Greetings,
I see the leaves are beginning to change color, our days are gradually getting a little shorter and the evenings are cooler. If you attended the Fall Festival on Cattaraugus Territory, I hope you enjoyed seeing old friends and were able to catch the Smoke Dance Contest at the Sachems field. I hear the dancers really enjoyed dancing outdoors!
The Salamanca Warriors Varsity Football has had some very exciting wins, recently. Their game against Southwestern had a scoreless first half; and in the final push, a young Seneca athlete and backup quarterback, Maddox Isaac, stepped up and answered the call! He threw the winning pass with thirteen seconds left on the clock, for a 14-13 win. Maddox, a ninth grade freshman, had to fill in for Hayden Hoag, who had gone down with a knee injury. In their next game, against Allegany-Limestone, Maddox was able to read the field, found open receivers and threw three touchdown passes for 201 yards. Way to step up Maddox – great athletic ability! It’s always exciting to see our own rise to the top.
I’d also like to send out a big congratulations to the Marksmen for their win in the 2021 Interstate Box Lacrosse Association National Championship, held in Lakeland, Florida. They had an undefeated season and went on to win the championship, with the “cream of the crop” playing together. It’s always so good to hear about our Seneca lacrosse champs!
As anticipated, the FY 2022 Budget was approved at the September 18th, Council Meeting, in Allegany. We have a roster of employees from various departments whom will be recalled to begin working, effective October 4th, 2021. In addition to approving the budget, Council approved resolutions which created charters to change Seneca Gaming & Entertainment and our Seneca One Stops from nation departments to limited liability corporations (LLC). Our Fiscal Department has been assisting the finance team at the Seneca Nation Housing Authority transition into a department of the nation, effective October 1st, 2021. These are some of the major projects which our Fiscal staff has been busy with, the past several months. Couple those with pushing out additional member benefits from federal ARPA funds and several other demanding projects. I’d like once again commend all of our Fiscal staff for continually performing their duties with accuracy, integrity, and timeliness. Keep up the great work!
Our communities continue to have an increase in cases of COVID-19. I can’t stress it enough how important it is that we remain vigilant and keep our guard up. Please, if you are presently not vaccinated, consider getting your COVID-19 immunization shot(s) as soon as humanly possible.
Respectfully,
Rickey L. Armstrong, Sr.
