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About Smoke signals. (Grand Ronde, Or.) 19??-current | View Entire Issue (April 1, 2012)
6 APRIL 1, 2012 Smoke Signals RSI 2007 - The Tribe passed on purchasing Boise Cascade's. 13-acre riverfront complex in Salem, which would have included 3i0 acres the company owns on Minto-Brown Island. "We saw this as an opportunity to participate in the development of central Salem," said Tribal Council member Val Sheker, "but as we considered the potential cost of the purchase, cleanup, preservation and develop ment, it just didn't pencil out." 2002 - Tribal member Steve Hudson, who was recently released after a 25-month stay in jail, was performing regularly at The Sum mit View at Spirit Mountain Casino. Hudson used his time while incarcerated to practice playing the guitar, write songs and get in touch with his Creator. He said he was hoping to make Thursday night blues a permanent fixture at the casino. 1997 Spirit Mountain Casino employee Toby McClary, 18, was featured. He was working at Legends and had been promoted several times. He started out as a dishwasher, moved into kitchen prep work and was promoted to pantry steward by his supervisor, Greg Taylor. 1992 The increase in AIDS cases among American Indians - 91 percent was the largest percentage increase of any ethnic group in the United States between 1989 and 1990. 1987 - With the April edition, Smoke Signals debuted in news print. Previously, Smoke Signals had been copied on 8.5-by-ll-inch paper (front and back) and stapled together before being sent to the Tribal membership. The first edition was eight pages. Yesteryears is a look back at Tribal history in five-year increments through the pages of Smoke Signals. Changes to your Skookum Health Plan For Tribal members residing in the counties of Washington, Mult nomah, Tillamook, Yamhill, Polk and Marion, you will soon be receiving a new Skookum card with changes to your health plan ID number. This does NOT affect Tribal employees with the Shasta employee plan. We are making a few changes to your health plan group identifier, which means that you will need a new ID card. The first three letters of your current ID number will be changing from GRT to GRC. o Your current ID number looks like: GRT123456. o Your new ID number will look like: GRC123456. Your ID number affects how your claims are paid, so to ensure your claims are paid correctly, please THROW OUT your old card and KEEP the new card starting with the GRC ID number o When you go to a doctor, dentist, pharmacy or eye doctor, make sure you give the provider your new ID card so the bill will be processed for payment correctly. The final change relates to your Explanation of Benefits (EOB). Go ing forward you will only receive an EOB if you owe the provider a portion of the claim costs or if the claim has been denied. If you have any questions on the above changes, please call Shasta Administrative Services' Customer Service at 1-800-880-5877 or Contract Health Services at 1-800-775-0095. Again, these changes only affect Tribal members residing in Wash ington, Multnomah, Tillamook, Yamhill, Polk and Marion counties! This does not affect Tribal employees. Recycle Center moved The Recycle Center has been moved temporarily to 9675 Grand Ronde Road. For more information, contact Tribal Facilities Manager Mi chael J. Larsen at 503-879-2407. W : - 4. Ttrnlbe iinivestts Dim syiriroiuiinidlDirDg commuiniiiftiies COMMUNITY FUND continued from front page After a welcoming song drummed and sung by Tribal members Bobby Mercier, Gregg Leno, Brian Kre hbiel and Marcus Gibbons, and Chucky Fryberg (Tulalip), Mercier delivered a bilingual invocation in English and Chinuk Wawa. Spirit Mountain Community Fund Board of Trustees Chairman Sho Dozono, who has been on the board since 1997, thanked the Grand Ronde Tribe for its gener osity. "They (the Tribe) are more than just a casino," Dozono said. 'They have invested in themselves and invested $55 million in surrounding communities. . . . Being on the board has been my best job ever." Tribal Council Vice Chair Reyn Leno echoed the message that the Tribe is more than its casino. "It's always a great thing to have people come here and find out who we are and what we do," Leno said. "It's amazing to me, but a lot of people just think of us as the casino, but that is not really who we are. "People think of the casino as revenue, but we think of it as edu cational scholarships, health care and housing for our people." The Community Fund showed the 25th Restoration video to educate those in attendance about the his tory of the Tribe and how far it has come since 1983's Restoration. Following the video, Community Fund Program Coordinator Louis King announced the grant recipi ents, who, after receiving their check, posed for a photo with Leno and Dozono taken by Tribal photog rapher Michelle Alaimo. This quarter's recipients ranged from Eugene to the south to Port land to the north. Programs funded help Oregon's special needs foster children, heighten poverty awareness, fight diabetes, assist in the effort to stop Medicare fraud, purchase "jaws of life" for the Tillamook area and mentor the children of prisoners, among many other worthwhile efforts. The largest grant $30,000 awarded to the Black United Fund of Oregon will help the orga nization expand its "Think to the Future Education Initiative," said Executive Director Adrienne Liv ingston. Livingston said the initiative seeks to offer scholarship work shops for black and Latino high school juniors and seniors, work with local universities and colleges in recruiting minority students and put on an annual college fair focus ing on minority students. "This grant is very important," Livingston said. "My staff has been dwindling and this will fund a posi tion to bring all of those different com ponents together to strengthen and grow the program. This is program expansion, and I would not be able to do it without the funding from Spirit Mountain Community Fund." Other organizations receiving Spirit Mountain Community Fund grants on March 14 were: A Family for Every Child in Springfield, $10,000; Adaptive Riding Institute in Scotts Mills, $5,000; Benton Furniture Share in Cor vallis, $5,000; Better Life USA in Portland, $2,500; Birth to Three Inc. in Eugene, $25,000; Boys & Girls Club of Salem, Mar ion and Polk Counties, $10,000; Boys & Girls Club of Portland Metropolitan Area, $25,000; Classroom Law Project in Port land, $10,000; Coactive Connections in Salem, $4,300; Emanuel Children's Hospi tal Foundation in Portland, $25,000; Eugene Family YMCA, $10,000; Friends of the Newport Senior Activity Center, $15,000; Heidi Duckler Dance Theatre in Portland, $5,000; Housing Employment & Learning Programs for Self-Sufficiency in Corvallis, $10,000; Lane County Sheriffs Ground Search and Rescue in Eugene, $4,000; Linn-Benton Volunteers in Al bany, $2,500; Live On Stage of Portland, $3,000; Mid-Valley Mentors in Salem, $20,000; Oregon Environmental Council Inc. in Portland, $6,000; Planned Parenthood of the Columbia-Willamette Inc. in Port land, $20,000; Portland Impact, $25,000; Self Enhancement Inc. in Port land, $20,000; The Confluence Project in Van couver, Wash., $25,000; The Geezer Gallery in Maryl hurst, Wash., $3,000; Wallace Medical Concern in Gresham, $25,000; Wells Art Institute in Portland, $4,000; Tillamook County Women's Re source Center, $25,000; Tillamook Volunteer Firefighters in Tillamook, $21,500; and Virginia Garcia Memo rial Foundation in Cornelius, $25,000. "The Tribe sees itself as part of the solution in many of our communi ties," George said in announcing that the Community Fund has surpassed the $56 million mark in giving. B
