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The New England Basque Club, home of many Basque rural-sport athletes, celebrated, on Saturday, its annual picnic. More than a hundred friends gathered at former Jai Alai player and current rural-sport amateur athlete Riki Lasa’s farm, in Suffield, Connecticut. “It was amazing,” told Lasa EuskalKultura.com. “What a show! We were seven wood-choppers, people also participated in the txingaruten (weight carrying)… Everything was perfect!”

Suffield, CT. Perfection showed in different forms−among others, the weather: “In the last two years we’ve had some rain but, on Saturday, the weather was perfect, no rain, not too hot, not too cold…” Also, the fact that Mike Sullivan aka Sully, the wood-chopping world champ, was there, added to that feeling of great feast. “He’s a friend of mine,” said Lasa. “He won the competition, but not by much,” quipped he.

Among Lasa and Sully, two other American aizkolaris participated in the New England Basque Club's annual picnic (Nick and Eric) and three other Basque-Americans: Riki’s son Kody Lasa, Francisco Gandiaga, and Jose Mari Aramendi. All in all, they cut 13 logs in half an hour, more or less.

Besides seeing the wood-choppers, attendants also played sokatira, or tug of war, and txingaruten, or weight carrying, and enjoyed a harri jasotze, or weight lifting, exhibition too, by some of the rural-sports players. “We don’t use real stones –admitted Lasa−, we use wood. And they don’t weight 200 kilos, they weight around 70, but we make them look like stone and write 200 kilos because it looks so good in the pictures,” said laughing, as 70 kilos (154 lb) wouldn't be already a tough task.

Friends from Iceland

Gandiaga delighted the crowd with a barbecued roasted pig and some chicken (following Biscayan txitxiburduntzi style) that, among the rest, also two visitors from Iceland enjoyed, to wit, Gustaff Bidarsson and Orri Finnebogasson. “I fell in love with Iceland and I go there every year. I met them by chance, and now they’re learning with hot to cut the wood, for the competition,” Riki Lasa said.

As a matter of fact, on July 4, Riki and his other son Nico, will travel to Reykjavik, the capital city of the northern country, to compete against them, in the “first ever Basque-Icelandic wood-chopping championship,” as put by the aizkolari. But, as he later added, “their level is not hight yet so we might simply do an exhibition.”

An invitation to other clubs

The New England Basque Club is one of the few Euskal Etxeas in North America where herri kirolak are very present. That is why, with the aid of NABO, some of its members are visiting other clubs and locations for rural-sport exhibits. Los Banos, California and Saint Pierre and Miquelon are two places they have recently visited. “I love going places to show our culture,” says Lasa.

Things being so, if you are interested in having them at your club don’t hesitate to contact NABO or the New England Basque Club. As for now, their next stop will be Bakersfield, California, on May 24. Riki Lasa and Francisco Gandiaga will be there.