see a discount at the gas pump. Each gas pump will have an advertising station above to encourage casino use, and receipts will also present special offers for those who head for the casino. The C-store also could be a leg-up for many Tribal members, who are being sought for positions at the store. "In terest has been very good for Tribal members," he said, "and we want to hire as many as possible." Clark hopes the business will be "a spot to enter the job market" for many Tribal mem bers. And with a staff including as many. Tribal members as possible, staff rec ognition of Tribal Elders will follow, important because Clark's vision is "to service the heck out of (Tribal Elders)." For part of that effort, Clark has been working with the Culture Department to make photos of Tribal Elders part of the decor. The look also will include stone tile on the floor and theme-appropriate cabinetry. "We want people to know two things right away," said Clark. "First, it's Indian-run, and second, that we pro vide some of the best service you've ever had." And to make that happen, he noted the many hats he wears for the Grand Ronde Station: "manager, chef, social worker, driver, salesman, book keeper. . ." With the fourteen hour days he's been putting in to get the facility open, he had nothing left to name for his spare time activities. Clark lives with his wife, Jo, and daughters, Dallas and Dani, in Tigard, and has a daughter, Desi, who is en rolled at Portland State University. r . . , - . , , . " - rri . fSfS ji hx L -7, J f -r:. IP"- . I Hi 1849 I .1 Ifto" ; i imm.m IMV if ' w1 " i V : - i" z" : Z f h 1,1 ; . , L r owiiwinfc , wtmmmtnmmm pmmmmmitnf f mmm ,-4 I - .,, 1 1 i. fc mm Jiii.1 sjt " t ,'" J .... iiiiini.iim-j , B fill For the second time in school history, the Willamina High School Volleyball team went to the state playoffs at Pacific University. Led by Tribal youth, the team made the second day of the playoffs for the first time in school history and went on to finish in fourth place. Caitlin Zimbrick (left) blocks a shot against Central Linn High School. Brittni Wilson (above) and Zimbrick block a shot against Sherman High School. 2 z .O . ILJu : terf w gs- ii - -Ji
