S moke S ignals
february 15, 2014
9
Winter storm shuts down Tribal offi ces for 2.5 days
By Dean Rhodes
Smoke Signals editor
In what seems like a quinquen-
nial – occurring every five years
– event, a winter storm hit western
Oregon on Thursday, Feb. 6, and
forced the closure of Tribal offi ces
in Grand Ronde and Portland start-
ing at 1 p.m. and lasting through
Monday, Feb. 10.
According to AccuWeather, four
inches of snow fell in the Grand
Ronde area on Feb. 6 and 6.4 inches
fell two days later on Saturday,
Feb. 8.
With temperatures hovering be-
low 32 degrees, very little melting
occurred.
Grand Ronde was not alone. The
winter storm that moved up the
Willamette Valley dumped rain
over a layer of cold air and the
resulting snow and ice virtually
shut down activities from Eugene
to Vancouver, Wash., for four days.
It also made it a dangerous proposi-
tion for Tribal employees to drive to
work or even attempt to get out of
their driveways.
Tribal General Manager Mark
Johnston released employees be-
ginning at 1 p.m. Thursday so
Photo by Bobby Mercier
Tribal Maintenance Department employees clear snow from the Tribal
campus parking lots on Sunday, Feb. 9. More than six inches of snow fell that
day in Grand Ronde, according to AccuWeather.
they could get home safely and
closed Tribal offi ces on Friday and
Monday.
In addition, most Willamette Val-
ley school districts, including the
nearby Willamina School District,
were closed on Friday and Monday,
Tribal photographer
to speak on Feb. 20
Smoke Signals photographer Michelle Alaimo will speak during
the Salem Photo League’s “Photography Talk” lecture series at 6:30
p.m. Thursday, Feb. 20, at the IKE Box Coffee Shop, 299 Cottage
St. N.E., Salem.
“Photography Talk” is a free lecture series in which gifted pho-
tographers discuss their vision.
Alaimo has worked for Smoke Signals since 2008 and received
many Native American Journalist Association awards for her work.
She graduated from the Rochester Institute of Technology with a
bachelor of fi ne arts degree in photojournalism.
The Salem Photo League is a collective of local documentary
photographers, professional and non-professional.
For more information about the series, call 503-581-6154 or visit
www.isaacsroom.org/ikebox/ on the Internet. n
Test fee assistance
Enrolled Tribal members can request assistance with test fees (i.e. GRE,
SAT, LSAT, ACT) and admissions application fees.
Contact Higher Education for more information at 1-800-422-0232, ext.
2275. n
Native American
Enlightenment Association
12th Annual Social Pow wow
Saturday March 8, 2014
Grand Entry 4pm
Women’s Fancy Shawl Contest
Call 503.370.6265 for information
as well.
But just because Tribal offices
were closed doesn’t mean every
Tribal employee had a 4.5-day
weekend.
“I would like to thank all of the
team that worked so hard clearing
the campus of snow and ice today,”
Johnston said in a Sunday, Feb.
9, e-mail. “Tyson (Mercier), Dave
(Fullerton), Gregg (Leno), Winston
(Mercier), Brad (Leno) and Jesse
(White) … thanks for going above
and beyond. Also, Lonnie (Leno)
and his team at Housing did a great
job of keeping Housing, Adult Fos-
ter Care and the Elders’ Activity
Center cleared.”
Tribal Health & Wellness Clinic
employees opened the Pharmacy
from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday,
Feb. 10, to allow people to pick up
needed prescriptions.
And Finance Department Account-
ing Specialist Laura Mercier worked
on Monday, Feb. 10, to ensure Tribal
payroll was processed and that Elder
checks were mailed on time. Mail
Room Clerk Anna White also came
to work on Friday to post checks that
needed to be mailed.
The last time that the Tribal of-
fi ces were closed by such a huge del-
uge of snow occurred in December
2008 when the Tribal campus was
closed for a week after 17 inches of
snow and more than an inch of rain,
mostly freezing, fell in western Or-
egon the week before Christmas. n
ATTeNTION
If you are currently receiving or are in need of SNAP benefi ts,
Social Services provides an Oregon Department of Human Ser-
vices caseworker who comes to Grand Ronde twice monthly on
Wednesdays.
The caseworker may assist with applications, updates, child
care, etc.
If you are in need of services, call 503-879-2034 to schedule an ap-
pointment or you can reach Michelle Carmona at 503-879-4523. n