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About Smoke signals. (Grand Ronde, Or.) 19??-current | View Entire Issue (April 1, 2007)
APRIL 1,2007 MOGC A Publication of the Grand Ronde Tribe www.grandronde.org Grand Ronde Honor Guard and Dayton High School Honor Veterans By Angie Sears On Sunday, March 18, approxi mately 125 Veterans from World War II, Vietnam, and the Korean War visited the Grand Ronde Vet erans Memorial where the Grand Ronde Honor Guard presented each of them with a medallion of honor. Among the group of Veterans honored were Samuel Sandoval, World War II Marine and Navajo Code Talker; and Alex Mathews, member of Pawnee Nation, World War II POW and survivor of the Bataan Death March. The Veterans are part of a group that travel with a non-profit organi zation called Remembering Amer ica's Hero's (RAH). RAH, founded by Ken Buckles, brings Veterans to local high schools for a "Living History Day," where the students and staff honor them for their great sacrifices, and the Veterans share their wartime experiences. The group of Veterans traveled from various locations across the country fpr the event. On Sunday they visited the Evergreen Aviation u if r 1 . : V? ; FN U : i J ' MOM Grand Ronde Honor Guard members (starting top right to left) Marshal Tall-Eagle, James Gordon, Tribal member Ron Rife, (middle, right to left) Kia Ishem, Dee Odem, Norris Merrill, Tribal member Gene LaBonte, Soren McCallister, (front) Tribal member Steve Rife. Museum in McMinnville, before moving on to Spirit Mountain Ca sino, where they spent the night. "We're very proud of our memo rial, and when Mr. Buckles saw it he wanted his group to come here ... It was really something to present them with the medal lions, and they were proud. I know they've received a lot of ribbons and medallions before, but they were grateful to be here," said Gene La Bonte, Grand Ronde Tribal mem ber, Honor Guard, and Veteran of the Navy. "It was a neat experience for the Veterans to visit the memorial. I know it meant a lot to them, and I know that the medals they received meant a lot to them because they were all wearing them proudly the next day," said Dave Fluke, Dayton High School history teacher. On Monday, March 19, the group went to Dayton High School for a "Living History Day." The day began with a welcome breakfast See VETERANS on page 6 J . f - i " ' ' ' jT ; i Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde Community of Oregon 9615 Grand Ronde Road Grand Ronde, Oregon 97347 PRESORTED FIRST-CLASS MAIL U.S. POSTAGE PAID SALEM, OR PERMIT NO. 178 Tribe Passes On Boise Cascade Property Environmental unknowns and a short time line derailed the investment. By Ron Karten In mid-March, the Tribe was one of seven potential buyers looking into the purchase of Boise Cascade's 13-acre riverfront complex in Salem, including 310 acres the company owns on Minto-Brown Island. The city anticipates that the site at 315 Commercial Street SE could become a showcase in the downtown's urban renaissance featuring river side condominiums, offices, retail, restaurants, and parking. The property will be re-zoned to allow for the mixed-use development, but realty specialists predict that it could take years for the entire prop erty to be developed. "The Tribe is always interested in properties to diversify the Tribal portfolio," said Tribal Public Affairs Director Siobhan Taylor. "And the Tribe is even more interested in such properties found within the Tribe's ceded territories, which the Boise Cascade site is." The riverfront represents one of the last great encampments for the Kalapuya band of the Tribe's ances tors. Some 400 ancestors are thought to have wintered here until disease outbreaks, and encroaching settle ment beginning in the 1850s wiped out all but a handful. Still, the investment was not to be. "We saw this as an opportunity to participate in the development of cen tral Salem," said Tribal Council mem ber Val Sheker. "But as we considered the potential cost of the purchase, clean up, preservation, and develop ment, it just didn't pencil out." "It had lot of unknowns," said Tribal Council member Wink So derberg. "We didn't have all of the answers, but we had enough of them to cause us concern," said Tribal member and Tribal Realty Specialist Jan Michael Looking Wolf Reibach, who headed up the Tribal investigation into the property. "Nearly a dozen upper level Tribal staffers worked for more than a month performing extensive research on the project, including environmen tal studies, property appraisals, title research, and potential development costs," said Reibach. "The Tribe worked hard at examining this oppor tunity and bringing this information to the Council." The other six parties said to be interested in the property have not been named, and Boise Cascade de clined to comment on how many had submitted bids. "There were some bids," said Boise Cascade spokes man Fred Birnbaum. He declined to speculate about whether any of the bids would be accepted, but said that a decision will hopefully come sooner rather than later.
