April - Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians

18 Odawa Trails
April 2012
“SPRING” continued from front page.
Michigan to sell tobacco to individuals
under 18. The gambling age at
Odawa Casino is 19.
“Doing this would make us stand
out from the other tribes who have
vertical IDs because we’d be facilitating
an evidence-based practice with
our vertical IDs,” Woodin said. “It directly
relates to the SPRING Program’s
primary goal of reducing under-age
substance abuse in the LTBB
service area. We’ve talked to Biindigen
employees, and they said it’d be a big
help. I know, just from personal experience,
it takes three or four minutes
for casino employees to check IDs.
“Right now, they’re looking at
the laws and policy changes that
would be necessary to implement the
program. If we get the OK from the
Executive, the timeline for implementing
it is May of this year.”
The SPRING Program staff includes
Director Dr. Cheryl Samuels,
Coordinator Angie Woodin, Health
Educator Arlene Naganashe, Outreach
Workers Deleta Smith and
Yvonne Goudreau and Clerical Assistant
Ronda Ellis. The Community
Organizer position is currently vacant,
but it looks to be filled in the near future.
Woodin started in October
2011, Naganashe in December 2011,
Smith in February 2012, Goudreau
in November 2009 and Ellis in April
2010.
SPRING stands for Significant
Prevention Resulting in New Generations,
and the SPRING Program is
funded by a federal grant which
started in July 2009 and ends in July
2014. The SPRING Program is under
the umbrella of the Substance
Abuse/Mental Health Department,
and the SPRING Program is located
at the LTBB Health Park in Petoskey,
MI.
An article detailing current
SPRING Program services and programs
will appear in the May issue of
the Odawa Trails.
Pictured from left to right in the
photo by Communications Coordinator
Annette VanDeCar are SPRING Outreach
Worker Yvonne Goudreau,
SPRING Coordinator Angie Woodin,
SPRING Outreach Worker Deleta
Smith, Pellston Public Schools Title VII
Indian Education Coordinator Laura
Chaney and SPRING Health Educator
Arlene Naganashe.
“Lah Lah’s” continued from front page.
things out of duct tape. We’re always looking for
fun things to do.”
Lah Lah’s does consignment with artists only.
There is no charge for the artists to have items there,
and Lah Lah’s receives a portion of the sales. They
are always willing to meet with artists to discuss
consignment or to look at items people are selling.
They encourage people to stop by or contact the
store to schedule an appointment. You can reach
them at 231-347-4930 or at
Lah.Lahs10@gmail.com. They also accept donations.
Lah Lah’s is working on a website, but has its
own Facebook page.
“We buy everything outright and pay in cash,”
Adrienne said. “We don’t want to say we only take
certain things. Bring it in, and we’ll take a look at
it. We like being able to support local artists.”
Haley said it’s like a home away from home.
“It’s fun working together,” she said. “We’re all
very committed to making this a success. It could
have been intimidating to do it because it was unknown
territory, and we didn’t know what would
happen, but we all had each other.”
Adrienne said she never dreads coming to
work.
“I’ve always confided in them and considered
them my best friends,” she said. “I trust them completely.”
Laura and her husband, Thomas, have four
children, Adrienne, 27, Haley, 20, Tom, 21, and
Luke, 16.
Thomas had worked in auto body shops, and
he makes things out of metal in his shop at home.
Some of the metal trains he has made are for sale at
Lah Lah’s, and he made several of the sales racks
there.
Laura, Adrienne and Haley wanted to thank
Amanda Gearhart, Stormy Dickinson, Helen Esford
and Marie Michels for all their help with their business.
Photos by Communications Coordinator Annette Van-
DeCar except for the head shot of Laura Esford, which was
taken by Lisa McComb.