Oharrak-Summer 2009
Posted on July 17th, 2009 by jguerricabeitia
Check out SEE’s Oharrak summer newsletter here.
Archive for July, 2009
Summer Picnic, Saturday, August 8th at Yakima Sportsman State Park
Posted on July 15th, 2009 by jguerricabeitia
Come join us for our annual summer picnic at Yakima Sportsman State Park on August 8th. Picnic starts at noon with lamb, chorizo, cheese, bread, wine and non-alcoholic beverages. Please bring a side dish or dessert to share. Mus registration is from noon to 1:00 with the tournament starting at 1:00. It is our special honor to have Marilou Guerricabeitia from Boise to play traditional Basque music.
BBQ at 12:00 noon, $20 members, $25 non-members, $40 member family, $50 non-member family
Mus registration 12:00 – 1:00, play starts at 1:00. $10 per person
Park address:
904 University Parkway
Yakima, WA 98901
From I-82:
Take exit #34. Travel east approximately one mile to Keys Rd. (first road after crossing). Turn left, and go approximately one mile to park entrance. Turn left into park.
Questions or to RSVP, call Amaya at 321-662-8049
Map of Yakima Sportsmans Park
NABO Mus Tournament-Winnemucca Women Win!
Posted on July 13th, 2009 by jguerricabeitia
This past Saturday 41 teams of two squared off in Chino, CA for the annual NABO mus tournament. Representing SEE were Jose Maria Guerricabeitia of Boise, ID and me, Joe M. Guerricabeitia of Seattle, filling in for Fidel Michelena of Port Angeles, who with my father won the Spring tournament in April of this year.
Each team played 9 other teams in their randomized bracket for a best of three series. Mus play started at 8:30am and broke for lunch at 12:00pm. After a rocky start with a two match loss, SEE was 2:2 at lunch. Following the wonderful meal of chuleta, chorizo, morcilla, tortilla, ogia and ardaua (can you have a Basque meal without wine and bread?!?) SEE continued winning with a 3 match streak and were leading the bracket with a record of 5:2. Ultimately SEE’s team ended with a 5:4 winning record in a 3 way tie below the winners of the bracket. Not bad considering that I haven’t played a single hand of mus in 2009 and haven’t played with my father in even more time!
All of the mus players were very friendly. Sadly many were not aware Seattle or WA even had a club, a fact we hope to change by holding the 1st WA based NABO meeting this October and by continuing to attend events like the annual mus tournament where club members, not just board members, meet face-to-face.
At 7:30pm the national mus champions were announced. Two women from Winnemucca carried the title and will be representing NABO in the international tournament which will be held this Fall in Bizkaia Spain. Second place went to Jean Flesher (the lead of the band entertaining the evening at 9pm) and his partner of Salt Lake City. I am unsure who 3rd place went to. Fourth place was held by Jose Maria Artiach and Xanti Alcelay of Boise, ID.
When the results are published by NABO I will post the final standings. Zorionak to the team from Winnemucca. Not only is this the 1st female team to win a NABO tournament, but I think this gives pause to all of us to realize our Basque women can bluff and bs just as well as the men 
SEE Web Page Update!
Posted on July 13th, 2009 by jguerricabeitia
The SEE web page has recently undergone some revisions, primarily adding more features to help members better access information on our website. Here is a quick summary:
Under the heading “Pages”
Event Calendar-Now the 1st permanent link on the left-hand side of the main web page links to our *new* Event Calendar. Here we will post all of the SEE events and any Basque events we know about in our general vicinity that SEE members might want to participate in. If you have events that you would like added to the SEE calendar e-mail any of the board members and we can post them on the site.
Under the heading “Post Categories”
Meetings-Going forward SEE will be publishing the meeting notes in this section so members can stay informed about what items the board is working on.
Newsletter- A new category for newsletters that should make searching them easier as well.
Under-
Post Calendar-This shows which days during the current month new posts were published on. Also by clicking the days posts were made (days shown in blue) you can jump directly to the posts.
Archives-SEE web posts are now archived by month so if you have a general idea when an older post was published you should be able to find it quickly!
Admin-The admin area helps the board jump directly to the website features that allow us to post and make web changes.
Last but not least I added a tiny compressed version of the Washington state/ikurrina symbol that Blas Uberuaga created for the club as what is known as a “favicon” or favorite icon. This is now proudly displayed in front of the web address when you access the SEE site and is also shown on the web page tab if you are using tabbed browsing.
~j
San Fermin @ Txori a Success
Posted on July 12th, 2009 by jguerricabeitia
San Fermin’s Running of the Bulls at Txori was a success. At the request of Jim Yragui I supported in singing some of the traditional songs for San Fermin. Without a microphone and over loud talking I don’t think we we’re really heard, but people appeared to be having a good time.
At San Fermin I recognized SEE members (and former board members) Jon Etulain and Tony Sabarots Etulain. We chatted and watched the bull running, appropriately with drinks in hand. Before I departed they wished me luck in the NABO mus tournament, which I was attending later in the week.
I also met Ray Azpiri, a SEE member I previously only knew in name. Ray is originally from Emmett, ID, (near my home town of Boise) but a long time Seattlite (since ’52). For those who don’t know Ray is a big supporter of all things Basque and a successful local entrepreneur.
Lastly I introduced myself to Caroline of Txori who was bustling about working the event. Txori was packed with San Fermin’ers, and the staff did a good job of taking care of everyone. In addition to drinks and food San Fermin shirts were sold to raise money for a local blood bank.
My only complaint was I ordered 2 kalimotxos at Txori and they were not up to par. How one can mix up the the 50-50 ratio of Coke to cheap red wine, sometimes with ice and a garnish of orange or lime, I don’t know…I’ll stick to my home version with a nice Franzia merlot and some Coke. We’ll be sure to have some at the SEE picnic in Yakima, August 8th!