Michaelynn Thompson

"... who has been missing for more than a week is on her way home."

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NCI clients lending a hand
Volunteers help Gallup businesses, learn job skills

Tanya Brazil
Staff Writer

GALLUP — Officials at the Na 'Nizhoozhi Center have given the city of Gallup and charitable organizations in this area an offer they can't refuse.

By giving recovering alcoholics from the center a chance to volunteer their services in a variety of ways, the organizations and businesses have tapped into a new reservoir of talent and saved tens of thousands of dollars annually.

At the same time, they have helped instill a new sense of confidence and dignity that helps pave the way to learn new job skills.

The volunteer work is part of the rehabilitation center's vocational/employment program, developed four years ago by two men with a common vision.

Raymond Daw, the center's executive director, said the wheels were set in motion after he struck up a conversation with a player at a softball game.

While watching from the sidelines, Daw and Gordon Nez, who today is the center's assistant director of support services, discussed the vocational needs of NCI clients.

They spoke of obstacles within the work force for those who lack skills or education, Daw said, as well as the need for recovering alcoholics to keep busy and avoid too much idle time.

Daw said feelings of boredom lead to substance abuse. So, too, does a belief that one is incapable of providing for his or her family.

Despite NCI being plagued by limited personnel, resources and space, he said, the two decided it was time to develop a vocational program at the facility.

Since the program's inception, volunteers have served barbecue at the Navajo Nation fair and helped build the Playground of Dreams at a city park. They have performed various duties for Native American Appreciation Day, the powwow at Church Rock and softball games at the Regional Sports Complex.

Nez, who oversees the vocational program, said present and former clients contribute 300 to 400 hours of volunteer work per week. Many of the hours are put in at night and on weekends because, for many people, filling their time helps curb the temptation to drink.

Recently, NCI formed a partnership with the Gallup-McKinley County Chamber of Commerce that allows volunteers to clean and restore the facility.

Barbara Matthews, the new Chamber president, said one of the clients works off his community service by cleaning the building every Friday, saving the Chamber about $4,000 a year in janitorial expenses.

Even more money was saved when another client repainted the lettering on the front of the building.

Matthews said she was nervous at first about the volunteer who redid the lettering after he admitted he was not an experienced painter. But he assured her he could do it, she said, so she gave him a chance. He ended up doing a terrific job.

She described the amateur painter who put in 16 hours of volunteer time as "courteous, clean and grateful to be there." All she did was buy him lunch, she said, and treat him with a little respect.

Not only do businesses benefit financially from free labor, she said, it can free skilled workers to do priority tasks. The volunteers in turn leave with new job skills and experience they can put on their resumes, she said.

Matthews said she would like NCI and Gallup businesses to change the nondrinking public's view that once someone is an alcoholic, he or she cannot sober up. One way businesses can shatter that myth is to open their doors to volunteers from NCI, she said.

She admits clients may not all be honest or possess adequate job skills. But by giving them a chance, she said, the community is supporting the alcoholics in their rehabilitation.

"Respect for their desire to change their lives, even if they only stay sober for one or two days, can come from community members who have a little trust and have them come work for them," Matthews said.

Nez agrees, adding if the work done by volunteers is recognized, another business may hire them for a paying job.

Counselors initially encourage clients to give back to the community by nurturing their feeling of self-esteem and helping them realize their talents, Nez said.

Next, he said, the concept of volunteerism and the importance of making and fulfilling commitments are discussed.

Daw said he advocates the idea of volunteerism because of the harsh economic situation within the region. Consequently, he said, it is unrealistic for clients to expect a paying job immediately.

Volunteering helps recovering alcoholics deal with being a sober person, he said. By and large, sober alcoholics are good people. It is when they become intoxicated, he said, that they experience personality changes and behave in socially unacceptable ways.

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Census count is making headway on Navajoland

Jim Maniaci
Diné Bureau

WINDOW ROCK — While wet weather and fewer workers than needed slowed down the U.S. census count on the Navajo Reservation last week, the local census office manager predicted the more than 1,000 field workers will soon catch up.

Manager Arbin Mitchell also said that workers receiving their weekly paychecks through electronic direct deposit into bank accounts get their money about two days faster than those who choose to have a paper check.

He said direct deposits go into workers' checking accounts on Wednesday or Thursday each week, while workers receiving traditional checks usually don't receive their pay until Friday or Monday.

Upon hearing complaints, the manager said, "We checked some of them who said they hadn't gotten paid, and the system showed the checks had been issued."

"Because of last week's weather," Mitchell said, "if we haven't gotten to you, especially in the remote areas, please be patient. We will get to you soon."

The Census Bureau determined it would need 1,500 people, most of them working in the field contacting each household directly, to complete the interviews on schedule. When counting began late last month, the Window Rock and Tuba City offices had hired 1,200 people.

Mitchell said he has picked up additional employees in recent days and should ultimately be short only about 50 people.

The deadline to complete the field interviews is May 30. Follow-up interviews will begin June 12, he said.

In late May or early June, Mitchell said, his staff will begin working with chapter officials to find those people missed by the earlier enumerators' journeys into the field.

He asked residents to wait until late May or early June to contact the Window Rock or Tuba City offices if no one has visited their home.

The tribal government mounted an all-out campaign for the 2000 census to count every reservation resident, since the tribal treasury lost an estimated $32.5 million after 1990 from an undercount of the census. The Navajo Nation Council approved spending more than $100,000 in a first-ever partnership with the federal agency.

The Census Bureau admitted its 1990 tally missed one out of every eight Navajo Reservation residents, or some 19,715 people.

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Navajo teen on way home

Nancy Watson
Diné Bureau

GALLUP — A young Navajo woman who has been missing for more than a week is on her way home.

When Michaelynn Thompson, 18, of Church Rock called her mother Monday morning, she was in West Virginia, on her way home.

"She was laughing and sounded happy," Rose Charlie, Thompson's mother, said.

The truck driver, with whom she had left the Gallup area, may have been informed that information on Thompson had been entered into the National Crime Information Computer.

"He told her she was a fugitive, and he was putting her on the bus and sending her home," Charlie said. The NCIC information listed Thompson as a missing person.

Monday's call was different from the three calls Thompson had made to her mother in the last 10 days. During those calls, Thompson sounded subdued and sad, according to family members. She had also cried and said she wanted to come home.

Thompson was reported missing early last week after she disappeared from Rio West Mall. Her brother, Robert, last saw his sister at the mall, when she told him she would find a ride a home.

Her family eventually reported she was missing to the Navajo Police, which entered information about her into NCIC.

The family over the next week traced Thompson's whereabouts through her phone calls to home. They tried to get Covenant Transportation, the employer of the trucker whom Thompson allegedly was with, to step in and get the problem resolved.

Meanwhile, family members began to circulate flyers with a photo of Thompson. They also went to area truck stops and requested drivers pass along word about Thompson to other drivers through their CB radios.

During a phone call from New Jersey to her mother Saturday night, Thompson was crying. She said she wanted to come home, but that she was far away.

During Thompson's phone calls, she responded only to questions her mother asked and volunteered no information, an indication that she may not have been alone when she was making the calls and that the calls were being monitored by someone who was with her.

During the call that came Monday morning, Thompson, apparently happily, told her mother she was on her way home.

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Cold burritos lead to tantrum

Tanya Brazil
Staff Writer

GALLUP — A Manuelito man was arrested Sunday afternoon after police said he became angry that his burritos were cold and assaulted his cousin at Allsup's on West Historic 66.

Responding to a call about a male striking a female outside the store, police spotted Timothy Billy, 29, leaving the location on foot. Police said Billy appeared to be in a hurry.

After a witness identified Billy as the suspect, police said he became "hostile and disorderly." The suspect refused orders to place his hands up against the wall and began shouting profanities and threats at the officer, police said...

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Kids raise funds to fight hunger

Staff Report

GALLUP — Young people from Rehoboth Christian Reformed Church will go without food for 30 hours to raise money for worldwide hunger.

On April 20 and 21, the 20 teen-agers will join thousands of young people across the United States in the World Vision 30-Hour Famine.

Participants are soliciting pledges from friends, neighbors and relatives to raise money for those who are hungry...

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Citizens air concerns at Grants meet

Tom Purdom
Staff Writer

GRANTS — It's not just Councilor Shirley Taylor who says city government eliminates the people's voice here. A Grants resident had similar words for the council Monday in a meeting that can best be described as volatile.

The meeting began with resident Mary Meisner asking the council to do something about a pack of pet dogs in her neighborhood that had killed her cat three months ago and recently injured another...

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NTUA workers question plan

Jim Maniaci
Diné Bureau

FORT DEFIANCE, Ariz. — A new personnel policy that starts Saturday has some employees of the Navajo Tribal Utility Authority wondering if the tribal enterprise is trying to put something over on them.

But NTUA officials say the policy will help and not hurt its employees.

The new policy will affect some 500 employees, who will take paid time off "PTO" instead of sick leave and personal leave...

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Descheny backs non-city schools

Zarana Sanghani
Staff Writer

GALLUP — Parents, teachers and students cheered when Gallup-McKinley County School Board member Annie Descheny said she wanted the school district to commit itself to getting more for county schools outside Gallup.

The audience applauded Descheny's comments at Monday night's school board meeting at Tohatchi Elementary School.

Descheny was responding to the school administrators' suggestions on how money from a school bond should be used...

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Church Rock family seeks teen's return

Nancy Watson
Diné Bureau

GALLUP — Somewhere in New Jersey, an 18-year-old girl who has been missing since March 25 is trying to get home to her family in Church Rock.

Family members say they aren't sure what kind of situation Michaelynn Thompson currently faces. There's a possibility, family members say, that she is being held against her will, although she has made three phone calls to her family in the last week.

The last time Thompson was seen by her mother, Rose Charlie, was March 25, when she left her home in Church Rock to go to the Rio West Mall. She told her mother she would be back shortly...

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Phones out in Northern N.M.

SANTA FE (AP) — About 15,000 people in Los Alamos, White Rock, San Ildefonso Pueblo and Santa Fe were without telephone service Monday.

A contractor cut an underground phone cable around 10 a.m. somewhere between Santa Fe and Los Alamos, U S West spokeswoman Valerie Santillanes said.

U S West technicians had repaired the broken line and restored service some three hours later...

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Deaths

Trinidad Salas Jr.

GALLUP — Funeral Mass for Trinidad Salas Jr., 56, will be held at 9 a.m. Wednesday, April 5, at Sacred Heart Cathedral. Father Jim Walker will officiate. Burial will follow at Hillcrest Cemetery.

Rosary will be recited at 7 tonight, April 4, at Sacred Heart.

Salas died April 1 in Gallup. He was born Dec. 15, 1943, in Gamerco.

Salas was a Fourth Degree member of the Knights of Columbus and was past Grand Knight.

Survivors include his sons, Anthony Salas and Michael Salas, both of Gallup and Trinidad "Greg" Salas of Mesa, Ariz.; daughters, Tina Garcia, Michelle Palacios, Rachael Salas and Tiffany Salas, all of Gallup; brothers, Celestino Salas and Tommy Salas, both of Albuquerque, Joe Salas and Tony Salas, both of Gallup, and Raymond Salas of Los Angeles, Calif.; sisters, Rosie Flores, Frances Madrid, Dora Montano and Lupe Rodriguez, all of Gallup, and Isabel Garcia of Salinas, Calif.; and six grandchildren.

Salas was preceded in death by his wife, Virginia Salas; parents, Trinidad Salas Sr. and Domitilia Salas; and a grandson.

Pallbearers will be Eddie Bustamante, Louie Chavez, Isaac "Coby" Garcia, Louie Palacios Jr., Celestino Salas, Joe Salas, Tommy Salas and Tony Salas.

Rollie Mortuary is in charge of arrangements.

David Lee Marion

HOLLAND, Mich. — Services for David Lee Marion, 46, will be held at 1 p.m. Wednesday, April 5, at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in Gallup. Bishop Craig Doty will officiate. Burial will follow at Sunset Memorial Park.

Visitation will be held one hour before services at the church.

Marion died April 1 in Fontenelle, Wyo. He was born April 30, 1953, in Holland, Mich.

Marion served in the U.S. Navy. He was employed as a project manager in construction while in Utah and as a PM supervisor for the LDS Church in Gallup. His hobbies included being around his animals, fishing, landscaping and gardening.

Survivors include his wife, Leslie Maynerich Marion of Gallup; parents, Shirley and Veryl Meyers, both of Grand Rapids, Mich., and George L. Marion of State College, Pa.; brother, Bill Marion of State College; sisters, Linda Engleskirger of North East, Pa., and Suzanne Waldo of Wayland, Mich.; and grandmother, Dorothy Brisbin of Grand Rapids.

Marion was preceded in death by his grandfather, George Brisbin.

Pallbearers will be Brad Mangum, Joe Mangum, Bill Marion, Donald Maynerich, Jesse Maynerich and Justin Maynerich.
Rollie Mortuary is in charge of arrangements.

John V. Goodluck Sr.

LUKACHUKAI, Ariz. — Services for John V. Goodluck Sr., 76, were at 10 a.m. today, April 4, at the St. Isabelle Church in Lukachukai, Ariz. Burial followed at the Lukachukai Community Cemetery.

Goodluck died April 1 in Lukachukai. He was born March 15, 1924, in Lukachukai into the Water Flows Together People Clan for the Blacksheep People Clan.

Goodluck attended St. Michaels Indian School, St. Catherine Indian School, Chiliocco Indian School and Diné College. He was employed by the Chinle IHS and Lukachukai Headstart. He was a Navajo Code Talker, farmer and rancher. He was a member of the 3rd Marine Division in Iwo Jima and Guam.

Survivors include his wife, Rita Leonard Goodluck; sons, Herbert Goodluck of Window Rock, Paul Goodluck of Chinle, Ariz., and John Goodluck Jr. and Mike Goodluck, both of Lukachukai; sisters, Mary Ann Goodluck and Rosemarie Jones, both of Chinle, Ariz., Joann Goodluck of Window Rock, and Clara Goodluck of Lukachukai; sisters, Alyce Nuendorf of Albuquerque and Agnes Goodluck of Tucson, Ariz.; 17 grandchildren; and one great-grandchild.

Goodluck was preceded in death by his parents, Hosteen and Marie Goodluck, and a brother, Clement J. Goodluck Sr.

Pallbearers will be John Kinsel, Willard Oliver, Jerry Begay, Samuel Tso, Samuel Billison, Wilford Billy, Navajo Code Talkers Honor Guards, the Department of Navajo Veterans Affairs-Central Navajo Veterans Organization.

The family will receive friends and family after the burial services at the Luckahukai Chapter House.

Tse Bonito Mortuary is in charge of arrangements.

Norman Henry Etsitty

TWIN LAKES — Services for Norman H. Etsitty, 42, will be held at 10 a.m. Friday, April 7, at the Tohatchi Christian Reform Church. Pastor Stanley Jim will officiate. Burial will follow at the Lone Pine Cemetery in Mexican Springs.

Etsitty died April 2 in Twin Lakes. He was born Sept. 24, 1957, in Gallup into the Mountain Cove Clan for the Red Streak Runs into the Water Clan.

Etsitty was honorably discharged from the United States Army and attend UNM branch in Gallup.

Survivors include his sons, Thurman Etsitty and Nolan Cameron Etsitty; daughter, Jamie Alice Etsitty; parents, Rose Marie and Herman Dee Etsitty of Twin Lakes; brothers, Jim Belone, James Belone Jr., Herman V. Etsitty , Truman D. Etsitty, and Pedro D. Etsitty, all of Twin Lakes; and sisters, Julie Belone of Twin Lakes, Genevieve Bitsie of Mexican Springs, Sandra D. Anderson of Phoenix, and Norma J. Etsitty of Twin Lakes.

Etsitty was preceded in death by his infant son, Henry Etsitty, and grandmothers, Alice Yazzie Robertson and Mabel Bitsie Begay.

Pallbearers will be Herman V. Etsitty, Philamon Allison, David Allison, Duane Willeto Sr., Dennis Bitsie, and Pedro Dee Etsitty

The family will receive friends and family after the burial services at the Mexican Springs Chapter.

Chee Nez Sr.

ROUGH ROCK, Ariz. — Services for Chee Nez Sr., 77, will be held at 10 a.m. Thursday, April 6, at St. Anthony's Catholic Mission. Father Blane Grein, O.F.M., will officiate. Burial will follow on family land in Rough Rock.

Nez died April 2 in Scottsdale, Ariz. He was born Jan. 23, 1923, in Rough Rock into the Bitter Water People Clan for the Dark Streak in Wood People Clan.

Nez was a silversmith and worked as a carpenter in his younger years.

Survivors include his wife, Jessie Nez of Black Mesa, Ariz.; sons, Francis Nez and Jay R. Nez, both of Many Farms, Ariz., and Harry Nez of Chilchinbeto, Ariz., Henry Nez, Thomas Nez and Larry Nez, all of Rough Rock; daughters, Linda Joe of Denver, Colo., and Malinda Begay of Rough Rock; brothers, Leland Nez of Old Sawmill, Ariz., Keswood B. Nez of Many Farms, Ariz., and Kee Nez Sr. of Rough Rock; sister, Fannie Nez Bahe of Valley Store, Ariz.; and 21 grandchildren.

Nez was preceded in death by his parents, Tsinnajinnie and Ason Nez.

Tse Bonito Mortuary is in charge of arrangements.

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