S moke S ignals
MAY 15, 2017
7
Memorial Day event set for Monday, May 29
10 names being added to West
Valley Veterans Memorial
By Dean Rhodes
Smoke Signals editor
The annual Memorial Day event
at the West Valley Veterans Me-
morial on the Grand Ronde Tribal
campus will be highlighted by Trib-
al Council Chairman Reyn Leno,
a Vietnam War-era Marine Corps
veteran, reading the 10 names be-
ing added to the four black granite
pillars that represent the major
branches of the U.S. armed forces.
The Grand Ronde Honor Guard
begins the day with its customary
solemn ceremonies at the Tribal
Cemetery at 8 a.m. followed by
ceremonies in Willamina at 9,
Buck Hollow at 10 and Sheridan
at 11.
The main event begins at noon
with a ceremonial meal served
in the nearby Tribal Community
Center.
The outdoors ceremony begins at
1 p.m. with Steve Bobb Sr., chair-
man of the Tribe’s Veterans Special
Event Board and also a Marine
Corps veteran from the Vietnam
War era, giving the invocation and
serving as master of ceremonies.
Grand Ronde drummers will play
a memorial song, Tribal youth JC
Rogers will sing the national an-
them as she did in 2016 and Grand
Ronde Royalty and Veterans Royal-
ty will perform “The Lord’s Prayer”
as sung by Aaron Neville.
The Grand Ronde Honor Guard
If you go
15th Memorial
Day ceremony
When: Noon Monday, May 29
Where: Tribal Community
Center & West Valley Veterans
Memorial, 9615 Grand Ronde
Road
More info: 503-876-3118
will post the colors and speakers
will include Polk County Veterans
Service Officer Marie McCandless,
Yamhill County Veterans Service
Officer Jerry Wilson and Veterans
Benefit Specialist Niki Volz.
Names being added to the West
Valley Veterans Memorial this year
are Navy veterans Steven E. Rife
Jr., Russell H. Talmadge, Dennis J.
Kleffner and Ryan D. Jackman; Air
Force veteran Walter F. Schmale;
Army veterans Harold R. Hobbs,
Dennis D. Ylitalo and Charles M.
Parker; and Marine Corps veterans
and Tribal members Gerard C.
Bolden and Dru W. Stromberg Jr.
The addition of 10 names brings
the total number of veterans hon-
ored on the pillars to 2,335.
The ceremony will close with Bud
Abbott reciting his traditional poem
“Remember Me, America” and Rob-
ert Thornburg performing taps on
the trumpet.
The West Valley Veterans Memo-
rial, which was dedicated in 2003,
was designed by Bobb and features
Smoke Signals file photo
The Grand Ronde Honor Guard brings in the flags during the 14th annual
Memorial Day ceremony held at the West Valley Veterans Memorial on the
Tribal campus last May.
a man and a woman dressed in tra-
ditional Native clothing standing
side by side reaching to the sky.
Surrounding them are four black
granite pillars, which feature the
names of Tribal and community
veterans from Grand Ronde, Wil-
lamina and Sheridan.
Graduation set for June 23
The annual Grand Ronde Graduation Celebration will be held 6
p.m. Friday, June 23, in the Tribal gym, 9615 Grand Ronde Road.
The theme of this year’s celebration is “What you plant now … you
will harvest later.”
The ceremony recognizes the accomplishments of Tribal gradu-
ates from kindergarten through college-level degrees. Dinner will
be provided.
If you graduated during the 2016-17 academic year, contact the
Tribal Education Department at education@grandronde.org or by
calling 503-879-2275 to be added to the list.
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