Upcoming Events + SEE Spring Dinner Recap.

Apr 16, 2010 by

Egun On and Happy Friday,

I wanted to take this opportunity to highlight SEE’s recent Spring Dinner and make you all aware of upcoming events next week (Aita Tillous Memorail Mass Viewing April 24th), in May (Mus) and in June (Dance).

UPCOMING EVENTS

AITA TILLOUS MEMORIAL MASS VIEWING-APRIL 24th, 3PM-?, $-DONATIONS APPRECIATED
It has been just over a year since the passing of Aita Tillous the Basque priest that  served the US Basque communities from 1994 until his cancer prevented him from doing so. In order to honor his memory  SEE members Toni Sabarots Etulain and Jon Etulain will be hosting a viewing of the Aita Tillous Memorial Mass, Saturday April 24th @ 3:00pm. More details to come.  Please e-mail Toni to RSVP and with questions: asabarots@seanet.com

MUS IN MAY-$20, 3-4 meetings, TBD
Ever wanted to learn how to play mus? Know how to play but were never comfortable enough to play in a tournament? Want to get some practice throughout the year? Willing to teach what you know? If you answered ‘yes’ to any of these questions then Mus in May is for you!

The intent of Mus in May is to teach mus, so that more players will continue to play in our semi-annual tournaments and so we can increase the level of play coming out Washington. Although played by many Spaniards and latinos, mus is uniquely Basque and it is a complex game in the style of poker, but with more betting rounds for various “hands”. Played in pairs it is ubiquitous with almost any Basque gathering, next to bread and wine. Mus in May will include becoming familiar with the traditional card set, mus vernacular from the various Basque regions as well as Spanish, how to count points and basic strategy. A mus “cheat sheet” will be provided.

If you’d like to take part in Mus in May please e-mail me, Joe, at president@seattleeuskal.org and let me know your availability in May. I will attempt to put together 3 or 4 meeting times that will accommodate the most people. All proceeds will be used to support continued mus activities such as annual travel to the NABO mus tournament. Mus decks for purchase will be available to players at cost.

JOTAS IN JUNIO-$20 3-4 meetings, TBD
Ever want to learn a Basque dance? Know how to dance but its been years and you think you might roll an ankle? Willing to teach what you know? Now is your chance! If you answered ‘yes’ to any of these questions then Jotas in Junio is for you.

The intent of Jotas in Junio is to teach everyone a basic jota (fandango) and as time permits a basic porruslada (arin arin). Traditionally danced in pairs or groups these two dances are the most popular and can get you through just about any Basque festival, street dance or informal Basque affair where music and wine are present.

If you’d like to take part in Jotas in Junio please e-mail me, Joe, at president@seattleeuskal.org and let me know your availability in June. I will attempt to put together 3 or 4 meeting times that will accommodate the most people. All proceeds will be used to support continued dance activities.

PAST EVENTS

SPRING DINNER
Mil esker to everyone who helped to make the Spring Dinner a success. This includes everyone who helped set-up, clean-up (taking trash home in some cases :) and all who attended. Your continued support makes SEE and events like the Spring Dinner possible. The SEE Board would especially like to thank Nora Leech for her gracious hosting of the event, Conchita Michelena for her culinary delights which continue to grace our events, Brandi Peetsch and Jennifer “Mackie” MacDougal for tireless kitchen support, Mary Guerricabeitia Murelaga for helping fill the house with Basque music and a few “gringo” tunes and Lindsey Boldrin for acting as an unofficial child wrangler for all of the little kids. Thank yous also go out to everyone who brought a side dish to share. Lastly, a big eskerrik asko to all members of the Board who worked before, during and after the event to make sure that everything went smoothly. I look forward to continue to work with you all in 2010.

MUS TXAPELDUNAK
The turnout for mus was exceptional this year! Fortunately we were able to use an extra room at PRAG house to accommodate all of the players. After several hours of play Jose Mari Guerricabeitia and Fidel Michelena were crowned the 2010 Mus Txapeldunak. Zorionak to them both as this is their 2nd year in a row as champions! We wish them luck at the NABO national mus tournament, June 12th in Winnemucca, NV.

BYLAW REVISION
In conjunction with the Spring Dinner SEE was able to update our bylaws to better reflect the historic practices of the club and remove prescriptions that were in place that only made it more difficult for the SEE Board to be successful. Thank you for the great turn out! Without a quorum of voters this would not have been possible. Shortly, we will be adding a page to the SEE website which will list the current bylaws.

ELECTIONS
SEE elections were held at the Spring Dinner and the work of the Board was reaffirmed as all prior members were re-elected with one positional shift. Danielle Bock-Grande, who has served successfully as President for the past several years is now Vice President, and I, Joe M. Guerricabeitia, am President. A big thank you to Danielle for her tenure as President. I look forward to continue working with her and the other members of the Board to promote the Basque culture in the Washington state.

Hope to see many of you soon for Mass, mus or dance!

Ondo segui!

Joe

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Aita Tillous memorial Mass viewing April 24th @ 3:00 PM

Apr 14, 2010 by

It has been just over a year since the passing of Aita Tillous the Basque priest that  served the US Basque communities from 1994 until his cancer prevented him from doing so. In order to honor his memory  SEE members Toni Sabarots Etulain and Jon Etulain will be hosting a viewing of the Aita Tillous Memorial Mass, Saturday April 24th @ 3:00pm. More details to come.  Please contact Toni with questions: asabarots@seanet.com

Born Martxel Tillous in  Eskiula, Xiberoa, Aita Tillous . Following his calling Aita entered the priesthood and began work as a missionary for 26 years in Africa .  Returning to Europe he served four years as the Basque chaplain for the Basque community of Paris from where he came to the United States.

Aita Martxel was the last in a line of earlier Basque chaplains. His ministry as chaplain to the Basques of the United States had him criss-crossing the country averaging 60,000 miles a year!  He usually spent 200 nights a year sleeping in his van—with the license plate “Pottoka”—as he traveled from his base in San Francisco, California to the scattered Basque communities of eleven states of the American West.  All of this to serve the spiritual needs of Basque-Americans—from celebrating Mass in the Basque language to baptizing, marrying Basque couples and consoling us at funerals.

Adapted from:   www.nabasque.org/NABO/tillous.htm     Aita Tillous (1934-2009)

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Board Meeting Notes – April 13, 2010

Apr 13, 2010 by

 

Seattle Euskal Etxea

April 13, 2010 Board Meeting

 

Attendees

Joe Guerricabeitia – President

Danielle Bock-Grande – Vice President

Amaya Michelena – Secretary

Marilou Michelena – Director

  

                     Agenda                  

Subject Notes
Finances  
Spring Dinner After Action Review What went rightPlenty of food, probably too much – we had one extra pan of rabbit leftover.  Just enough chorizo. Plenty of help in the kitchen.  The food layout was good and the drink area was well stocked and in a good location.  The food was well stocked.  The extra room was a huge great for mus.  Great turnout for mus.   Lindsey was wonderful watching the kids. Just about everyone took home a bag of trash which was very helpful.  Lots of trash cans available.   Good set up and cleanup crew.   Improve for next yearMus ran long; dinner was delayed due to mus and bylaws /election discussion.  So maybe next year we advertize for 12:30 and plan on it starting it at 1 or 1:30.  Didn’t bring towels or tortilla pan, not enough cutting boards or knives.  Raffle tickets were lost so we opted not to do the raffle this year and we lost out on an opportunity to make a little more money.  We should try to have the set up crew get there about 1 to 1 ½ hours prior to registration to get the mus, dining and drink areas set up before guests arrive.  Bring more coolers for food that doesn’t fit in fridge during the day.  Have a couple of snacks for mus players but stop feeding them about 3-4 hours before dinner.  
$100cash was left on entrance table, we believe this was Christina M’s and will return to her.   

As of 4/19 thank you notes have been sent to all parties
Basque Grant Marilou and Amaya volunteered to form a committee to draft the Basque Government grant request.  Joe will translate the final version to Spanish.  As of the meeting the requirements have not been posted to the NABO site but in the interest of staying ahead of the game, the committee will meet on 4/20 to make a pass based on last year’s requirements. Joe will reach out to Gaizka to ask him to gather any information the committee might need.  Joe will send over the 2009 English version
Mus in May Joe will organize 3-4 weeks of mus lesions and tournament in May.     Proceeds would go toward the cost of travel to the national tournament in Winnemucca.Joe will speak with Gaizka to see when they can both be available.  Joe will send an email out to members when they settle on dates $20 per person, decks of cards will be available for purchase.  
Mus National Tournament – June 12 Joe will get a cost estimate together for Fidel Michelena to fly to Boise and drive with Jose Marie Guerricabeitia to Winnemucca.  Fidel can stay with the Guerricabeitia’s in Boise but SEE will need to cover the cost of hotel in Winnemucca.
Dance We will target the beginning of June for dance lessons.  Jean Escoz expressed an interest in teaching and Joe is able to teach the jota and porruslada.  Danielle will reach out to her sister to see if she can teach a dance as well. Depending on the level of interest we can hold lessons at member’s houses or look into renting a low cost venue.  Amaya will contact her dance instructor friend and Marilou will look into using space at UW.
Membership list update The membership list and contact information need to be updated with info from the Spring Dinner and the calling effort.  Submit your updated call list to Gaizka. 
Jaialdi Joe and Danielle (if Carlos’ schedule permits) can attend the NABO meeting.  If Danielle is unable to go, Amaya will fill in.  FYI- Tickets are going fast for Friday night events.
Newsletter – targeting June mailing Submit topics to Joe.  Danielle can write article about Txori closing.  Amaya can submit an adapted recipe.  Joe will submit article on freed Basque newsmen,  Spring Dinner, Mus tournament. Joe to email Toni for Aita Toulous stuff 
Other Business Write in nominations – Jean, Katherine and Christina all had write in nominations for director positions.  Amaya will email the three to see if they want to join the board.Non-profit status- Danielle to look into next non-profit workshopDanielle’s birthday party is May 22, Amaya’s  birthday party is May 7
Next Meeting Tuesday, May 4,  6:00 location TBD (if the grant is done we will celebrate at a bar) if not we can have it at Amaya’s
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