4
S moke S ignals
MAY 15, 2015
2010 – After a disastrous 2008 investment year, it was reported that
2009 was one of the best investment years since the Great Depression.
The Tribe’s portfolio grew by 16.37 percent after losing more than 25
percent of its value during the recession that gripped the country in
2008. “We recovered all of the paper losses from the big fall and then
some,” said Tribal Finance Officer Stanley Arend.
2005 – The Tribe’s Cultural
Resources Department re-
ceived the Mission Mill Mu-
seum’s Heritage Education
Award. Tribal employees Joan
West, Toni Mercier, Kim Muel-
ler, Tiffany Greenburg and
Lindy Trolan accepted the
award for the Tribe.
2000 – Cultural Resourc-
es Manager June Olson was
appointed to the Oregon Pio-
neer Cemetery Commission
File photo
because of her knowledge of
Native American burial sites.
1995 – Tribal Chairman Mark Mercier reported that the Tribe’s
gaming facility was taking shape and scheduled to open in mid-October.
“There are other issues facing the council,” he reported, “such as what
to do with the money once the gaming is in operation. No doubt this
will take some serious discussion among council, and it is expected that
a survey will be provided to the Tribal membership for your input.”
1990 – Lester Marston was hired as the first chief judge of the Grand
Ronde Tribal Court. The tentative date for the first session of Tribal
Court was scheduled for June 8 and the court will be in session at
least one day each month. The primary purpose of the Tribal Court is
to preside over cases involving child custody matters.
1985 – Val Grout donated a seafood basket to be raffled off at the
General Council meeting for 50 cents per chance with proceeds going
toward the powwow celebration. The lucky winner was Wilma Lacey
of Salem.
Yesteryears is a look back at Tribal history in five-year incre-
ments through the pages of Smoke Signals.
Facilities seeks help
identifying veterans’ plots
The Facilities Department is asking for help in identifying the plots of
veterans buried in the Tribal Cemetery. If your family member or friend
is a veteran and there is not a U.S. flag present on their plot on holidays,
such as Memorial Day, please contact the department, which will do its
best to mark all gravesites of veterans. For more information, contact
Facilities at 503-879-2195. n
Ad created by George Valdez
Photo by Michelle Alaimo
Spirit Mountain Casino’s, front row from left, Janet Shultz, director of Guest
Services; Joann Mercier, director of Security; Jannie Tharp, director of
Finance; Shawna Ridgebear, director of Marketing, and Mike Colton, Gaming
director and second row, from left, Ron Reibach, director of Facilities; Stan
Dillon, general manager; and Patrick Dempsey, director of Human Resources,
show off the gold medal award the casino received for best casino in the
Salem Statesman Journal’s 2015 Best of the Mid-Valley Reader’s Choice
Awards on May 1. The casino received six awards total.
Casino wins six Best
of Mid-Valley Awards
Spirit Mountain Casino received a gold medal for best casino in the 2015
Best of the Mid-Valley Reader’s Choice Awards handed out Friday, May
1, by the Salem Statesman Journal.
In addition, Spirit Mountain Casino won silver medals in the Place to
Take Out-of-Town Guests, Casual Dining, Breakfast and Brunch cate-
gories, the latter two received for the Cedar Plank Buffet, and a bronze
medal in the Day Trip Attraction category.
“We are proud that our guests voted Spirit Mountain best casino,” said
General Manager Stan Dillon. “Our goal is to take care of our guests bet-
ter than anyone else. It’s all about the experience. We strive to provide
excellent guest service and a warm, hospitable, fun environment.
“We feature headline entertainment and offer a wide variety of dining
options for our guests. As the largest casino in Oregon, we pride ourselves
on offering a broad and diverse gaming product featuring slots, bingo,
keno, poker and a large variety of table games. With 2,000 slots, we’re
able to offer the newest slot games and titles, as well as the latest themed
slot progressives.”
Statesman Journal Director of Advertising Ryan Kedzierski said that
5,110 nominations were received and 334,506 votes were cast. This year, the
Best of the Mid-Valley awards honored 501 winners from 331 companies.
The awards were handed out at Chemeketa Community College’s North-
west Wine Studies Center in West Salem. n