Replica of ‘The Gift’ on Display until Nov. 30
Pala Band of Mission Indians Chairman Robert Smith, Native American U.S. Army Veteran Chris Devers and Sculptor A. Thomas Schomberg, dedicated a half-sized replica of “The Gift” in the Pala Casino Spa & Resort hotel lobby on Friday, September 1, to launch its campaign to help raise funds for the American Indian Alaska Native Veterans Memorial Committee.
Pala Casino Spa & Resort and the Pala Band of Mission Indians have partnered with the AIANVMC to educate the public about the military service of Native Americans to the United States of America and to help support the funding of a national memorial to those veterans. The AIANVMC hopes to raise $3 million to complete the installation of a national memorial to Native American U.S. service veterans at Riverside National Cemetery in Riverside, CA, which is often cited as the Arlington of the West because it is home to the Medal of Honor Memorial, the Veterans Memorial and the Prisoner of War / Missing in Action Memorial.
The replica dedicated in the hotel lobby is an exact copy of the 12-foot, bronze statue that will serve as the centerpiece of the memorial and has been on tour in California’s American Indian owned casinos and resorts since Veterans’ Day, November 11, 2016. The final installation in Riverside National Cemetery will include the monument surrounded by soaring bronze eagles on pedestals placed in a landscaped viewing area.
The monument, created by Schomberg, will be the first national memorial in a national veterans’ cemetery to honor over 200 years of patriotism by America’s original inhabitants.
“The Pala Band of Mission Indians and all our team members at Pala Casino are very proud to play a role in this history-making program. With our reputation for community service we know we can make a significant contribution to this long-awaited honor and recognition for Native Americans,” Chairman Smith said.
Donations to the memorial fund may be made by PayPal at WWW.AIANVETERANSMEMORIAL.COM; by Mail at WWW.AIANVETERANSMEMORIAL.COM; by utilizing the pamphlet tear-out at the display or by GOFUNDME CAMPAIGN: https://www.gofundme.com/national-indian-veterans-memorial
About Pala Casino Spa & Resort
Pala Casino Spa & Resort includes a Las Vegas-style casino with 2,000 slot machines, 80 table games and 15 poker tables; a 507-room hotel; a 10,000-square-foot, full-service spa and salon that features 14 treatment rooms; a state-of-the-art fitness center; swimming pool with 12 private poolside cabanas, and dual-temperature outdoor whirlpool hot tub. Pala also offers 11 restaurants and 40,000 square feet of meeting and convention space. Pala Casino Spa & Resort is an AAA Four-Diamond Award winner for 12 consecutive years. The new Pala RV Resort opened May 23, 2016, and offers 100 parking sites for RVs and trailers from 55 to 70 feet and full-service amenities for RVers. Pala RV Resort is rated a perfect 10/10*/10 by Good Sam, the national RV Resort rating publication. Trailer Life and Motorhome magazines awarded Pala RV Resort its Gold Awards for 2016 as Best RV Resort Casino and Best Campground Resort. Its state-of-the-art Pala Spa was named the number three spa in North America and the number one spa in the State of California and the entire casino industry for 2016. The ranking marked the eleventh consecutive year that Pala Spa has been ranked in the Top 100 and Top 10. Pala Casino Spa & Resort was voted Best Casino in San Diego by the public in the 10News.com annual A-List poll sponsored by KGTV-TV 10 News in San Diego. For more information, visit http://www.palacasino.com.