Smoke Signals 3
MARCH 1,2011
Vetterainis Powwow sett
The 201 1 Veterans Powwow will be held Friday through Sunday, July 8
10, at Uyxat Powwow Grounds offHebo Road near Fort Yamhill State Park.
Grand entries will be held on 7 p.m. Friday, 1 and 7 p.m. Saturday, and 1
p.m. Sunday'. Master of ceremonies will be Nick Sixkiller and whip man
will be Tony Whitehead. All veterans, dancers and members of the public
are invited to attend. There will be arts and crafts and food vendors. Free
camping and parking will be available, but no drugs, alcohol or pets will
be allowed. For more information, contact Veterans Committee member
Chris Tinney at 503-883-3610 or chris.tinneygrandronde.org. D
Helping Hand awards
v" ' ' f W
. Photos by Michelle Alalmo
Melissa Owens, right, reads a latter from Spirit Mountain Community
Fund's Board of Trustees after receiving tha YeTlan Lima Award In front
of her co-workers In tha association's Portland office on Friday, Feb.
1 8. Owens is a cancer survivor who started out as a volunteer for the
organization, then was offered a staff position. She said she was very
honored and kind of speechless after receiving the award.
By Michelle Alaimo
- Smoke Signals photographer
Ye?lan Lima is a Chinuk Wawa phrase meaning "helping hand"
and Spirit Mountain Community Fund recently established the
Ye?lan Lima Award. It will be an annual award given to two people
involved with nonprofit organizations located within the 1 1-county
service area covered by the fund. The award's purpose is to recognize
individuals with remarkable achievements within organizations.
There are two categories for which people can be nominated: unpaid
volunteer person and paid non-management staff person. Each of
the two award winners receive a distinctive recognition award, a
complimentary dinner for two and one night stay at Spirit Mountain
Lodge and a $500 cash gift.
This year's recipients are Patricia Cortez, a volunteer with Juven
tud FACETA, a youth group in Eugene, for the unpaid volunteer
person category, and Melissa Owens, volunteer coordinator and
community outreach person for the Children's Cancer Association in
Portland for the paid non-management staff person category. The two
were presented their awards by Spirit Mountain Community Fund
Director Shelley Hanson and Program Coordinator Louis King.
r Air -.. . fSs .I l
Spirit Mountain Community Fund's Program Coordinator Louis
King, left, tells Patricia Cortez how to pronounce the name of the
Ye?lan Lima Award she was just honored with by the fund at the
organization's office in Eugene on Wednesday, Feb. 16. Cortez has
been a volunteer with Juventud FACETA since 2002, but she has been
a volunteer for its parent organization since 1997. Cortez helps to
find mentors for what individual children in the youth group are
interested in. She said that her passion is to be of service to young
people and she was very surprised and honored to receive the award.
CuOttuiraD Tirusft Board
seeks applicants
The Tribal Cultural Trust Board is beginning its 201 1 grant-making
round. Grants ranging from $250 to a maximum of $1,000 are
available for Tribal members to use for cultural projects.
The grant-making round opened Feb. 15 and lasts through the
end of March.
Interested Tribal members can pick up an application packet at
the front desk of the Tribal Governance Center or call Cultural Trust
Board Chair Perri McDaniel at 541-484-7085 to have an application
packet mailed.
Completed applications must be received by 3 p.m. Thursday,
March 31.0
District votes to close Grand
Ronde Middle School
By Dean Rhodes
Smoke Signals editor
It's official: The Willamina School
Board voted Feb. 14 to close Grand
Ronde Middle School to help pare
the district's budget by more than
$1 million for the 2011-12 school
year.
The proposal to close Grand
Ronde Middle School was part of a
package presented by Superinten
dent Mark Jeffery to keep the dis
trict in the black as state funding
for schools is expected not to keep
up with expenses.
Jeffery's package also included
cutting his position as head of the
district to a half-time position,
which means that in all likeli
hood he will be seeking work else-
where.
Other cuts approved by the School
Board are to eliminate 16 days from
next year's calendar by adopting
four-day weeks and eliminating
about 15 positions, including ap
proximately six teachers.
Grand Ronde students will be
bused to Willamina's Oaken Hill
Drive campus, where the elementa
ry school will serve grades kinder
garten through sixth and the high
school will handle seventh-graders
up through seniors.
Next year's school week will run
Tuesday through Friday, cutting
16 days from employee contracts
and saving the district more than
$1 million.
Jeffery said that cutting the
superintendent's job to half-time
would save the district another
$65,000, which will save a teaching
position.
Jeffery has said that the closure
of the Middle School will likely be
permanent since the 10-year out
look for state funding of education
does not bode well for a significant
turnaround. B
n
Ad created by George Valdez