Wildhorse Culinary Team to Serve at Oregon Gov. Brown’s Inaugural Gala

The culinary team at Wildhorse Resort & Casino has been chosen to prepare foods representing Eastern Oregon at Oregon Governor Kate Brown ‘s inaugural gala on January 18 in Portland. Guests attending the gala will include the Governor’s top supporters, elected officials, and industry and community leaders.

The opportunity is sure to elevate brand awareness of Wildhorse Resort & Casino, home to seven restaurants including Plateau Fine Dining.

Wildhorse Executive Chef Jeff Sommer and his crew will deliver about 1,200 hors d’oeuvres to the Governor’s guests in Portland, a Wildhorse press release states. The food will be prepared in the kitchen at Wildhorse Resort in Pendleton, then quickly delivered to the venue in Portland, where it will be warmed and plated on environmentally friendly bamboo plates. The culinary team will then quickly reset to prepare and serve dinner to 450 additional guests at the resort’s Rivers Event Center.

Wildhorse Expansion

Owned by Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, Wildhorse currently features a 24-hour casino, hotel, RV Park, seven restaurants, a five-screen Cineplex, 18-hole championship golf course, travel plaza (for commercial trucks and private vehicles) and a tribal museum.

The resort is currently investing $85 million in an expansion. This will be the fifth expansion for the resort since it first opened in 1994 with only a small, temporary structure and 100 slot machines.

Gary George, Wildhorse Chief Executive Officer, recently announced final blueprints, following substantial negotiations between executives and architects to balance budget and construction costs. Sticking to the original spending plan became a challenge when the price of steel increased drastically. “After year-long meetings with Wildhorse staff and the Board of Trustees, we finally settled on a project that we can afford,” George concluded.

By the end of 2020, the public will see the opening of a second hotel tower consisting of a mix of 214 executive suites and standard rooms. Added convention space will seat up to 1500 in the main room. A 24-lane bowling alley will include a bar and pool tables; eight lanes will be separate and will be available for private and special events. A new poker room is expected to seat up to 90 players. A 24-hour restaurant and a food court will be added and an expanded family entertainment center will house childcare and an arcade. Space for future businesses is also included. The entire expansion will be surrounded by an enlarged parking area.

The courtyard hotel, which was the original hotel built in 1996, will be leveled to make way for the new construction. The last day for guests to check out will be March 31, 2019. Demolition will begin after those rooms are emptied of all furniture and décor. Hot Rock Café will close at the same time. Demolition of the original hotel will be bittersweet for staff and guests and will have the resort short 100 rooms until the new tower opens. Staff will be referring guests to local hotels in Pendleton for lodging during that time. Long-term impacts to the community will be an increase in visitors and more jobs added to the local economy. The expanded facilities and bowling alley will bring in tournaments, larger conventions, and bigger entertainment.

Gov. Kate Brown

Unrelated to the Wildhorse Resort opportunity, Gov. Brown’s relationship with Oregon Tribes is ambiguous and subjective. Since taking office in 2015, she’s taken steps to honor Tribal history and sovereignty in the state. In September 2017, Gov. Kate Brown signed Oregon Senate Bill 13: Tribal History & Sovereignty Curriculum into law, requiring the teaching of American Indian/Alaska Native History & Sovereignty in Oregon’s K-12 public schools. Also in 2017, Gov. Brown declared October 9 Indigenous People’s Day to recognize “the many contributions made to our communities through indigenous peoples.”

Her relationship with the state’s nine federally recognized tribes gets complicated when it comes to gaming. She’s been criticized for allegedly allowing campaign donations to impact her decisions on Indian gaming expansion in the state—such as supporting the lottery’s first-ever partnership with a tribe, the Cow Creek,the Cow Creek Band of Umpua Tribe of Indians (a major campaign contributor and opponents of the Coquille expansion), while she opposes the Coquille Tribe’s proposed small casino. Cow Creek have given Gov. Brown $85,000 in campaign contributions since she took office in 2015.

Oregon’s nine tribes currently operate nine casinos, one each, across the state. The tribes and Oregon have operated under an informal policy since 1988, limiting each tribe to one on-reservation casino each—though the Coquille argue they never made such a pact, reported Willamette Week. “She’s not only expanding the lottery,” says Judy Duffy-Metcalf, CEO of the Coquille Economic Development Council, “but she’s cutting a side deal with the Cow Creek, our biggest opposition.”