Smoke Signals 5
JANUARY 15, 2013
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By Ron Karten
Smoke Signals staff writer
With a list of possible names
proposed for the new restaurant at
the Tribal convenience store along
Highway 18, the Grand Ronde Food
and Fuel Co. Board of Directors
decided upon a name that has a his
toric connection, says Grand Ronde
Station Manager Opal Hale.
"Thus Long Bell Diner was the
determined name," Hale says.
The Long Bell name comes from
a pond that once served as a collec
tion site for logs at the south end of
Grand Ronde.
Timber companies brought har
vested logs down from the forest.
Logs were de-limbed and branded,
much like cattle, to identify their
owners. While floating in the pond,
logs were separated, graded and
eventually removed, placed aboard
waiting trains or log trucks and
shipped to sawmills for process
ing. Over the years, many timber
companies, including the Long-Bell
Lumber Co., harvested timber here,
and with top-notch food, these com
panies "competed to hire the best
loggers," according to Grand Ronde
Tribal Elder Leon "Chip" Tom, a
45-year veteran of the local timber
industry. He recalls that timber
companies valued their cooks al
most as much as their loggers.
"If you wanted good men in your
camp to keep working and moving
logs, you'd better pay attention and
get somebody there who can
put the food out," Tom said.
Much the same message is
going out today for the new
Long Bell Diner.
"We've got all quality items,"
says Hale, but not a million
items. "You can't do quality
if you have a million items on
the menu."
Top among the offerings is
Corvallis-based Allann Broth
ers coffee and espresso. "All our
employees are going through
four hours of barista training
provided without charge by
Allann Brothers," she says. The
new coffee equipment also has
been provided free by Allann
Brothers.
In addition, Hale is pitching
hamburgers that are a third-pound
"after cooking." Pronto Pups are
made with hand-dipped Hebrew
National hotdogs.
The only holdover from the for-
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Photos by Michelle Alaimo
Bobby Yates, a suparvisor at Grand Ronde Station, makes a breakfast burrito at the Long Bell Diner, the new
restaurant at the station, on Friday, Jan. 1 1. In the background also cooking is Opal Hale, Grand Ronde Station
manager, and Steven Cox, a cook at the restaurant.
BaaaVftaaaaaaaaLaaa1
mer Mek Mek Haws, which closed
Danielle Bradford, a Grand Ronde Station
employee, adds mustard to a vegetarian
burger at the Long Bell Diner on Friday,
Jan. 11.
in May 2012, is biscuits with sau
sage pepper gravy.
Breakfast burritos, croissant egg
sandwiches and full-sized break
fasts are being served "as you like
it."
"We're making our own fry sauce
with a Long Bell Diner secret
recipe," says Hale.
The diner serves an "upscale
vegetarian burger for vegetarians,
and it is really a good burger,"
Hale says. Also for the health
minded, garden salads are avail
able. "Look for our own house chili con
carne, loaded with meat, served
daily. We'll have a different soup
every day. On Tuesdays, baked
potato and bacon cheddar are the
soup du jour. On Wednesdays, it is
cream of broccoli and cheddar soup.
Fridays is clam chowder day. Every
day is chili con carne day."
Every day is also chili cheese
fries and beer-battered onion rings
day.
And while strawberry shortcake
with homemade whipped cream is
the only dessert, says Hale, "It is
unbelievable."
On Friday, Jan. 11, the Long Bell
staff invited Tribal Council mem
bers and Finance Officer Julio Mar
tinez to sample the new menu. ,'
"They're going to be our guinea
pigs," says Hale with a laugh.
The diner will add 11 employees
to the station's existing staff, half
Tribal Finance Officer Julio Martinez,
right, was the Long Bell Diner's
first customer so the staff had him
sign the first dollar bill that the
restaurant made from his order on
Friday, Jan. 1 1 . The dollar bill will
be framed and displayed in the
restaurant.
of them Tribal members or descen
dants. A new computer setup allows
all convenience store purchases,
including gas, to be rung up at any
cash register.
Drive-through signage continues
to come in from Salem Sign, the
company where Tribal Council
member Steve Bobb Sr. used to
work and where his son, Billy Bobb,
now works.
Bobb Sr.'s logger sculpture that
used to stand in Willamina has
been brought back to decorate the
new diner.
In addition, the diner has been
decorated with 1950s tables and
bar stools that go up and down,
Hale says.
The diner's logo was created by
Tribal Graphic Design Specialist
George Valdez.
Remodeling costs "came in right
about at budget," Hale adds.
Specials are being posted on the
Grand Ronde Station Facebook
page.
Remnants of Long Bell Pond
still exist today about a mile west
of Spirit Mountain Casino south
of Highway 18. Earthen berms
that contained the pond are now
overgrown with brush and weeds,
however.
"We wanted a name that reflects
the area," says Bobb Sr.
And since Jan. 14 at the Long
Bell Diner, all those memories have
come back in the form of great food,
great community and a thriving
business for the Tribe.
The Long Bell Diner is open 7
a.m. to 8 p.m. daily.