Tribal employees celebrate quarterly service awards despite atmospheric river

By Nicole Montesano

Smoke Signals staff writer

Tribal employees and Tribal Council members braved a wind and rainstorm to celebrate together at the quarterly service awards Thursday, Dec. 18, at the Spirit Mountain Casino Event Center.

The Tribe honored 82 employees for their combined 1,135 years of service, ranging from five to 41 years, with games, raffle prizes of cash and administrative leave. The event doubled as the annual employee holiday party and luncheon.

As an atmospheric river dumped inches of rain, and wind gusts threatened to bring down trees outside, employees enjoyed the festive holiday spirit with prime rib, cedar plank salmon, turkey, sage stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy, fresh vegetables and salad, pasta salad, fresh fruit salad, rolls and dessert.

Tribal Council Secretary Jon A. George gave the invocation. Tribal Cultural Advisor Bobby Mercier and the Grand Ronde Canoe Family drummed and sang a meal song.

Tribal Council members in attendance included Chairwoman Cheryle A. Kennedy, Vice Chair Chris Mercier, Jon A. George, and council members Kathleen George, Matthew Haller, Tonya Gleason-Shepek, Toby McClary and Pete Wakeland.

Interim General Manager Bryan Langley and Kennedy thanked employees both for attending and for their work for the Tribe.

“Everyone at your table, go ahead and give each other a high five, because it’s about you; it’s about what you do,” Kennedy told the assembled employees. “I’m so thankful for you, coming to work every day – even today, you see all the water on the road and the rain flying and the branches flying in your face as you’re driving in, but you come. And that’s what we really appreciate. We know that you’re doing a good job and that you will continue to do so.”

Kennedy said it continues to astonish her, to remember the contrast between her first job with the Tribe more than 40 years ago and today.

“I was one of the first three people hired by the Tribe,” she said. When she arrived for work, she said, it was to “a little office, in a little, dilapidated well, you know at that time, it was in the cemetery, it was the cemetery garage. That’s where I came to work. Sitting in there…we had two others who worked with us and I told them, ‘In our culture, we don’t do this.’ They were not of our Tribe. I said, ‘We don’t work among our ancestors.’

Kennedy continued, “So, I went and I sat down in the depot – that was the Tribe’s, they purchased it – and it had no electricity and no water or anything like that, and I said, ‘That’s Ok. I’ll do my work from here; we’ll get the work done.’ And so, we got all of that fixed up where it was inhabitable.”

She said to go from those days to now is “a great, great thing.”

“So, to see that, to today, with the masses of people that are here, it’s just astonishing for me,” she said. “And what a great, great thing. And to know that we have professionals who are willing to come to work at Grand Ronde, to make the drive, because there’s no place to live here, to make the drive, I applaud you for wanting to come here and to work with us. For all of our local people and our Tribal members who live in the area, thank you. Thank you for doing that. For using your talents, for choosing a career, many of you went to higher education. You came back and are using your skills here. Thank you for doing that.”

After a lively “ugly sweater” contest that finally ended with the two highest-scoring, by applause, contestants settling their tie with a sandbag-throwing contest, Langley drew ticket numbers to invite employees to play games including guessing the contents of wrapped gifts by shaking them, stacking cups and unwrapping chocolate candies, with prizes of $200 to winners, and $100 to those who came in second.

Elaine Lane, education and services coordinator for the Shawash-iliʔi Skul, shows off her outfit as she participates in the ugly sweater contest during the annual employee holiday party and fourth-quarter service awards at Spirit Mountain Casino’s Event Center Thursday, Dec. 18. Lane won second place in the contest. (Photo by Michelle Alaimo)

Tribal Council members read off the names of the employees receiving service awards and shook their hands. Council members then took turns pulling names and calling off the names of raffle winners, giving away cash prizes ranging from $250 to $2,000, and several awards of administrative leave time.

Health & Wellness Department Operations Director Tresa Mercier was honored as the Tribe’s longest-serving employee, with 41 years of service to the Tribe, dating back to just a year after the Tribe was restored to federal recognition. Public Works Coordinator John Mercier was the runner-up this quarter with 35 years.

Employees honored include the following:

41 years: Operations Director Tresa Mercier.

35 years: Public Works Coordinator John Mercier.

30 years: Benefits Risk Manager Tammy Gould, Compensation HRIS Manager Candy Scranton, Senior Administrative Assistant NS Daphney Colton, Behavioral Health Scheduler Linda Evans, Economic and Lands Director Jan Reibach, Social Services Department Manager Dana Ainam.

29 years: Ceded Lands Program Manager Michael Karnosh

28 years: Restorative Assistant Donnette Spaulding, Police Records Evidence Technician Egypt Leno, Cultural Center Supervisor Crystal Szczepanski, Judicial Operations Supervisor Julie Boekhoff.

27 years: Employment Specialist Tauni Tollas.

26 years: Procurement Department Manager Nathan Rolston.

24 years: Housing Improvement Coordinator Donald Coon.

22 years: Librarian Kathy Cole.

20 years: Support Counselor Christopher Holliday Sr., Internal Auditor Heather Roberts, Housing Improvement Coordinator Loyal Hamilton.

19 years: Utility Maintenance Supervisor Joe Loomis, Quality Coordinator Tauni McCammon.

18 years: Administrative Program Manager Joan Dugger.

17 years: Family Partnerships Coach Isaiah Sherwood.

15 years: Employment Caseworker Rhonda Leno, Infant-Toddler Coordinator Melissa Phillips.

14 years: Senior Maintenance Technician Brent Bruckner, Pharmacy Technician Supervisor Stephanie Wolfe, Senior Applications Administrator Jose Luna, Tribal Security Officer Daniel Hyatt Jr.

13 years: Senior Administrative Assistant NS Nicholas Kimsey, Pharmacy Technician Cindy Brickell, Utility Maintenance Technician Richard Smith, Education Services Coordinator Devin Boekhoff, Secretary Jamie Adams.

12 years: Communications Specialist Daron Pond Jr., Payroll Administrator Michelle Peterson.

11 years: Senior Peer Support Specialist Shelly Fox, Child Family Services Caseworker Santiago Atanacio, Lead Certified Medical Assistant Amanda Walker.

10 years: Teacher Aide Wendy Mercier, Licensing Application Specialist Joel Greet, Executive Director of Health Services Kelly Rowe, Grant Supervisor Gloria Schwalger, Maintenance Technician FAC Winston Mercier, Lead Housekeeper Coley Parazoo.

Nine years: Domestic Violence Relief Advocate Leah Fechtner, Assistant Fire Chief Torey Wakeland, Data Specialist Sommer Bruckner, Tribal Security Officer Derek Ellenwood.

Eight Years: Smoke Signals Secretary Katherine Warren-Steffensmier, Certified Medical Assistant Fermin Deras Diaz, Family Partnerships Supervisor Lyndsey Stuckey, Librarian Aide Crystal Bigelow, Dental Assistant Nina Umfrid, Employee Relations Specialist Aaron Bigelow, Housing Safety Specialist Bradley Leno, Phlebotomist/Lab Assistant Kateri Marrufo.

Seven years: Tribal Veterans Services Officer Ramona Quenelle, Cook Jason Ibarra, Community Support Specialist Isabell Bobb, Cultural Resources Specialist Christopher Rempel, Senior Records Clerk Ashley Stonebrink, Teacher Aide Bus Monitor Krystal King, TPREP Program Assistant Corina Limon.

Six years: Smoke Signals Social Media/Digital Journalist Kamiah Koch, Family-Community Partnership Coordinator Rebecca Ambrose, Senior Administrative Assistant Kristina Helfrich.

Five years: Education Career Coach Melissa Palanuk-Mercier, Shawash Academic Teacher Adam Langley, Engineering & Community Development Department Manager Ryan Webb; Licensed Practical Nurse Michelle Kinser; Groundskeeper Charles Leno, Assistant Teacher Madison Aaron, Senior Archaeologist Michael Lewis, Accounts Payable Supervisor Mariah Sherman, Employment Manager Connie Holmes, Firefighter/EMT Kaylene Barry, Tribal Lead Security Officer Brittney Walker, Youth Education Program Manager Bethany Mason, Behavioral Health Department Manager Patricia Henry, Great Circle Recovery Operations Director Jennifer Worth.

After the ceremony, employees were given the rest of the day off with pay.