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We have received various news from the Euskel Biotza Basque Club in Roldan, in the Argentine province of Santa Fe, including that it will hold its General Assembly to elect its board next Saturday.  After this, the club will continue with “Basques Door to Door,” a project that didn’t just allow the creation of an especially large dance group, but also a group of Basque students that gathers both online and face to face.

Roldan, Argentina.   The Roldan Basque Club in the province of Santa Fe hasn’t just established itself, but it has grown from year to year.  This is evidenced in presentations like that on May 20th at the local Festival of Collectivities, where the club performed with more than 30 dantzaris of all ages (videos, here).  According to Gabriela Menghi, one of the main supporters of the club’s activities, “In regards to dance, we are overwhelmed with emotion by the number of people who have joined.  And since we are so many, we have begun doing small talks before practice that are prepared by the dantzaris themselves, on subjects that they research and are of interest to them regarding Euskal Herria, and that they share with their friends.  To date, we have held two, one about Gernika and the other about mythology.  I’m sure that next Sunday they will surprise us with another interesting topic,” she explains.

With such a positive response to their invitation to form a dance group, the youth in Roldan have also taken on another challenge; to create a group of Basque students.  The project is underway, keeping in mind that at the beginning of the year there were 12 people who started studying online with a course provided by Euskaltzaleak to clubs who don’t have a Basque teacher.  The next step is to begin face to face classes “to alleviate all doubts, review lessons that they have done, as well as provide support,” Menghi said.  These meetings will take place once a month and will begin on June 17th with students in Roldan as well as neighboring areas.

“Door to Door” and Saint Ignatius

The growth of the groups, as well as the Basque club, brings a lot of work with it.  As well as project that youth at Euskel Biotza call “Basques Door to Door,” where club members run the streets of the city looking for Basque descendants and information about their surnames.  This activity has allowed them to create a database of more than 150 surnames.  People that they have visited have also begun to attend club activities.  “This year we are hoping to reach neighboring towns potentially Carcarañá and Funes.  In 2013, for San Ignacio we gathered some 60 people and last year we were 450….this has created quite an expectation for San Ignacio that we will celebrate this year on Sunday, August 20th,” Menghi said.

Following the club’s statutes, the Basque club will also hold its annual General Assembly on Saturday, June 3rd.  The event will begin at 8:30pm.  During which there will be a review of activities and finances from 2016 as well as board elections.  Zorionak eta aurrera, Euskel Biotza!