Smoke Signals 3
DECEMBER 15, 2004
Member Services Department Reports At
December's General Council Meeting
General meetings will go on the road to Eugene and Portland next year.
By Ron Karten
The December General Council
meeting was held on Sunday, Decem
ber 5th, at the Tribal Community Cen
ter in Grand Ronde. Here are the high
lights: Tribal Vice Chair Reyn Leno called
the meeting to order. Tribal Council
member Wesley West offered the in
vocation. The Elders' Committee held nomina
tions for three committee openings.
Arlene Beck nominated Louise Coulson.
Monty Parazoo nominated
Betty Bly. Charlotte Gray
nominated Dakota
Whitecloud. Sharon
Hanson nominated Ruth
Rickard. Anna Hannon
nominated Tom LaChance.
And Tom LaChance nomi
nated Anna Hannon. All are
Tribal Elders. The results
will be announced in Janu
ary. Tribal Operations Direc
tor Chris Leno gave detailed
information about Mem
bers Services with a nod to
the personnel who keep the
programs going.
The Tribe offers the fol
lowing services to mem
bers: Medical and dental insur
ance Per capita and timber dis
tributions Elders pension, SSI (So
cial Security Insurance) and
SSD (Social Security Dis
ability)
Non-Elder SSI, SSD
Medicare Part B reimbursement
Tax preparation assistance
Enrollment
Burial assistance
Of all benefits offered, the Tribe of
fers the following services to Elders
(age 55)
Elder's pensionSSISSD
Medical and dental insurance
Medicare Part B reimbursement
Per capita and timber distributions
Non-member spouse health insur
ance (age 55)
Tax preparation
Of all benefits offered, the Tribe of
fers the following benefits to members
age 18-54:
Medical and dental insurance
Medicare Part B reimbursement
Per capita (age 18) and timber dis
tribution (age 21)
Enrollment services
Tribal SSISSD (if eligible)
Of all benefits offered, the Tribe of-
Coordinator, 503-879-2253; or Sharon
Grout, Enrollment Specialist, 503-879-2116.
For Medical and dental insurance,
contact Francine Peterson, Member
Services Assistant, 503-879-2221.
For departmental assistance, con
tact Hollie Mercier, Administrative
Assistant, 503-879-2490.
For tax purposes, said Leno, the per
capita should be listed under Indian
gaming proceeds, Tribal distribution
V v'- b
c
v i
Presentation Tribal Operations Director
Chris Leno described services available to mem
bers through Tribal programs.
Here To Help Steve English, an attorney with
Bullivant Houser Bailey, PC, described how the Tribe
is continuing to pursue investments lost when Stra
tegic Wealth Management was handling Tribal investments.
fers the following benefits to members
age 0-17:
Medical and dental insurance
Per capita (under 18) and timber
distribution (under 21) deposited into
trust accounts
Enrollment services
Contacts:
For per capita and timber distribu
tions, contact Liz Leno, Member Ben
efits Administrator, 503-879-2082.
For Enrollment and burial benefits,
contact Margo Mercier, Enrollment
or Native American distribution, not
employment income.
Steve English and Jeff Eden, law
yers from Bullivant Houser Bailey PC,
a Portland law firm that is reviewing
a range of issues for the Tribe, high
lighted the Tribe's effort to recover in
vestments lost between 1992, when the
Tribe hired Strategic Wealth Manage
ment (SWM) to handle investments,
and 2001 when the agreement with
SWM was terminated and legal pro
ceedings began.
The presentation avoided a number
of still-confidential issues and facts,
but was designed to let the member
ship know that the process to recover
all losses continues as the Tribe works
to keep such problems from cropping
up again.
As information becomes available,
Smoke Signals or Council News will
provide it.
Tribal member JeffMercier brought
forward a family concern to Tribal
Council seeking an explana
tion. .
Former Tribal Council
member and Elder Val
Grout thanked the council
for this year's benefits, not
ing, "Our grandparents
fought the hardest for us
and never got a thing."
She received a standing
ovation.
Discussion followed about
whether General Council
meetings were the right
place for raising personal
issues.
Tribal Elder Lottie Child
said that nobody thanks
graveyard employees at the
casino. They're treated dif
ferent," she said.
The $50 door prizes went
to Tribal Elders Tom Bean,
Carol Gleason and June
Olson. Tribal Elder Gene
LaBonte won the $ 100 prize.
The Royalty Committee
held drawings for winners
of its fund raising raffle.
Tribal Elder Rebecca Crocker won a
Pendleton blanket. Tribal Elders Tom
Linton, Marcia Bolton and Norma Lee
won fruit baskets.
Announcements:
The Tribal Council will take its
General Council meetings on the road
in February (to Portland) and in April
(to Eugene).
The next General Council Meet
ing will be Sunday, January 9, 2004,
at 11 a.m. in the Tribal Community
Center.
Alaskan Wins $1.9 Million At Spirit Mountain Casino
By Peta Tinda
A lucky visitor to Spirit Moun
tain Casino struck it rich, win
ning $1,999,467 on the Wheel of
Fortune dollar machine.
The jackpot is the largest in the
history of Spirit Mountain Ca
sino and the fourth largest pay
out in the state of Oregon.
The winner, Lorene Alexan
Anelon, resides in Iliamna,
Alaska. She stopped in at Spirit
Mountain Casino while visiting
family.
"I've never played Wheel of
Fortune but my family loves the
game," said Anelon. "I put in
$100 and had $66 left when I hit
the Wheel of Fortune. And when
I knew I hit the $1.9 million I
started crying. I just couldn't be
lieve it."
The Wheel of Fortune game is
a wide area progressive, linked
nationally with other Native Ameri
can casinos. The progressive meter
grows for all participating Tribal
properties as guests play at each
casino.
Spirit Mountain Casino is wholly
owned and operated by the Con
federated Tribes of Grand Ronde
and is the key economic resource
in the Tribe's on-going effort to gain
self-sufficiency for the Tribe and its
members.
Spirit Mountain Casino has
1,500 slot machines, Keno, three
Craps tables, four Roulette tables,
29 Blackjack tables, three Let It
Ride Poker tables, three Pai Gow
Poker tables, one Big 6 Wheel, an
850-seat Bingo Hall, 16 poker
tables and an Off-track Betting
area.
It has six different dining options
and includes the 100-room Spirit
Mountain Lodge and 4,800 square
feet of meeting and banquet space
with full-service catering and other
conference services.
Each year, the Confederated
Tribes of Grand Ronde, through its
Spirit Mountain Community Fund,
gives six percent of the profits of
Spirit Mountain Casino to non
profit organizations.
The Community Fund also con
tributes to government running
programs in Polk and Yamhill coun
ties the two counties most heavily
impacted by the casino.
In addition, Spirit Mountain Ca
sino supports a variety of commu
nity organizations and activities
through corporate sponsorships
and other donations. The casino
has sponsored such worthy causes
as Salem Art Associates, Oregon
Museum of Science and Industry
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i
Lorene Alexan Anelon
(OMSI), Zoolala and local food
banks and charities.
Spirit Mountain continues to
be Oregon's number one tourist
attraction. D