6
S moke S ignals
JUNE 15, 2018
Years of Service event honors 75 employees
By Danielle Frost
Smoke Signals staff writer
Seventy-five employees were
honored on Thursday, June 7, for
a combined 989 years of service to
the Grand Ronde Tribe during a
lunchtime barbecue picnic held in
the Tribal gym.
Sixteen employees were honored
for serving 20 or more years, led by
Lead Groundskeeper Gregg Leno,
who hit the 30-year mark. He is
only the second Tribal employee
ever to achieve the three-decade
mark in employment with the
Tribe.
Other employees who have
reached or surpassed two decades
of Tribal service included Housing
Department Maintenance Coor-
dinator Lonnie Leno, 28 years;
Adult Education Coordinator Tracy
Biery and General Manager’s Office
Administrative Assistant Barbara
Branson, 27 years; Member Ser-
vices Benefits Administrator Liz
Leno, 26 years; Dental Director
Eric Webster, 23 years; Human
Resources Specialist Cindy Mitch-
ell and Fish and Wildlife Program
Manager Kelly Dirksen, 22 years;
Tribal Court Administrator Angela
Fasana, Tribal Council Senior Ad-
ministrative Assistant Lauri Smith
and Information Systems Opera-
tions Manager William Kephart,
21 years; and Children & Family
Services Supervisor Kristi Petite,
Gaming Commission Executive As-
sistant Kathy Doane, Senior Staff
Attorney Deneen Aubertin Keller,
Housing Department Manager
Shonn Leno and Human Resources
Training Specialist Vickie Hernan-
dez, 20 years.
The ceremony honored employees
hired in the second quarter of the
year between April and June.
Tribal Council Secretary Jon A.
George gave the invocation before
employees were served hot dogs,
hamburgers, potato and pasta sal-
ad, chips, watermelon and cookies
Photo by Auburn Logan
Tribal Adult Education Coordinator Tracy Biery hugs Tribal Council Secretary
Jon A. George as she is honored for her 27 years of service to the Tribe during
the quarterly Years of Service Awards held at the Tribal gym on Thursday,
June 7. On the left is Tribal Council member Kathleen George.
for lunch.
Tribal Council members Brenda
Tuomi, Kathleen George, Michael
Langley and Denise Harvey also
attended.
This year’s event had a new twist
in that all employees were invited
to spend the morning participating
in a community clean up effort at
10 different sites around Grand
Ronde. All staff were excused with
administrative leave at the conclu-
sion of the service awards for the
remainder of the day.
“It is so wonderful to see this
room filled with employees,” Kath-
leen George said. “The reason that
we do this is to let you know how
much we appreciate what you do,
no matter where you do it. You
make this Tribe happen.”
Other employees honored were:
19 years: Publications Produc-
tion Specialist Justin Phillips and
Purchased/Referred Care Supervi-
sor Melody Baker.
18 years: Swing Shift House-
keeping Supervisor Ben Bishop.
17 years: General Manager Da-
vid Fullerton, Natural Resources
Department Secretary Mary Leith
and Staff Accountant Amy Gallant.
16 years: Procurement Manager
Larry Leith, 477/Employment &
Training Specialist Chris Martin
and Early Childhood Instructional
Assistant Roxanne Moniz.
15 years: Applications Adminis-
trator Candice Olsen, Silviculture
and Fire Protection Manager Col-
by Drake, Elders Activity Center
Cook Michael Burton and Gaming
Inspector Kary Turner.
14 years: Senior Human Re-
sources Generalist Steve O’Harra,
Children and Family Services
Intake Specialist Donna Johnson
and Family Services Coordinator
Audra Sherwood.
13 years: Help Desk Technician
Sean O’Leary.
12 years: Housing Maintenance
Technician Randy Bean, Gaming
Commission IT Network Analyst
Tanner Fish, Health Information
Technician Leanna Norwood, Sil-
viculture/Fire Protection Techni-
cian Jeremy Ojua, Post Treatment
Counselor Chris Holliday, Adult
Foster Care Caregiver Anna Hus-
ton and Early Head Start Home-
Based Visitor Shelley Clift.
11 years: Adult Foster Care
Caregiver Carmen Parren and
Gaming Commission Licensing
Manager Tisha Pellett.
10 years: Gaming Commission
Executive Director Michael Boyce,
Chinuk Language Program Manag-
er Ali Holsclaw, Home Ownership
Coordinator Victoria Jones, Senior
Records Clerk Dalette Reming-
ton-Nash, Spirit Mountain Commu-
nity Fund Director Mychal Cherry,
Spirit Mountain Community Fund
Program Coordinator Angela Sears
and Gaming Commission Back-
ground Investigator Nicholas Bai-
ley
9 years: Adult Foster Care Care-
giver Ardyth Hoffer-Hallicola,
Certified Medical Assistant Dana
Seagrove and Head Start Teacher/
Education Coordinator Kristina
Jaquith.
8 years: Wildlife Biologist Lind-
say Belonga, Senior Forester Zach
Haas, Realty Specialist Teresa
Clay, Dentist Erin Lange, Lead
Maintenance Technician Andrew
Freeman, Health Promotion Spe-
cialist Tammy Leno and Adult
Foster Care Caregiver Ginger
Whitman.
7 years: Rental Housing Assis-
tant Michele Plummer, Behavioral
Health Director Jan Kaschmitter,
Silviculture/Fire Supervisor Jim
Pinder and Youth Programs Assis-
tant Shannon Stanton.
6 years: Vocational Rehabili-
tation Administrative Assistant
Rhonda Leno, Youth Education
Program Manager Tim Barry, Den-
tal Secretary Carrie Brooks, Public
Affairs Administrative Assistant
Chelsea Clark, Chinuk Immersion
Teacher Justine Flynn, Gaming
Commission Receptionist Kristina
Summers, Early Childhood Edu-
cation Program Assistant Denaee
Towner, K-5 Tutor/Adviser Kyla
McCallister and Budget Manager
DeAnne Norton.
5 years: Adult Foster Care Care-
giver Brianna Leno, Applications
Administrator Jose Luna, Tribal
Police Officer Ronald Wellborn and
Youth Education Elementary K-5
Lead Devin Boekhoff.
Employees received bonus checks
and those reaching the 10-year mark
in service had the option of receiving
a Tribal Pendleton blanket or an ex-
tra $100 in their bonus check.
The service awards ended with
the raffling off of prizes that in-
cluded a suitcase, car care package,
coffee gift cards, hammock, water-
proof speaker, weed eater, Regal
Cinemas gift cards, Amazon gift
cards and additional administra-
tive time off. 
Police Department starts
non-emergency text line
tumwata lecture series
june 16, 2018 1 pm to 5 pm
End of the Oregon Trail Interpretive Center
Organized by | The Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde
1726 Washington St, Oregon City, OR 97045
Hosted by| The End of the Oregon Trail Interpretive Center
greg archuleta
1:00 pm
| virginia butler | stephen dow beckham | david harrelson
2:00 pm
3:00 pm
4:00 pm
native plants and tribal uses
in western oregon
archaeology of the
portland basin
the surprising adventures of george gibbs
in the oregon country
grand ronde tribal member
and lifeways instructor
professor and chair ,
dept . anthropology ,
portland state university
pamplin professor of history
emeritus , lewis and clark college
vanishing race , buried treasure ,
and the noble savage :
modern misconceptions
of native americans
cultural resources dept . manager
confederated tribes
of grand ronde
The Grand Ronde Tribal Police Department has created a non-emer-
gency text line.
“We learned in our last school meeting that kids would like a dif-
ferent way to communicate with the police if they have a non-emer-
gency situation,” Tribal Police Chief Jake McKnight said. “We all
know kids love to text so my officers and I decided this would be a
great tool to utilize.”
The new text number is 541-921-2927.
“Even though this is mostly designed for children, I don’t want
adults thinking that they can’t use it as well. If you have a non-emer-
gency situation or question, feel free to contact my officer via text
through this line. When one of my officers receives the text, they will
call you back when they have time.”
McKnight said that emergency situations still require people to
call 911.
For more information, contact McKnight at 503-879-1474. 