Smoke Signals 3
AUGUST 1,2007
Tirilbe nlostts AirainNuisil EDdleo Momioir Day
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By Ron Karten
The Elders Committee started
the program honoring a
King and Queen from the
Elder community - Tribal
Elder Gene LaBonte as
king and Tribal Elder Mar
cella Norwest as Queen.
They shared a table up
front with their part
ners, Billie LaBonte
and Tony Selwyn,
receiving all of
the honors per
taining there
to. Social Ser
vices Program
Coordinator
Ron Hudson
had to re
place LaBonte
on the Color
Guard when
Tribal Council
member and
Tribal Elder
Wes Buddy
West called LaBonte's name.
"It is appropriate we call you,
'King'," said West. "And for our
beautiful Queen, a great, great
beautiful woman I love this
Tribal woman, Marcella Nor
west, please come forward. It is a
privilege and an honor to call you
Queen Marcella."
And he presented Norwest
with a fleece shawl and LaBonte
with a lap robe, to the tune of
applause aplenty.
The pair kept standing, not
knowing what was next until
West completed his task: "Ok,"
he said. "You guys can sit down
now. That's all you're going to
get from us."
And the party was underway.
We really put it over on Gene,"
said Billie LaBonte during a
break outside. "He had no
idea."
Tribal member and Cultural
Education Specialist Leslie
Riggs led the language im
mersion class, Lilu, from
the Tribal pre-school in
a meal song, complete
with drums, and fol
lowed later with an
Elder participation
song, Tumala, in
the traditional
language.
You only had
to count the
handful of
party favor
bags left over
to know that
more than
200 attended
this year's
Elder Honor
Day, held on
July 20 at the gymnasium.
Tribal Elder Norma Lee put to
gether 234 of the bags for men and
women representing a dozen tribes
across the Northwest and farther
afield. She also made all of the
tables' flags.
"Norma Lee went above and
beyond," said Tribal Elder Louise
Madieros, Chair of the Elder's Hon
or Day Committee. "The planning,
the gift bags, the table decorations
was all her."
The final count, including work
ers and guests was closer to 300,
said Madieros. "It was the biggest
crowd we ever had."
As always, Lee was one of many
who worked hard to keep the an-
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Tribal Elder Marcella Selwyn
nual event full of surprises as well
as all of the usual and anticipated
goings on.
"We had Marcella (Norwest) and
her sister, Marilee (Norwest-Davis),"
said Madieros. "We had a lot of El
ders who made bags, dammit dolls,
who put up with me to go shopping.
And they did such a good job this
year. Everything just went so well.
"And of course, Kristy DeLoe,
head of the kitchen, she and her
crew made the lunch. It was deli
cious. Dinner was the same. It
was beef stew that I heard was ab
solutely delicious, clam chowder,
hot rolls, cookies and pie, green
and seafood salads. Everything
was just so..."
Prizes were numerous and var
ied, with dart boards, BBQ grill
ing skillets, cordless screwdrivers,
luggage, dust busters and garden
tools among hundreds of items. At
one point, Madieros invited up all
Elders who had not otherwise won
anything to come and pick from the
row upon row of gifts.
"I'm finally getting my team
trained," said Madieros on the side,
referring to vast quantities of qual
ity gifts available.
Tribal Council member Val
Sheker, among a number of Tribal
Council members in attendance,
told the group that by next year,
the casino would have great new
digs in which to hold the event.
The south addition to the casino
will provide an additional 135,000
feet worth of convention facilities
and offices.
With the size of the Elders event,
that casino space will come in han
dy. But in addition, the Elders will
have their own activity center by
next year. Currently, the Tribal
Housing Authority is estimating
an Easter completion date for that
project.
With these options, Madieros has
high hopes for both.
"We got so many compliments,"
said Madieros. "I couldn't figure
out what was different and then I
figured it out. It's because all the
other Tribes go to the casino, but
we do everything here. It's more
personal, and I hope to keep it
personal."
The Elders Activity Center, a
place for about 150, will keep it per
sonal, but with 300 attending, the
group will certainly want to make
use of the new casino facilities, too,
said Madieros.
"This was a very exciting one to
me because people were just so
friendly. I just had a ball."
Tribal Elder
Gene LaBonte
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Tribal Elders pick out gifts at the 2007 Elders Honor Day held at the Tribal gymnasium on July 20-21 .