Tribe honors employees with service awards

By Nicole Montesano

Smoke Signals staff writer

The Tribe treated employees to breakfast Thursday, Sept. 17, to present the third-quarter years of service awards, honoring 35 employees for a collective 916 years of service.

A breakfast of scrambled eggs, biscuits and gravy, fruit salad, bacon and sausage was provided at the Tribal gym, followed by games with cash prizes, before the schedule moved to honoring the employees.

“All of this is about our employees and the services you provide,” Tribal Chairwoman Cheryle A. Kennedy told the assembled employees in her welcome speech. “I am grateful you took time out of your lives to come and work for the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde. … My heart is overflowing today.”

Kennedy made special note of several departments, starting with the Tribe’s Emergency Services and Wildland firefighters, noting they “are not helping the Tribe but also others.”

Kennedy also called out staff who worked on the recently-introduced congressional lands bill and in health services.

“I know without health, we don’t have anything,” she said. She also mentioned the Education Department and the previous day’s singing by Tribal children during the swearing-in ceremony for the three newly-elected council members.

“Their voices rang so loud and my heart was just so full,” Kennedy said. “When we were working during Restoration, one of the things we wanted was for our culture to be restored.”

 She said that all employees should feel that they are making a meaningful difference to the Tribe through their work, noting that, for example, housekeeping and groundskeeping services make things better for all employees and visitors and show the Tribe’s pride in its campus.

“You may feel that your job is menial,” Kennedy said. “It is not.”

Tribal Council Vice Chair Jon A. George gave the invocation, prompting a quip from emcee and Tribal Employment Rights Office Director Harris Reibach that, “Who else but Jon George can pray and be grateful for our clean toilets? I loved it.”

Grand Ronde singers sang a meal blessing song.

In addition to Kennedy and George, Tribal Council members Matthew Haller, Lisa Leno, Valeria Atanacio and Kathleen George attended.

After the service awards were distributed, Reibach and Organizational Development and Training Manager Scott Mode held a drawing to distribute several cash prizes ranging $250 to $1,000, as well as eight hours of administrative leave.

The following employees were honored:

36 years: Staff Accountant Melanie Hubbard and Continuing Adult Education Coordinator Tracy Biery.

35 years: Language Nest Lead Teacher Jeff Mercier.

34 years: Finance Officer Chris Leno.

31 years: Organizational Development and Training Manager Scott Mode.

28 years: Housekeeping Supervisor Ben Bishop.

26 years: Teen Pregnancy Prevention Coordinator Matthew Bucknell.

25 years: Chachalu Manager Travis Stewart, Tribal Security Supervisor Roel Hernandez and Billing Coordinator Erica Mercier.

24 years: Lead Cook Kevin Campbell and Firefighter/EMT Jennifer Colton.

23 years: Nutrition Program Manager Kristy Lawson and Community Fund Program Coordinator Angela Schlappie.

22 years: Employment Specialist Brandy Hembree.

20 years: Housekeeper Nathan Mueller.

19 years: Bus Driver Jennifer Jerabek.

16 years: Chachalu Assistant Manager Veronica Montano, Native Connection Project Coordinator Keri Kimsey, Youth Prevention Manager Amber Zimbrick and Maintenance Technician Michael Lane.

15 years: Community Support Specialist Joanna Brisbois and Medical Technologist Staci Pemble.

14 years: Senior Telecommunications Administrator Mark Scheelar, Chief of Staff Stacia Hernandez and Vocational Rehabilitation Caseworker Tara Summers.

13 years: Cultural Education Coordinator Jordan Mercier.

12 years: Administrative Assistant Deann Dickinson.

11 years: Employment Specialist Shylo Dizick, Help Desk Administrator Braden Ebensteiner, Housekeeper Jonathan Baker, Compliance Manager Corey Tharp and Infant-Toddler Teacher Miranda Ellis.

10 years: Senior Staff Attorney Brooks Wakeland and Academic Advisor Star Weatherall.

9 years: Lead Housekeeper Dorene Gillespie, Pharmacy Director Lincoln Wright, Administrative Assistant Pamala Warren-Chase, Silviculture & Fire Protection Technician Nicholas Larsen, Smoke Signals Editor Danielle Harrison, Senior Staff Pharmacist Timothy Wood and Senior Dental Assistant Samuel King.

8 years: Assistant Teacher Brettia Vale.

7 years: Family Partnerships Coach Tawnie Kimsey, Payment Processing Specialist Dorothy Anderson, Maintenance Technician Nicholas Colton, Maintenance Technician Dyami Eastman, Charge Nurse Charlene Brewer, Child-Family Services Caseworker Michelle Baker, Optometric Technician Sandra Galligher and Smoke Signals Graphic Design Specialist Samuel Briggs III.

6 years: Substance Use Disorder Therapist Heidi Hicinbothom and Community Programs Manager Caitlin Zimbrick.

5 years: Licensed Practical Nurse Aaron Buckendorf, Senior Network Security Specialist Lacey Ayers, Mental Health Therapist Maret Banks, Battalion Chief Sean Hoxie, Emergency Services Lt. Luke Nodine, Police Officer Austin Gomez, Certified Application Assistor II Stacy Bissonette, Licensing Specialist Shelley Gilbert-Lucio, Firefighter/EMT Micah Brown, Tribal Security Officer Robert Boen, Applications Specialist Evan Leno, Physician Danica Clark, Certified Medical Assistant Angie Haney, Wildlife Biologist Marie Vicksta, Social Emotional Learning Coach Joshua Sherwood, Battalion Chief Robert Mock and Operations Division Chief Jason Crow.