CLEARLAKE OAKS ?Elem Indian Colony in Clearlake Oaks will celebrate the grand opening of its new community building beginning at 10 a.m. Saturday, April 18 at the colony located off of Sulphur Bank Drive. The event will include a ribbon cutting ceremony at 11:30 a.m. followed by a barbecue, raffle, native dancers and other entertainment including activities for children.
“This is a start in rebuilding our community,” Geraldine Johnson, Elem tribal chairperson said. “We want to make our colony to be a safe and peaceful place to live that supports our heritage.”
Highlight of the event will be a special performance by Shakehead dancers. “This will be an opportunity to see traditional dancing and attire from the Elem Indian Colony,” Johnson said.
The new community building will serve many functions. It will be used for community activities and other Tribal functions such as meetings and leadership conferences. The building will also house an array of family resources. “It will also be made available to Tribal members for social and personal events,” Johnson said.
Funding for the project was granted through HUD. “We received funds in 2004 but due to various issues concerning the Elem Colony we were not able to start building until about eight months ago,” Johnson said. “It”s been a long road but we are pleased with the end result, which is a beautiful building for our tribal members and the community to enjoy.”
Saturday”s event will include a raffle. Prizes include two tickets to the May 14 Giants game, two pre-season tickets for the Raiders” opening game and other miscellaneous prizes including hand-crafted Indian jewelry. There will also be booths hosted by various nonprofit organizations that serve Lake County.
Contact Denise Rockenstein at drockenstein@clearlakeobserver.com or call her directly at 994-6444, ext. 11.
