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Notary, Luis Zaldua, was again designated as the president of the Saltoko Euskaldunen Taldea Basque Club in Salto, Uruguay, a position that he also held in 2003-2004.  The new board of directors is also comprised of Hugo Llona, vicepresident; secretary, Ana María Zaldua; pro-secretary, Analí Moreale Olaizola; treasurer, Fernando Urroz; pro-treasurer, María Inés Bentancor; and director, María Noel Arrúa. Articles published in the daily Pueblo de Salto last Friday.

Salto, Uruguay.   Luis Zaldua has vast experience in the institution since its foundation.  He was one of the pioneers in the founding of Saltoko, along with his brothers and several friends.  “We began to meet in our office with my brothers and a group of friends and that is how we decided to gather Basque descendants in the area, around 1992,” he recalls.

The club was established on Amorin 258; and day after day they invited people and continued to do so until their assemblies surpassed their original expectations.  Other founders include Adela Soto de Beriau, and current vice-president, Hugo Llona.

Very enthusiastically, they established the club on December 3, 1992 at the Ateneo in Salto, when they also signed the club’s statutes.  The first person to serve as the club’s president was Hugo Zaldua, who was later elected two or three more times.

“Until last year, we had an excellent president in Adela Soto who maintained fluid communication,” Zaldua explains.  She worked hard to revitalize the club, that like all institutions over time had had experienced some complicated moments.”

Proposals for 2016

This year several proposals have been coordinated, maintaining the first priority of Basque classes taught by Leonat Egiazabal, from the University of the Republic.  It is an open course and free of charge, and so anyone interested is invited to join them.  "Also young people who would like to learn an ancient language whose origin is unknown, that has been maintained in the Pyrenees, where the Basque Country is."

They will also continue their Ceremony and Protocol course by Susana Tafernaberry.  They also hope to teach a course on landscaping by Jorge Da Costa Leites.  And they also will revive the dance group and continue holding tabernas where Basque food is featured, aldo wine tastings and pintxo contests.  “We think that's is a very good chance to gather members and guests,” added the club’s president.  As part of the agenda there will also be an English for traveling course by Alicia Rognoni, and a painting workshop by Angela Juanena.

They will also continue their Urubarri Project that includes the historical rescue of the Pascual Harriague Bodega, work of pioneering Basques.  This project is moving forward through the University of the Basque Country and the UNESCO Chair with the local Department of Culture with Jorge de Souza.  “We intend to make it a cultural space; the bodega will soon be declared as a historical monument and this makes everyone in Salto proud.”

The publication of a work on the Basque memory in Salto is also underway.  The book includes more than 30 interviews of Basque descendants in the Department and city of Salto.

 (Original published in the Diario El Pueblo)