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