Businesses flock to Rancheria vendor fair

Wednesday, May 04, 2005

By Staff Report

Buena Vista Rancheria of Me-Wuk Indians Tribal Chairwoman Rhonda Morningstar Pope addresses a crowd of businesspeople at last week’s vendor reception. The event, held at Greenstone Clos du Lac Cellars near Jackson Valley Road, drew well over 100 Amador County business people. According to the Rancheria’s media representative Ryan Rauzon, the tribe is committed to contracting with local vendors for everything at the proposed casino from the construction to the food sold at the food court.
Photo by: Courtesy to the Ledger Dispatch
Residents of Amador County will be doing more than shaking dice in or shaking fists at the proposed casino set for construction near Ione.

Rhonda Morningstar Pope, Tribal Chairwoman of the Buena Vista Rancheria of Me-Wuk Indians, recently met with hundreds of local business owners to “welcome them as preferred vendors of goods and services needed for the tribe’s proposed casino.”

“I am fully committed to working with local vendors and businesses in Amador County. The tribe sponsored the vendor reception as a first step in developing relationships with local businesses for future goods and services,” Pope said via a news release.

“It is my goal to establish the Buena Vista Tribe as a strong and reliable partner with local businesses who can supply our business with goods and services on an ongoing and permanent basis and as the leading employer in Amador County, providing hundreds of new good jobs for local residents,” she said.

The proposed casino will be called the Flying Cloud Casino, in honor of Pope’s father, Jesse Flying Cloud Pope. Construction of the casino is estimated to cost about $200 million.

Once ground is broken, the 15-acre casino will take about a year to complete, according to media representative Ryan Rauzon. Rauzon expects the tribal EIR to come out within the next couple of weeks.

“The EIR will entail how the tribe plans to handle all the mitigating factors,” said Rauzon.

Rauzon also noted that sites sacred to the Me-Wuks will be preserved as open space.

“Our gaming facility will comfortably blend into the mountains and grasslands of Amador County keeping with the rural character of this beautiful county,” Pope said. “There will be no bright lights, neon signs or spot lights. We want to become an important part of Amador County’s emerging wine country, drawing visitors to the region to support not just our business, but the region’s economy as well.”

The Rancheria’s vendor reception was held at Greenstone Clos du Lac Cellars on Highway 88 near Ione.

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