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As a way “to pay a very well-deserved tribute to a dear friend of Urrundik,” as part of the club’s 17th anniversary program, and on the 27th anniversary of the radio program “Presencia Vasca,” the Basque club named the main hall of its clubhouse after professor Mikel Ezkerro. The ceremony took the journalist and disseminator of the Basque-Argentine heritage totally by surprise, and included lunch with more than one hundred guests on the occasion of these celebrations. 

Parana, Argentina.   The Urrundik Basque Association and the radio program “Presencia Vasca,” celebrated another anniversary their 17th and 27th respectively with a program of activities that began on Saturday, May 27th in the afternoon with a tribute to Mikel Ezkerro and concluded on Sunday with lunch.

The professor, who traveled from Buenos Aires expressly for the occasion, gathered with the club’s dantzaris after practice, as he always does on his visits to Parana, to visit with them and share views with them.  After the talk, members of the club surprised him in a discreet and heartfelt ceremony where they renamed the main hall of the clubhouse after him, “Mikel Ezkerro.”  In the words of Juan Carlos Borras, club president, “this is a well-deserved honor to a beloved friend of Urrundik, for his tireless work as a sower of Basque culture, and in recognition of the support that he has given us since the beginning of our institution.”

The festivities continued the next day with a birthday lunch.  The meal took place in the party room at the Circulo Hotel in Parana and gathered some 110 people, filling the room to capacity.  After the welcome by Borras, he gave the floor to Ezkerro who highlighted the work by the club’s youth and thanked everyone for the recognition.

Entertainment followed thanks to the txikis and adults dancers, directed by Ignacio Borras. They performed various Basque dances.  There were also Argentine folkloric dances, thanks to the participation of Juan Cabrera and Vanesa Palleiro, music from Argentina and Latin America thanks to the duo comprised of Juan Carlos Borras and Oscar Giles.

Representatives from various local communities accompanied the Basques in their celebration including the Consul of the Republic of Slovenia, Carlos Bizai.  The celebration ran into the afternoon with raffles, dancing and games, as well as with birthday cake and toasts.