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“Without a doubt it will be an unforgettable day for our cities; a day where a goal that was craved for by previous boards of directors was achieved,” the president of Beti Aurrera Aberri Etxea, Maria del Carmen Elzaurdia said in her address.  The ceremony included a ribbon cutting followed by a meal that was attended by nearly 100 people. 

Viedma, Argentina. As programmed, the Beti Aurrera Aberri Etxea Basque club that unites the Basque communities in Viedma and Carmen de Patagones, inaugurated its new clubhouse with a week end plenty of activities.  The program began on Friday, March 27 with a meeting with the Delegate of Euskadi Sara Pagola and the Mayor of Viedma, Jose Luis Foulkes, with a subsequent meeting at the Legislature of the Province of Rio Negro.

The main event, nevertheless, took place on Saturday the 28, at 10:30am, when the ceremony in front of the clubhouse took place on Alberdi Street 169 in Viedma. After the blessing by Fr. Luis, the Argentine and Basque national anthems were sung, with dantzari Josetxo Astolfi dancing an Aurresku for those present, including national and provincial authorities as well as the two cities united at the club.

The president, Maria del Carmen Elzaurdia, said a few words, remarking on the perseverance and continuity of the various boards of directors that has managed the club through the years, even without a clubhouse, "and they didn’t stop supporting activities and working to find a place."  She also referred to a publication in 1954 that talked about a Basque club that time in Viedma and Patagones, called the Aberri Etxea that then celebrated a Basque week. Today's Basque Club took over that same aim and a strong Basque commitment when it was founded 18 years ago, in 1997.

She also thanked the Basque Government for its economic help with the project as well as the Argentine Ministry of Social Development. Of course she also addressed the members of the club and thanked them for their commitment to the project and for carrying it forward.

After the emotional speech, Maria del Carmen Elzaurdia proceeded to cut the ribbons, accompanied by club member and pillar of the entity, Jorge Perez Cabral.  Once everyone was inside the beautiful installations, a meal was served to one hundred people.  During the reception the club’s president and the Delegate, Sara Pagola, read a scroll with the names of the founding club members and they exchanged gifts.

The Basque club also received the book Patagones: The Construction of a Multi-Ethnic Social Space in the 19^th Century by historian Jorge Irusta, and a ikurriña (Basque flag) from Coty Irastorza, representing the Argentinean branch of PNV.

The events concluded on Sunday with a Catholic mass for the deceased and founding members.  During mass flag bearers from both Argentina and Euskadi flanked the altar.