By Sean Bunce. The Hoshaws are big Basque family from Homedale that enjoys interacting with each other, good food and a little social drinking, Chris joked. So it’s no surprise that nearly 20 members of the Hoshaw family was on hand for the dinner Saturday night for some authentic Basque cooking, including tri-tip beef and cod. It was also an opportunity for Chris to support his niece, who for the first time participated in the Basque dance group this year.
“This dinner is great. It brings all the different farm communities together,” Hoshaw said. “A lot of us are only a few generations removed from those who came from Spain, so it’s nice to continue these traditions.”
Saturday marked 49-straight years that the dance and dinner have taken place.
The event is used to raise money through a series of auctions that typically provides the charity with more than $25,000. The proceeds from the dinner go toward helping Canyon County residents during the year in various ways, from providing eye glasses and coats to school kids in the area to the annual December meat drive, which provides more than 9,000 pounds of pork and chicken to families during the holidays.
The event also featured live bands playing traditional Basque music throughout the night and dancers performed in front of the crowd.
As part of the Basque tradition, various games were available for those in attendance to play, such as Txingas, which requires participants to lug around 105-pound weights as long as they can. The College of Idaho soccer team also showed up, challenging the Middleton High School wrestling team to a tug of war contest.
“We’re a really A-type, competitive culture, so we like to challenge each other to strong man competitions,” said Gina Dowen, secretary for the organization.
More than 500 people attended the dinner, filling over 100 tables at the Caldwell Event Center.
“Being right after Christmas, it’s kind of tough for people to continue to donate,” Dowen said. “Many of the people we see here have attended for years, but a lot of times we’ll see people who have received donations in the past come back and become donors themselves.”
The Basque Charity Group has just 23 volunteers, but Dowen said many in the organization are second or third-generation members.
“We believe in this organization and giving to the members of the community,” Dowen said. “And we all just want to to see it continue.”
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