Blue Lake Casino Transit

4/16/2022admin

Been rv parking here for years. Its quiet, Clean, and not crowded. You drive in, see rv's parked way out in back behind gas station/ store. See the 'Go to the Hotel to check in' sign. You then have to turn rig around, drive back out, go to the Hotel, show drivers license and players card. Now it costs $11.00 per night, but it is lit and asphalt. I asked about the dump station being locked and was it useable. Hotel clerk said i have to go to the gas station store and just show your receipt/card to get the key for the locked sewer dump. Ok. an extra hassle, but doable. Husband got motorhome set up to dump. I walked with my receipt /card to store. No, receipt wasnt enough! i have to GIVE creepy attendant me drivers license now to hold, to insure i bring key back!! Had to walk back to rv to get my purse with drivers license in it. (If our black water wasnt full we wouldnt have hassled dumping there). Back to the store. Ok, got the key that was attached to a nasty, filthy piece of wood, used it, dumped, returned the key and got drivers license back as attendant gave a creepy smile to me. This is not right at all !!! Would have rather left money deposit for the key. We found leaving a drivers license like that, is a great invasion of our privacy. May not go back there anymore because of that now plus the creepy guy staring at me. We were Insulted as we have a new, big, quality rv, and are not the dirty homeless type rvers they want to protect the parking area from. We also saw others parked there without receipt card in front windows late at night . Not fair!!

The Blue Lake Rancheria Tribe declared a state of emergency and ordered a shelter-in-place. The tribe temporarily closed the Blue Lake Casino and Hotel, while keeping essential tribal programs in. Arla Ramsey currently serves the Blue Lake Rancheria Tribe as its Vice Chairperson and Tribal Administrator. Prior to assuming tribal government work full-time, Arla worked for the U.S. Forest Service for over nine years as a nature guide, fire-fighter, and heavy-equipment operator, among other responsibilities. The Blue Lake Rancheria Tribe implements new health and safety protocols at the Blue Lake Casino Hotel. At the casino, a 25 percent maximum occupancy has been set, and every other chair at slot machines have been removed. Thermal cameras have been installed at all entrances and employees and guests will be required to wear a mask on the casino.

LoCO Staff / Tuesday, March 31 @ 11:09 a.m. / COVID-19 and Humboldt

With Casino and Restaurants Shuttered, Blue Lake Rancheria Cranks Out Meals for Tribal Elders

Video: Blue Lake Rancheria.

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Press release from the Blue Lake Rancheria:

To minimize the health risks that tribal elders face amid the coronavirus, the Blue Lake Rancheria Tribe’s Elder Nutrition Program is delivering three weeks of food at a time to those enrolled in the program. The food program helps approximately 70 elders in Humboldt County from as far south as Rio Dell, north to Trinidad and east to Weaverville, totaling 1,450 square miles of service area. “We know coronavirus poses a greater threat to the elderly,” Jason Ramos, Blue Lake Rancheria tribal council member, said. “So we are determined to safely deliver food to elders, so they can shelter-in-place at home and not worry about their next meal.”

The Blue Lake Rancheria’s essential employees are working overtime to make the pre-packaged meals, and kitchen staff from the tribe’s restaurants that temporarily closed, have been pulled in to help. “We have double the number of employees we normally do working on the meals,” Deb Winkle, the tribe’s food program director, said. So far over 12,000 meals have been prepared and stored away for delivery later this week. Fresh produce and ingredients from the casino’s restaurants are being used for the meals, that would have otherwise gone to waste, after Alice’s Restaurant and the Lily Pad temporarily closed due to COVID-19 precautionary measures. In addition, the casino’s freezer space is being used to store thousands of meals.

Amid coronavirus and shelter-in-place orders, the food program is seeing an increase in demand from other organizations and tribes in the region who are seeking information if they, too, can possibly be added to the list for food deliveries. “We are really pulling together our resources to take care of the elderly, who especially depend on us right now,” said Arla Ramsey, the tribe’s vice-chairperson.

Coronavirus is adding another layer of challenges for many tribal elders in reservation communities, who already face food insecurity on a daily basis. According to National Resource Center on Native American Aging, 47% of native elders 55-75+ are at moderate to high nutritional risk and up to 10.7% are in poor health. “We know the need for our food program is there – so we are doing everything in our power to keep this essential program going,” Winkle, said.

The Blue Lake Rancheria Tribe declared a state of emergency and ordered a shelter-in-place. The tribe temporarily closed the Blue Lake Casino and Hotel, while keeping essential tribal programs in operation, such as the food program, public transit, and the tribe’s office of emergency services. “We understand this is a really difficult time for everyone,” Arla Ramsey, Blue Lake Rancheria’s vice-chairperson, said. “We are striving to help our community in ways we can in this time of need.”