Basque Center News
Legacy Award Winners
The May Monthly Dinner, hosted by Team USA (the Urresti, Sabala, & Arnold families), was held on Saturday, May 15. During this dinner, in addition to honoring our Amas and Amumas, three members received the annual Euzkaldunak Legacy Award. The Legacy Award is bestowed to members whose contributions have promoted and preserved the Basque Center. The 2010 Legacy Award winners are: Flora Aldazabal, Domingo Arrizabalaga, and Bryan Day.
Flora Aldazabal
Flora Aldazabal has served the Euzkaldunak membership since 1983 when she was hired as a cook and bartender. She retired from the Basque Center kitchen in 2004, but she continues to bartend two days a week – a job she loves.
No one can think of Flora without sensing the basic concept of her being a really hard worker. She established herself as an amazing cook at the Basque Center, preparing the monthly dinners and catering many special events. Lucky was the bride and groom for whom Flora prepared the wedding dinner. She continued to take on the harder specialties of tripakis and morzillak – food items that many people did not enjoy outside of the Basque Center. (And no one makes better fried cod and special tartar sauce than Flora!) Ironically, Flora never really enjoyed cooking - but as with many events in life, she did what needed to be done.
Among the factors that make Flora the person she is today is the circumstance of her birth. Florentina Churruca was born in Ondarroa in 1934, the oldest of ten children. When she was ten years old, she left home to work in a nearby baserri. She met Juan Aldazabal, who was eventually sponsored by one of Flora’s uncles to work in the States. Flora arrived in the States in 1961, and she and Juan were married in 1962. In 1964, they bought the Star Hotel in Elko. They operated the restaurant and hotel until Juan’s poor health prohibited his working any longer. They sold the business in 1978. In 1983, the family of Flora and Juan and their two children, Iciar and Albert, moved to Boise. Flora began working at the Basque Center that year and has been an important part of the Euzkaldunak ever since.
Flora is the mother and mother-in-law of Iciar Aldazabal and George Totorica and Albert and Gina Aldazabal and the amuma to her five grandchildren: Mikel, Jon, Tomas, Christina, and Ana. She also has served as mother and grandmother and mentor to many young people and visitors from the Basque Country. Flora married Emeterio Ysursa in 1988. Emeterio deserves our thanks as he was so much help to Flora in the Basque Center kitchen for many years.
Flora is a person who always rises to the occasion to do whatever needs to be done at a particular time. At age 30, she learned to drive. At age 40, she learned to swim. She is to be admired for her courage, her willingness to learn and perseverance. Thank you Flora for 27 years of loyal service to the Basque Center. Congratulations! Zorionak!
Domingo Arrizabalaga
Domingo was elected to the Board of Directors of Euzkaldunak, and served as President in 1966. His years of dedication to Euzkaldunak Inc., its activities and its members were unselfish, caring and always giving. Those were the years when the fledging Center could not afford to hire outside help, never contracted to non-members, (never even contracted). People like Domingo volunteered their weekends and after work hours to go down to clean, sweep and polish the wood floors of the dancehall, paint, do electrical wiring, cleaning the kitchen and bar, carpets, furniture, windows, and sidewalks. He did it all. We think his name should be in the history books and in our own history for everything he did for us and your generation.
Domingo was experienced with carpentry, plumbing, and electrical issues and was reliable. He was willing to tackle all jobs, even those requiring painstaking hours of trial and error. His perfect knowledge of English assisted him to request building permits and remodeling permits throughout the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. He spent many hours filling out paperwork and at Boise City Hall working with inspectors and preparing improvements for the Basque Center building we have today.
In the early years of Euzkaldunak, the main fundraiser was selling beer and popcorn at professional boxing matches sponsored by Euzkaldunak and held at the old Fairgrounds on Fairview Avenue. Domingo worked endlessly and volunteered for years to raise money for the beginning years of this organization. He was an organizer with John Bastida for the sports competitions and served as scorekeeper for probak and pelota competitions and later for mus tournaments as well.
Throughout the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s, Domingo and his wife, Ruth, volunteered for hours and hours at Basque Center dinners, cooking and selling chorizos at dances, and gathering donated prizes year after year for the Bingo games at the annual Holiday Bazaar and Mortzilla Dinner. But his main contribution was that of a resourceful handyman, willing to take on any need.
Born in 1919 in Mountain Home, Idaho, to Eduardo Arrizabalaga and Julia Arrillaga, Domingo finished his early education in Boise before his father sent him and his brother to Gernika, Bizkaia to live and finish their high school education. It was 1937, and on April 26, Gernika was bombed during the Spanish Civil War. Domingo and his brother were in danger of being conscripted into the Spanish Nationalist Army by the Franco forces, so they ran. They spent two weeks in hiding, living in ditches, and were weak from starvation. Because they were both United States citizens, Idaho Senator William Borah turned to Congressional action and involved himself in securing their release and departure from Spain and safe return to Idaho.
Domingo joined the Civilian Conservation Corps after returning to Idaho and worked with many other Depression-era young men in the forests of Idaho, clearing trails, building bridges, creating hiking paths, etc. He also served in the US Army in Burma (Myanmar) as a Flying Tiger. He returned home and began a long career in the construction trades. He had some hobbies which had applications at the Basque Center. Jewelry box construction and Meridian Speedway were some of his passions. This background gave him a working knowledge and specialist’s knowledge and experience for many, many hours spent helping build the new Basque Center in 1949, and then in decades of volunteering with remodeling jobs and clean-up crews at the Euzkaldunak, bar, cardroom and dancehall. He and wife, Ruth had three children: Mary, Ed, and Carol.
Thank you Domingo! Zorionak!
Bryan Day
Bryan Day and his wife, Marie, have been members of Euzkaldunak for many years and have contributed countless times for many events and fundraisers held at the Basque Center. You can always count on Bryan helping out in planting leeks at Benito Goitiandia’s home and at the Basque Center making morzillas.
Bryan has served on the Euzkaldunak board of directors for numerous years beginning in the mid 90s and he was elected President of Euzkaldunak Board of Directors four times (1999, 2000, 2003, and 2004.
Bryan was instrumental in investigating and detailing the condition of the Basque Center roof for many years and recommending repairs to avoid costly repairs and extend the life of the roof. He obtained the approval of the Euzkaldunak members to establish a roof reserve fund from fees collected in the members’ annual fee to replace the roof after its usefulness.
Bryan was also instrumental in the initial organization and construction of the personalized Basque family bricks in front of the hall on Sixth Street as well as the redesign of the handicap stairs and entrance to the main hall.
Finally, Bryan has been the Basque Center’s “professional” photographer for many years. He has taken countless pictures of events and functions of the Center without any compensation. He has not charged anyone for his time or expense to develop and print the pictures. Those pictures have been available to all members who wish to have one. Without Bryan, we would not have some annual events to share with our families outside of Boise.
Zorionak Bryan! Thank you! |
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