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OCTOBER 15, 2020
9
Kuust becomes the third employee to reach the 31-year mark
SERVICE continued
from front page
reached the 31-year mark in work-
ing for the Tribe.
Kuust becomes the third em-
ployee to reach the 31-year mark,
joining Health & Wellness Business
Office Manager Tresa Mercier and
Head Groundskeeper Gregg Leno
as having worked more than three
decades for the Tribe.
Joining Kuust in the three de-
cades or more club were Health
Benefits Specialist Barbara Steere,
Staff Accountant Melanie Hubbard,
Procurement Assistant Kelly Leno,
General Manager’s Office Adminis-
trative Assistant Barbara Branson
and GED Coordinator Tracy Biery,
who attained 30 years apiece.
In the quarter-century or more
club were Tribal Attorney Rob
Greene at 26 years, Social Services
Administrative Assistant Tammy
Garrison with 27 years and Natural
Resources Department Manager
Michael Wilson and Finance Officer
Chris Leno, who both reached 28
years of service. Higher Education
Manager Bryan Langley and Chi-
nuk Immersion Preschool Teacher
Jeff Mercier notched 29 years.
Achieving 20 or more years of
service are Assistant Tribal At-
torney Kim D’Aquila and Cultural
Advisor Bobby Mercier, who both
reached 24 years. Family Services
Assistant Elaine Lane Raven,
Dental Hygienist Sheila Blacketer
and Swing Shift Supervisor Ben
Bishop reached the 22-year mark
and Procurement Supervisor Kevin
Mueller and Cultural Resourc-
es Specialist Christopher Bailey
reached 21 years.
Elementary Lead Matthew Buck-
nell and Facilities Manager Tyson
Mercier hit 20 years of service.
Third-quarter award recipients
were hired between July and Sep-
tember.
Employees received certificates
and bonus checks in appreciation
of their increasing tenure with the
Tribe. In addition, those reaching
the 10-year mark received a Tribal
Pendleton blanket or an extra $100
in their bonus check.
Employees honored during the
third quarter included:
19 years: Security Department Su-
pervisor Roel Hernandez, Purchase/
Referred Care Health Care Payment
Specialist Erica Mercier and Inter-
pretive Coordinator Travis Stewart.
18 years: Audit Director Trudi
Yoshikawa, Swing Shift House-
keeper Nathan Mueller, Treasury
Manager Rick Andersen and Cook
Kevin Campbell.
17 years: Benefits Special-
ist Peggy Carpenter and Nutri-
tion Program Manager Kristy
Criss-Lawson.
16 years: Health Information
Technician Stephanie Simmons,
Member Services Administrator
Shannon Simi, Finance Executive
Assistant Ken Trevino and Employ-
ment Specialist Brandy Hembree.
15 years: Housing Services Co-
ordinator Deborah Kroeker and
Health Information Technician
Leanna Norwood.
13 years: Natural Resources De-
partment Secretary Scarlett Holtz,
Senior Help Desk Technician Alec
Palanuk-Mercier, Publications Coor-
dinator Dean Rhodes, Preschool Bus
Driver/Aide Jennifer Jerabek and
Employment Specialist Misty Carl.
11 years: Mail Room/Printing
Clerk Anna White, Help Desk
Technician Spencer Olson and
Maintenance Supervisor Andrew
Freeman.
10 years: Maintenance Techni-
cian Jason Bailey, Health Informa-
tion Technician Amanda McMahon,
TERO Administrative Assistant
Lori Sterling, Member Services
Department Manager Veronica
Montano, Maintenance Techni-
cian Gary LaChance Jr., Early
Childhood Education Department
Manager Angie Blackwell, Housing
Maintenance Technician Michael
Lane, Young Child Wellness Com-
munity Coordinator Keri Kimsey
and Adult and Family Services
Supervisor Amber Zimbrick.
9 years: Vocational Rehabilita-
tion Trainee Amber Yates, Medical
Technologist Staci Pemble, Family
Support Services Specialist Joanna
Brisbois, Maintenance Technician
Daniel Mooney and Legal Secretary
Susan June.
8 years: Child and Family Ser-
vices Caseworker Tara Summers,
Tribal Council Chief of Staff Stacia
Hernandez, 477 Employment and
Training Specialist Angey Rideout,
Registered Nurse Tashina Blair,
Senior Telecommunications Tech-
nician Mark Scheelar, Parks and
Recreation Specialist Jerry Bailey
and Social Services Secretary Darla
Patterson.
7 years: Cultural Education Co-
ordinator Jordan Mercier.
6 years: Health & Wellness Clin-
ic Medical Director Lance Loberg,
Curriculum Specialist/Academic
Adviser Mercedes Jones and Food
Sustainability Program Assistant
Patricia Leclaire.
5 years: Housekeeper Jonathan
Baker, Senior Help Desk Techni-
cian Braden Ebensteiner, Lead
Chemical Dependency Counselor
Joe Martineau and Tribal Police
Officer Tokata Tehama. 
‘We needed to tell the whole story’
HOLOGRAM continued
from front page
she says. “We are a thankful people,
even in hardship. For we know it
has made us stronger and has given
us the ability to succeed.”
The 37-minute film was financed
through grants, matching funds
and in-kind donations.
“We’ve very close to complet-
ing it,” Yazzolino said. “Cheryle's
holograms are perfect and bring
credibility to the film. We are very
grateful for the involvement of the
Grand Ronde Tribal leaders and
staff.”
Tribal Council Secretary Jon A.
George serves on the Clackamas
Heritage Partners Board of Direc-
tors, which operates the museum.
“I want to thank Cheryle,” he
said during a Legislative Action
Committee meeting. “It’s a great
opportunity for us to be able to tell
our story at the falls.”
George and Yazzolino have been
working on ideas for a film pre-
miere, along with other projects.
Yazzolino first became interested
in including more Tribal history at
the museum after joining the staff
in 2004. The museum temporarily
closed in 2009 due to the recession
and low visitor numbers. With the
help of grants, it was able to re-
open, and Yazzolino subsequently
redid the business plan and pored
through consultant reports to see
where it could improve.
“One thing we needed to change
was the programming,” Yazzolino
said. “We needed to tell the whole
Tribal Historian Da-
vid Lewis and Ceded
Lands Manager Mi-
chael Karnosh led
those efforts.
“It is historical sig-
nage that depicts the
Native experience,”
Yazzolino said. “We
wanted to enhance
that again. Jon and
I discussed future
exhibit opportunities
with the Tribe, and
Cheryle and Greg
talked about how
cool it would be to
have their story told.
That dream never
left us.”
In early 2019, Yaz-
zolino applied for
and received a Metro
Enhancement Grant
for the film. Between
the $40,000 received
from that, $78,000 in
Contributed photo
matching funds from
Tribal Council Chairwoman Cheryle A. Kennedy,
the Clackamas Heri-
dressed in regalia, was filmed for the End of the Oregon tage Partners gener-
Trail Museum’s “Oregon’s First People” movie. Kennedy al fund and $15,015
will be transformed into a hologram and continually
of in-kind donations
from the Tribe, the
introduce the movie to museum visitors.
interpretive center
had enough funds to begin produc-
story. We made major changes and
tion of the film.
also reached out to the Tribe, and to
“The end of the Oregon Trail
the Oregon Black Pioneers.”
story gives us an opportunity and
The Tribe partnered with the
responsibility to educate visitors
museum on different projects,
of the human core, persistence,
including signage describing the
resilience and other qualities that
Tribe’s ceded lands and the effects
are universal to our humanity,”
of westward migration. Tribal El-
Yazzolino stated in the grant ap-
der and artisan Greg Archuleta,
plication. “In a time where many
people are focused on differences
and difficulties, there are many
forgotten virtues to our differences
to celebrate. The Native American
stories of then and now illustrate
vibrantly resilience, persistence
and life.”
When it opens, the film will be
shown on the big screen in the
interpretive center. It is being
produced by Cinemagic Studios of
Portland.
“The in-kind donation from the
Tribe was huge, but the relation-
ship we have formed is the most
important part of all of this,” Yaz-
zolino said. “I want what I say to be
followed up by actions.”
In addition to Kennedy, histori-
cal scholar and expert on Oregon
Native American history Dr. Ste-
phen Beckham and George, others
involved in the film included Tribal
Council members Kathleen George,
Denise Harvey and Michael Lang-
ley, Tribal Cultural Advisor Bobby
Mercier, Communications Director
Sara Thompson and Chief of Staff
Stacia Hernandez.
“Every step of the way brought
me to more of an understanding
of the Tribal culture and how it
works,” Yazzolino said. “This is
sometimes a difficult story to tell
because of all the negative things
that happened in the past. But
when Cheryle was here, we worked
through all of that. We went full
circle with it. At one point, I was
beginning to wonder if it was too
hard a story to tell, but now I feel
really good about all of it.” 