PRESORTED STANDARD MAIL U.S. POSTAGE PAID PORTLAND, OR PERMIT NO. 700 Summers Collection items arrive in Grand Ronde — pg. 9 JUNE 1, 2018 13 names added to Veterans Memorial By Danielle Frost Smoke Signals staff writer T he 16th annual Memorial Day event held at the West Valley Veterans Memorial on the Grand Ronde Tribal campus was highlighted by 13 names being added to the four black granite pillars that represent the major branches of the U.S. armed forces. Tribal Elder Steve Bobb Sr., chairman of the Tribe’s Veterans Special Event Board and a Marine Corps veteran from the Vietnam War era, gave the invocation and served as master of ceremonies. The event began at noon Mon- day, May 28, with a meal of turkey gravy, potatoes, green beans, rolls, salad and cupcakes served by Veterans Royalty, Grand Ronde Royalty and Royalty parents to approximately 175 attendees in the nearby Tribal Community Center. The outdoors ceremony began at 1 p.m. under a clear, breezy sky with Grand Ronde drummers led by Cultural Education Specialist Bri- an Krehbiel and Cultural Advisor Bobby Mercier playing a memorial song. Tribal youth JC Rogers sang the national anthem as she did in 2016 and ’17 and Grand Ronde Royalty and Veterans Royalty per- formed “The Lord’s Prayer.” Tribal Council Chairwoman Cheryle A. Kennedy, Vice Chair Chris Mercier and Tribal Council member Brenda Tuomi, who is an See MEMORIAL DAY continued on page 11 Photo by Michelle Alaimo Tribal Elder Steve Bobb Sr. shakes hands with Willamina School District Superintendent Carrie Zimbrick after receiving his high school diploma during Willamina High School’s Class of 2018 graduation ceremony held at the school on Saturday, May 26. Bobb was on track to graduate 51 years ago with the Class of 1967. However, he dropped out three months shy of earning his diploma. On the right is Principal Tim France. The graduate Tribal Elder Steve Bobb Sr. receives high school diploma at age 69 Smoke Signals staff report W ILLAMINA — Tribal Elder Steve Bobb Sr., 69, finally received a Willamina High School diploma on Saturday, May 26, during its Class of 2018 graduation ceremony. Bobb was on track to graduate 51 years ago with the Class of 1967. However, he dropped out three months shy of earning his diploma after he and two friends were suspended for tampering with a fire alarm. One of his friends returned to high school and graduated. Bobb and the other friend did not. Bobb went on through life without a high school diploma, serving in the Marine Corps during the Vietnam War and starting his own custom auto painting business. He also is a longtime chairman of the Tribe’s Veterans Special Event Board, a two- See GRADUATION continued on page 12 Honoring the samfn Ceremonial fisher Joe Loomis dip net fishes during ceremonial fishing at Willamette Falls in West Linn on Monday, May 14. Tribal members dip net at Falls, fete catching first fish By Danielle Frost Smoke Signals staff writer W Photo by Michelle Alaimo EST LINN – Standing above the falls at Willamette Dam is the culmination of a dream decades in the making for Grand Ronde Tribal Council Chairwoman Cheryle A. Kennedy. Despite enduring a recent death in the family, she felt called to the falls on Monday, May 14, where Tribal members fished using traditional dip nets under a clear, warm sky for the first time in more than a century at a location on the West Linn side of the Willamette River. See FISHING continued on page 8