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About Smoke signals. (Grand Ronde, Or.) 19??-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 1, 2004)
Smoke Signals 3 JANUARY 1, 2004 Annual "Shop With The Sheriff" Event Helps Local Children Polk County Officers and Grand Ronde Tribal Council members spend time helping children help their families. By Peta Tinda About 30 kids from the Grand Ronde area were treated to a shopping spree at Wal-Mart on the morning of December 13. The annual "Shop with the Sheriff" program was started six years ago and has since become a tradition for local children and the officers of the Polk County Sheriffs department. Part of the idea of the program is to make sure the children's first encounter with a police officer is a good one. The program is a welcome addition to the children's holidays. The program is a collaborative effort between - A v- LA IT 1 Holidays Are For Giving Leanne Rogers, age 6, shops for toys with Polk County Sheriff's Deputy Karen Ingram. Most of the children bought presents for their families at the annual event. - '. , () , the Polk County Sheriffs Depart ment, the Polk County Social Services Integra tion, the Confed erated Tribes of Grand Ronde, and county agen cies, including correction and re serve officers. The kids were shuttled in from Grand Ronde in vans driven by Tribal volunteers for the early morning appointment. Tribal Council members Reyn Leno, Jack Giffen, Jr., Ed Larsen and Jan Reibach drove the vans. "It's just a really good thing," said Jan Riebach. "I hope we can continue; it's really good for our community relationship." Polk County Sheriff Bob Wolfe said that he was amazed at the number of officers who turned out for the event. Indeed, there were more officers than kids at the Wal-Mart that morning. All of the officers, some of whom had just come off shift from working the previous night, vol unteered their time to be at the event. Each child was given $30 to spend on what ever they wished. Most bought presents for their families, like slippers for mom, tools for dad, or toys for their brothers and sisters. If the children went a little over budget, then Good Deeds Tribal Council members and Polk County Sheriff's deputies joined together to make sure that local kids had a happy holiday. From left are: Jeff Van Lannen, Ed Larsen, Jan Reibach, Tom O'Brien, Reyn Leno and Jack Giffen, Jr. the officer's quietly made up the difference out of their own pockets at the cash register. Stacie Wheeler, a Service and Integration Supervisor for Polk County Human Services, who was there that morning, said that seeing the kids so happy was its own reward. "We do this for the kids. It's a lot of work, but the payoff is tremendous," she said. "It's one of the things that make this job worthwhile." Council member Jack Giffen, Jr., who was at the event for the first time, shared the same sen timent. "It's for the kids, that's what Christmas is all about," he said. "It's all for the kids." Tribal Chairwoman is "Woman of the Year" Honor by Medicine Winds News surprises Cheryle Kennedy. By Ron Karten There was a long line to speak to Tribal Council during the December 7 General Council meeting, so nobody seemed to no tice the group of five board members from Celebrating Tradi tions & Medicine Winds News. It made their presenta tion to Tribal Council Chairwoman Cheryle Kennedy all the more of a surprise. And not just to the audience. "I had no idea," said Kennedy, who joined the group at the microphone. Cheryle Kennedy The award, Woman of the Year for 2003-2004, sought "someone that our readers look up to because of their efforts to further the cultural education of Native America to non-Natives and Natives alike," Nakima Kerchee (Lakota Ottawa), Co-President of the Board of Directors said in an email. Also making the presentation were Co-President Ian C. Kerchee (Comanche), Secretary Ellen L. WhiteHawk (Lakota), VeteranElder Representative Michael J. WhiteHawk (Ottawa) and Youth Repre sentative Lesa K. Kerchee (Lakota Cherokee). "Our Woman Of The Year must also contribute to the well-being of her people first, but also pro mote the well-being of the community which she lives," wrote Kerchee. Serving 257 nations with Medicine Winds News, the group also receives information about potential people-of-the-year all through the year. "We con tact both Native American and non-Native sources in order to form an opinion of the nominee," wrote Kerchee. Board members were first introduced to Kennedy last June at the Grand Ronde Veterans' Pow-wow. The Board subsequently studied Kennedy's efforts "to assist her people through economic development with Spirit Mountain and heading up efforts on the hotelcasino for Portland." They interviewed busi ness leaders in Oregon "who spoke very highly of Mrs. Kennedy, even those who stood in opposition of her proposal expressed their admiration of her." "Along with the award," wrote Kerchee, "an ar ticle regarding the presentation will appear in our January issue, a copy of which will be on display at the Smithsonian Institute in Suitland, Maryland, at the Museum of the American Indian," wrote Kerchee. iSMG0 aawaiJ!!fl)!Bw! imam KnMMMraB3) mm b"ssswms h .
