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Ander Egiluz Beramendi, USA. Most Americans call the 4^th of July Independence Day but Basque-Americans, on that day, celebrate both the adoption of the Declaration of Independence (on July 4, 1776) and Saint Valentine Berriochoa’s day. The Berriochoa family, from Mountain Home (ID), is related to the Saint: “He was like the fifth cousin of my grandfather,” said Ben by phone, from Spokane (WA), where he currently lives. He travelled to the Basque Country in May and visited Elorrio (St. Valentine Berriotxoa’s hometown, in the Basque Country) to celebrate his daughter Morgan’s graduation.

-Did you celebrate Saint Valentine Berriochoa’s day this year?

-No, I couldn’t, I didn’t have time. But there was an event in Elko (NV) and there will also be a festival in Mountain Home, in August, to celebrate the Saint.

-How did these festivities start?

-Mountain Home is where me and my family grew up and where my grandfather went from Elorrio (Basque Country). He was the only one of his brothers and sisters that celebrated Valentín, he knew all his history, because of his mother.  They started celebrating the Saint two years ago in Elko with the aid of Michelle Alzola (also from Mountain Home but who is currently living in Getxo, Basque Country).

-Why in Elko?

-The only connection with Elko is that their festival falls on the Saint’s Day. That festival started, probably, 35 years ago and in the old days it was the biggest Basque festival in America, what Boise has now become. So I guess that it was natural for Basque-Americans to celebrate Valentín at that festival.

­-Did your family go to Elko two years ago, when it was celebrated for the first time?

Yes, we went there for the first time. It was very nice.

-How is your family related to St. Valentine and how did you figure it out?

-When I went to the Basque Country I was given our family tree and he was like the fifth cousin of my grandfather. My perception is that, even in the Basque Country, Berriochoa is not that common of a name so most probably all the Berriochoas there must be related somehow.

-Are you in contact with other Berriochoas from Elorrio?

-We have been in contact over the years. The closest family to Valentín is the one that represented the Berriochoas in Rome, at the canonization (on June 19, 1988). But they live in Legazpi now, not in Elorrio anymore. I’ve met them on a few occasions, they are an older couple.

-You’ve been to Elorrio recently to celebrate your daughter’s graduation. Are your kids interested in their family’s history?

-I have two daughters and a son and, although we had a lot of fun in the Basque Country, they are not as interested in their roots as I was at their age. That’s probably because I ended up living in Spokane where there is not a Basque community like in Boise. My kids have not been very exposed to the Basque community, nonetheless when they’ve had to do a school project they have often chosen a topic related to the Basque Country.

-What does St. Valentine Berriochoa mean to you, personally?

-My faith has always been important to me, so more than anything else is another reminder of the call of Christ, to do goodwill. As a person, I look at it as a source of pride. It doesn’t make me any better but I feel pride to have a name and an origin. It’s like being Basque.