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.