Smoke Signals 3
NOVEMBER 1, 2004
Plane Crash Claims Three Young Lives
CRASH continued
from front page
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Momentos Of Sorrow In the foggy hills of Lincoln County lies a make-shift memorial for Hofertbredl, Havel andWard.
The reason for the crash, investigated by the National Transportation Safety Board, is yet to be determined.
Type Of Plane -
A Piper Cherokee PA
28, (right), similar to
the one that the teens
crashed in. Havel was fa
miliar with and had expe
rience flying this type of
aircraft.
capacity to figure things out was
amazing."
Havel was a senior and
Hofenbredl a junior at Willamina
High while Ward, Havel's girl
friend, was a junior at McMinnville
High School. In McMinnville,
Ward went to school with Havel's
sister.
While tragedies are not common
at high schools, the ones that have
occurred in recent years have pre
pared school administrators for the
possibility.
"There are plans in place," said
Zimbrick. At Willamina High, a so
called "Flight Team" was already in
existence, and Zimbrick and
Willamina Superintendent Gus
Forster began preparing the group
early on the Friday morning follow
ing the crash, when the plane and
its occupants were still missing.
The closeness of a small commu
nity like Willamina makes the job of
Flight Team members all the more
difficult. "I've known Travis for a
long time," said Zimbrick. "Barb
(Hofenbredl, Travis's mom) and I
have kids two weeks apart. My hus
band works for the Hofenbredls and
went to school with Larry
(Hofenbredl, Travis's dad)."
"Barbara and Larry always host
a summer picnic..."
And Loree Havel, Ross's mom, is
now a Science Teacher at the
Willamina Middle School.
In approaching the students, said
Zimbrick, "You steel yourself and
let the grief out; a little bit of both.
The tears flowed down my face," she
said. "I couldn't stop that, but I
think the nurturing instinct kicks
in, too."
Zimbrick taught Travis in pre
school. Later, he went to school with
her children as did his younger
brothers. Then, Zimbrick taught
him again in middle school.
"Travis came to school because he
had to," she said. "I wouldn't say he
enjoyed it, at least not the work part,
but he was a sweet boy. You had to
get on him to get his work done, but
the social part he loved. He had lots
of friends. He was the kind of kid
that had a magnetic personality.
There was always a group of kids
that liked to be around him. He
definitely set the course. He liked
trucks and liked to hunt. Had a
way about him that he always had
a following."
It was also said about Travis that
he could operate every machine in
the family's logging company, and
was so good a mechanic that his
younger brothers thought he could
fix anything.
Kristi Lynn Ward was described
as outdoorsy, enjoying "fishing,
hunting, camping, riding dirt bikes,
playing basketball, traveling and
riding horses." She also volunteered
in the Bear Hugs child care center
at McMinnville High School and
with the Life Skills program at
Duniway Middle School and
McMinnville High School.
A week later, the pain among
friends and in the community had
not abated. Jacob Hofenbredl,
cousin to Travis, agreed to speak a
little about his cousin, Travis, and
friend, Ross.
"I just remember about Travis,"
he said, "always having fun with
him no matter what we were do
ing. Same with Ross." His voice
was so sad. "That's all I feel like
saying."
Annual Tribal Government-To-Government Summit Held At Umatilla
MEETING continued
from front page
past successes and plan for the fu
ture together."
Grand Ronde Tribal Council
Chairwoman Cheryle Kennedy
spoke to the governor and his offic
ers about the need to open up lines
of communication between the gov
erning bodies and how to have open
meetings with dialogue aimed at
promoting positive relationships.
Tribal Council member Jack
Giffen, Jr. listened to the governors
speech and said he thought
Kulongoski was being sincere, al
though he "doesn't know if he has
the tools he needs to be able to work
with all nine Tribes."
Giffen, Jr. said that it was vital
for communication lines to open up
among all of the different govern
mental entities.
"We have got to have communi
cation to protect both our sover
eignty and their sovereignty," he
said.
Many of the attendees had tough
questions for the governor and his
staff.
Kathleen Gordon, a Cayuse and
Umatilla Tribal Elder, asked about
the inefficient relationship between
the Oregon Department of Trans
portation and the Tribal Roads de
partment. To date, that relation
ship has meant that the road in
front of her house does not get
paved.
"Neither the state or the county
takes care of my road," she said.
An ODOT official gave Gordon
his card and promised to talk with
her.
Tribal General Manager Cliff
Adams, who has attended every
summit since they began, said that
the summit was "an excellent oppor
tunity to show we are willing to
work together and to communicate
with each other so we can solve
problems."
Adams also said it was a chance
to discuss projects that cross the ju
risdictional boundaries of state and
Tribal governments. Adams stressed
the need for such partnerships "so
that we can move forward."
The Tribal representatives at
tended workshops and break-out
sessions on public safety, cultural
resources, and Tribal-state partner
ships in economic development.
They also heard speeches by Or
egon Attorney General Hardy
Meyers and Legislative Commission
on Indian Services Executive Direc
tor Karen Quigley.
After the summit the Umatilla
hosts treated the Tribal officials to
dinner, social dances and tradi
tional stick games.
Speaker James Whitty, of the
Oregon Department of Transportation,
said that the Highway 18 interchange
in Grand Ronde was a good example
of the state and Tribe working together
to upgrade existing infrastructure.
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