8
MAY 15, 2023
Smoke Signals
Eight names being added to
Veterans Memorial on May 29
By Dean Rhodes
Smoke Signals editor
Eight names, including that of
Albert J. <Joe= Martineau, will be
added to the West Valley Veterans
Memorial during the Monday, May
29, ceremony being held on the
Grand Ronde Tribal campus.
Martineau walked on Feb. 1 at
the age of 63. He was from the
Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superi-
or Chippewa of Minnesota and he
was a beloved longtime employee of
the Confederated Tribes of Grand
Ronde as an alcohol and addictions
counselor.
Martineau9s name will go up on
the Air Force pillar along with the
names of Jack Bailey and Jefferie
J. Tucker.
The four pillars at the West Val-
ley Veterans Memorial feature the
names of Tribal and community
members from Grand Ronde, Wil-
lamina and Sheridan who served in
the four major branches of the U.S.
military 3 Army, Navy, Air Force
and Marine Corps. The addition of
eight names this year will increase
the number of those honored on all
four pillars to 2,382.
Other names being added include
Grand Ronde Tribal member Jerald
W. Tyler on the Navy pillar, Allan
Halverson, Benjamin Lee Rogers
and Ronney Lee Rogers on the
MfkhMfk Mania
Army pillar and Billy J. Rogers on
the Marine Corps pillar.
The Memorial Day ceremony will
return to pre-pandemic protocols
with a meal being served in the
Tribal Community Center starting
at noon and the ceremony occurring
outside at the West Valley Veterans
Memorial starting at 1 p.m.
The memorial was designed by
late Tribal Elder Steve Bobb Sr.,
a Vietnam War-era Marine Corps
veteran who walked on in August
2022. It features a man and wom-
an dressed in traditional Native
clothing standing side by side while
reaching for the sky.
This will be the 20th Memorial
Day celebration at the West Valley
Veterans Memorial, which was
dedicated in May 2003, because the
2020 event was canceled due to the
COVID-19 pandemic.
Additional details about the cer-
emony were not available before
press time.
Attendees also will notice in-prog-
ress work on the addition of two
new pillars at the memorial because
the ones containing names of Army
and Navy veterans are reaching
capacity.
The Tribe received a $33,000
grant from Oregon State Parks to
install the two new black granite
slabs. þ
Photos by Michelle Alaimo
Conner Ambrose, 11, rides
TO SEE MORE PHOTOS AND VIDEO
a blender bike to mix a fruit
smoothie during m f k h m f k
@SmokeSignalsCTGR @ctgrsmokesignals @SmokeSignalsCTGR
mania held in the Tribal gym
on Saturday, May 6. The annual event is a celebration of local food,
farmers, and hunting and gathering that included informational
booths, educational workshops and a silent auction. The event was
organized by Grand Ronde9s Food Access and Community Team and
sponsored by Marion-Polk Food Share and the Tribe.
Tribal Veterans Service Office
2023 Claim Appointment Schedule
Monday
Tuesday
Thursday
By scheduled
By scheduled
Walk-in claim
appointment only
appointment only
appointments
To schedule a claim appointment:
call (503) 879-1484 or email
CTGRTribalVSO@GrandRonde.Org
Flicka Lucero and Rebecca Ambrose, in the background, look through
seed packets that were available for free at m f k h m f k mania held in
the Tribal gym on Saturday, May 6. Larry Wehrli, of Grand Ronde, a
volunteer at the Grand Ronde Food Bank, iskam m f k h m f k haws, was
manning the seed packet table helping people find what they wanted.
Gas discount at Grand Ronde Station
Grand Ronde Tribal members, as well as Tribal and Spirit Mountain
Casino employees, can receive a 30-cent per gallon discount on gasoline
at the Tribally owned Grand Ronde Station convenience store.
There are, however, a few rules. Tribal members and employees must
go inside and show either their enrollment card or employee identiocation
card to receive the discount. þ