May 1st was exciting!!!
We celebrated the Opening Ceremony of the Chehalem Cultural Center 2015 Focus Culture in downtown Newberg. The focus culture this year is The Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde, which is near and dear to my heart because The Renaissance Man is a tribal member.
The ceremony started with a drum song given by tribal members and was followed with a welcome speech given by Rob Dailey, the Director of the Chehalem Cultural Center. It’s so neat that the Chehalem Cultural Center decided to reach out to The Tribe and feature them as a focus culture. The story of the Willamette Valley and Newberg is also a story about tribal members. Bob Andrews, The Mayor of Newberg, was also part of the ceremony and he gifted The Tribe a “Key to The City.” The Renaissance Man then gave a short speech about the importance of this collaboration and the healing it helps to facilitate within the community.
