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About Smoke signals. (Grand Ronde, Or.) 19??-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 15, 2006)
4 AUGUST 15, 2006 Smoke Signals Oregon Native Lives In Sheridan, Works For The Tribe Georgene Sanders is now the Payroll Specialist in Accounting. Payroll Specialist Georgene Sanders , r - rr" 'zr - , ! .. .. nun ' ' i f r. By Toby McClary Georgene Sanders has recently become the Payroll Specialist for the Tribe. Before taking on the pay roll position, Sanders was the Ac counts Payable Technician for the Tribe's Accounting Department. Sanders has a long history of bookkeeping and working with ac counting. From 1983-1992, Sanders worked as the bookkeeper for a rancher in the Christmas Valley area. She ex plained that she would work out on the ranch for the first half of the day and then go to the office to do the book work. In 1993, she worked as the Of fice Assistant for North Lake School District before moving to Great Falls, Montana to again do the "number crunching" for a local ranch. After moving back to Oregon, Sanders began working as a book keeper for a paving company in La Grande. She worked there until the summer of 1998 when she found a job at Spirit Mountain Casino as the Accounts Payable Specialist. Shortly thereafter, Sanders was promoted to Finance Specialist where she focused on auditing tips and doing the casino's 1099's. After a five-year stretch with the casino, Sanders took a position with the Tribe. She began working for the Tribe in January of 2003. "I was surprised to find a job with all the benefits and pay in a little place like Grand Ronde," said Sand ers. "I know how fortunate I am to have this position and still be away from the metro area." Sanders grew up in Oregon and graduated from Molalla High School. She took some college courses at Clackamas Community College and Mt. Hood Community College and took a finance course at Chemeketa Community Col lege in Salem. She now resides in Sheridan, Oregon with her husband Sandy who is preparing to retire as a mechanic in the near future. Sanders explained how her previ ous experiences have helped her in her current position. "Working at the casino first and learning customer service has been a great help," said Sanders. "I like helping people and I try to go out of my way to help them resolve their problems." D Accounting Clerk Counts Her Grandchildren 1 Debra Nolen joined the Accounting Department in March. By Ron Karten Debra Nolen and her husband, Michael, moved here from their northern California home to be with Michael's mom in Willamina. They "bribed" their grown children to come along with their seven children because, Nolen said of her grandchildren, "They're my babies." Now, one family lives in McMin nville and another in Scotts Mills. Nolen and her husband live in Willamina. Since March, Nolen has been working for the Tribe as an Ac counting Clerk. She took Cecilia Bissonette's former position. Bis sonette moved to Accounts Payable last November. Nolen comes with a varied ac counting background including work in a credit bureau, a national garbage company and a medical billing office. As Accounting Clerk, her job Accounting Clerk Debra Nolen includes getting purchase orders ready for the Accounts Payable department, taking W-9 forms from vendors for processing, filing Accounts Payable activity, distrib uting mail within the office and ordering supplies. "It keeps me busy," she said. Michael grew up in Newberg and two of his sisters, Donna Dancer (Cage Cashier) and Elaine Campbell (Lodge Housekeeper), work for the Spirit Mountain Casino. Nolen was born in Wyoming and moved to California as a child. She has a sister in California and another in Texas. "Someplace to go on vacation," she said. Michael has twice retired, once after 20 years in the Marine Corps and a second time after 15 years with Chevron. The couple traveled with their children all over the U.S., said No len. Her husband has been in 38 states, she in 33. "Kentucky and Oregon are the prettiest," she said. "Kentucky has the rolling hills but Oregon has the mountains and the trees. That's (the mountains and the trees) what my husband loves." Her final word on the subject is that she "sits next to a very ornery person." She is referring, she hap pily says, to Tribal member arid Budget and Grants Coordinator Nancy Renfro, who sits next door. As Renfro poked a look in to the cubicle, Nolen laughed, "I knew I was going to have trouble from the first day." Tribal Royalty Carwash f I I - t A : Lit f V 1 1' .'3 . ' j Fundraiser The Tribal Royalty held a carwash on Thursday, July 27 at the Governance Building parking lot on help raises funds for future Royalty events. Blacktail Drive Construction y's. s ft I) Big Dig Jake Long of PIHL works on repairing a water leak on Blacktail Drive in Grand Ronde. The road was temporarily closed to traffic.
