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Elders fishing
trip — pg. 9
august 15, 2022
Community Fund turns 25
Quarter-century of giving surpasses $90 million
By Danielle Harrison
Smoke Signals assistant editor/staff writer
S
Photos by Timothy J. Gonzalez
Above, McMinnville Area Habitat for Humanity Board
member Virginia Carlson accepts a $5,000 grant from
Spirit Mountain Community Fund Director Angela
Sears during the Community Fund’s 25th Anniversary
Celebration held at Spirit Mountain Casino on
Saturday, July 30. The Community Fund has given out
more than $90 million to 3,118 area nonprofits in the
past quarter century.
At left, Tribal Council Chairwoman Cheryle
A. Kennedy speaks during Spirit Mountain
Community Fund’s 25th Anniversary Celebration.
pirit Mountain Community Fund cele-
brated 25 years of giving by awarding
close to $800,000 in grants to nonprofits
and Oregon Tribes.
Grants were awarded during a 25th an-
niversary dinner celebration held at Spirit
Mountain Casino on Saturday, July 30, with
approximately 200 attendees that included
past and present Tribal Council members,
Elders, Hatfield Fellows, Spirit Mountain
Community Fund employees and board mem-
bers, as well as representatives from various
nonprofits and several Oregon Tribes.
“It’s great to see so many of you here to-
night,” Community Fund Director Angela
Sears said. “I’m honored, blessed and very
thankful for our nonprofit partners. We’re
here to recognize the contributions of those
who came before us and the partnerships we
have created over the years. Your leadership,
vision, dedication and generosity has allowed
us to create a positive change for the past 25
years.”
The event began with a drum song by
Tribal Council member Jon A. George, Tribal
musician Jan Michael Looking Wolf Reibach
and Tribal members Ty George and Anthony
Quenelle.
The Grand Ronde Color Guard brought in
the flags followed by members of Veterans
and Grand Ronde Royalty. Jon A. George
gave the invocation and Reibach performed
a flute song.
Tribal Council member Denise Harvey, who
also serves on the Community Fund Board
of Trustees, said the fund was dedicated to
honoring Tribal traditions of sharing and
See FUND
continued on pages 6-7
New West Linn sign celebrates Tomanowos
By Danielle Harrison
W
Smoke Signals assistant editor/staff writer
EST LINN — Sixty years ago, the city
of West Linn erected a replica marker of
the famous Willamette Valley meteorite,
Tomanowos. However, there was no mention of the
Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde anywhere in
the marker’s inscription.
In an effort to tell a more complete story of the
meteorite’s history, new interpretive signage was
unveiled exactly 60 years later on Thursday, Aug.
4, outside the Tualatin Valley Fire & Rescue Sta-
tion 59 in West Linn, near where the meteorite
ended up thousands of years ago.
Grand Ronde Tribal Council member Jon A.
See TOMANOWOS
continued on page 5
Tribal Council member Jon A. George drums in front of a 1962 marker depicting Tomanowos, also known
as the Willamette Valley meteorite, during a dedication ceremony for a new sign describing more of
its history and connection to the Tribe at the Tualatin Valley Fire & Rescue Station 59 in West Linn on
Thursday, Aug. 4. The ceremony also marked the 60th anniversary of the original marker’s installation.
Photo by Timothy J. Gonzalez