The sign with the message "Dobrodošli!", Croatian for welcome, is displayed at the entrance to this farm run by the Bezić family, who are entered in the local registry as Besich.
One of the offspring, Alicia Dibra, 70, recently said in an interview with local media that her maternal grandfather had arrived from the island of Šolta after the First World War as a widower.
He arrived in Buenos Aires in 1930 and later moved to Cipolletti where he started growing potatoes. As soon as he managed to earn enough money for voyage fare, he sent it to his two children, a son and a daughter, Alicia's mother.
In the meantime, Alicia's grandfather and his brothers bought an orchard farm near Paso Córdoba and later developed apple growing as their main line of business.
Alicia's father was also a Croatian immigrant, and when he married her mother, the couple worked at the farm.
In her interview, Alicia Dobra noted that the immigrants managed to improve their status in society and climbed to the middle class. Her ancestors often spoke about Croatia and their hometowns, instilling the love of Croatia in their offspring and passing on Croatian tradition and customs.
One of the members of the Bezić (Besich) family admitted that they failed to preserve the Croatian language, but added that the word "dobrodošli" is " a great word meaning "hugging, the family reunion and a lot of love from heart to heart".
"Once a year we hold this reunion and enjoy traditional Croatian dishes while older generations still use the Croatian language and words. The stories told by older members of the family amid the delicacies and under the poplar trees and the autumn sun remain in the heads and memories of the youngest ones," said Dinka Bezić.