Smoke Signals
10
DECEMBER 1,2011
TiribaO youfllh woods Counrageoims Meairtt Award
By Ron Karten
Smoke Signal staff writer
Sixth-grade Tribal member
Teegan Ritchey has a lot of heart.
Officially.
At the end of October, Desert
Paws, a Palm Springs, Calif.-based
nonprofit that promotes compassion
and respect for all living creatures,
awarded Teegan its Courageous
Heart Award.
Singer and board member Barry
Manilow made the presentation.
"I was a little nervous because
everyone was clapping and every
thing, but when I went up there,
I was fine," Ritchey says. "I just
walked up on stage and they gave
me a trophy and a folder with a cer
tificate: Courageous Heart Award
for the Youth Advocates Group."
Ritchey rescued and adopted out
more than 40 dogs in 2010, she says
in a phone interview from her home
in La Quinta, Calif.
She's been at it for almost two
years.
It started with a simple-enough
visit to the pet store.
"Me and my grandma and cousin
went to the local PetSmart and saw
the puppies and went over there,"
she says. A Lend-A-Paw employee,
working out of the store, asked
Teegan if she wanted to volunteer.
And did she ever.
"She's the one who goes out and
rescues the dogs and keeps the dogs
at her house, and brings them to
PetSmart," says Ritchey.
As part of the rescue team,
Ritchey takes the dogs for walks
and socializes them.
"We walk them around. We leash
train all the dogs and get them
social. We let people pet them."
She works with dogs of all ages,
from puppies to older dogs, she
says.
Every weekend, Ritchey and a
friend she met through the program
go to PetSmart to help adopt out
these abandoned pets.
"This week is a really big adoption
fair," she says. "We have cards out
in case they want (to adopt) them
later. When people are interested,
we let them walk the dogs around
in the store. If they want one, they
have to sign a paper (saying that
they will take good care of the dogs);
we check out their homes to see if
they're OK; not cluttered and no
holes in the fences so the dogs can
escape."
Ritchey started sixth grade this
year at the Colonel Mitchell Paige
Middle School in La Quinta, where
she plays baseball, volleyball and
soccer.
The middle school has been a new
experience for her.
"There's a lot of people there,
crowded hallways and everything,"
she says. "My hobby is to, like, vol
unteer with the animals."
She also volunteers at the Indio,
Calif.-based Epona Horse Rescue,
4
Photo courtesy of the Ritchey family
Tribal member Teegan Ritchey
talks about the dog the has on the
leash during a pet adoption fair,
put on by Loving All Animals, in
Rancho Mirage, Calif., on Saturday
Nov. 1 9. At the end of October,
Desert Paws, a Palm Springs, Calif.
based nonprofit that promotes
compassion and respect for all
living creatures, awarded Ritchey its
Courageous Heart Award.
where the mission is to provide a
healthy environment for neglected,
abused and unwanted horses.
"We brush (the horses) and clean
their stalls," Ritchey says. "We
feed them; we wash them off; we
sometimes ride them. I go out in
the fields with young horses and
pick up everything, things that fall
off the fences, rope that wraps up
hay bales (to keep the horses safe).
My grandma's cousin owns three
horses, so sometimes I ride horses
with her."
Teegan's sister, Tribal member
Kelsey, 15, is also a horse rescue
volunteer.
"She used to do the dog volunteer
with me," Teegan says. "She did it
for a little while, but then got busy
with sports."
"We all love animals, but nobody
in the family has her passion," says
mom, Casey. "Everybody in the
family has always had animals,
mostly dogs, but she has that pas
sion. She'll see a dog on the side of
the road and she wants to rescue
it.
"For her birthday in April, when
she turned 11 and had a party,
instead of asking for gifts from
her friends, she asked for money
and raised $200, half to help an
elephant in Kenya, through the
David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust, in
Nairobi, and half to help a polar
bear through Polar Bears Interna
tional." "Her aspiration," says Casey, "is
to go to college to study zoology."
Teegan's father is Tribal member
Tony Ritchey.
The Ritcheys also have a chihua
hua of their own. D
Fire displaces Tribal member
Michael Bolton's family
By Dean Rhodes
Smoke Signals editor
An early morning fire in Wil
lamina on Saturday, Oct. 12,
has left Tribal member Michael
Bolton and his family with little
more than their lives and the
drive to start over.
Tami Tigner, a paramedic
firefighter with the West Valley
Fire District, said the fire was
reported at 1:41 a.m. with smoke
and flames coming out of a sec
ond story window of the house
in the 700 block of C Street in
Willamina.
"It was in one bedroom and
spread to another room," Tigner
said.
West Valley Fire District
personnel knocked down the
flames, Tigner said, in a rela
tively short amount of time. A
Yamhill County fire investiga
tion team is investigating the
cause, which is still underde
termined. Faith Bolton, Michael's wife,
told The Sheridan Sun that she
heard a smoke alarm sounding
and thought it was the alarm
clock. At the time of the fire,
Faith, Michael and their 2-year-old
granddaughter were in the
house.
Two other occupants were not
home.
The three escaped the fire
unharmed, but it took awhile
for Michael to realize that his
19-year-old daughter was not
home and safe.
"I thought she died," he told
The Sheridan Sun.
The couple's 20-year-old
daughter also was away when
the fire occurred.
In addition, the family's cat
and dog escaped unharmed,
but the 2-year-old girl's goldfish
died.
The Boltons were renting the
house and did not have renter's
insurance.
"We lost everything," Michael
told The Sheridan Sun.
The fire also destroyed Faith's
jewelry-making supplies and
equipment and her computer
ized sewing machine.
However, jewelry from a re
cent show was still in the case
and Faith was at Spirit Moun-'
tain Casino between Nov. 18-22
to sell her wares in an attempt
to start over.
The American Red Cross pro
vided the Bolton family with
three nights lodging in a mo
tel. The Grand Ronde Tribe has
agreed to be the contact for the
Boltons. Call 800-422-0232 if
you wish to help.
Michael Bolton has lived in
Willamina for six years and
launched two runs for Tribal
Council. O
Casino holding fourth
anrouafl Toy Drive
By Angela Sears
Spirit Mountain Casino marketing coordinator
For the fourth consecutive year, Spirit Mountain Casino is staging its
annual holiday Toy Drive to benefit Doernbecher Children's Hospital at
Oregon Health & Science University in Portland.
New, unwrapped toys and games are being accepted at the casino's
Coyote Club desk through Sunday, Dec. 18.
Casino guests who bring in one or more toys will receive $10 in free
slot play per visit and are encouraged to make multiple trips to receive a
maximum of $50 in slot play during the promotional period.
"Each year, we've surpassed the previous year's number of toys donated
to OHSU Doernbecher Children's Hospital," said Rodney Ferguson, Spirit
Mountain Casino chief executive officer. "Once again we hope to see our
guests answer the call and donate generously, even in this tough economic
climate, to brighten the Christmas season for children and teens having
a much more difficult battle."
Last year, two TP Freight Lines semi-trailer trucks delivered 28 pallets
loaded with 254 boxes of toys to the hospital's receiving dock. This year's
delivery date will be Monday, Dec. 19.
A suggested list of toys and games to donate includes rattlers, soft mu
sical toys and stacking rings and sorting toys for infants and toddlers;
tea sets, baby dolls, small trucks, basketballs and footballs, crayons and
board games for pre-school and school-age children; and art kits and sup
plies, journals, current DVDs, new books, gift cards and hair accessories
for teenagers.
For more information about possible gifts, visit www.spiritmountain.
com or stop by the Coyote Club desk. D
Elder's bingo changes days
Starting in December, bingo at the Elders' Activity Center will be held
on Saturday afternoons.
A potluck meal will start at 1 p.m. and bingo begins at 1:30 p.m.
Because of the holidays, December bingo will be held on the third, 17th
and 31st.
In January, bingo will go back to the second and fourth Saturday of the
month, Jan. 8 and 22.
For more information, contact Elder Activity Assistant Daniel Ham at
503-879-2233. B