El Paso County Judge, Ricardo A. Samaniego was very kind to meet us at the County Courthouse.
Before taking public office, Judge Samaniego worked in the private and public sector. Currently, Judge Samaniego owns three Sport Clips franchises in El Paso, with one of his stores being in the top 5% out of 1,700 U.S. and Canadian Sport Clips stores. Besides his experience in business, mental health is a top priority for Judge Samaniego as he was a clinical therapist in El Paso and New Mexico, and served as a liaison between mental health centers, state hospitals and forensic institutions such as Big Spring State Hospital, Rusk Texas State Hospital, and La Tuna New Mexico State Prison. He is an advocate for peace in El Paso, Texas and Ciudad Juárez, Mexico.
News clip of Judge Samaniego meeting with the Peace Run.
Vanessa Tena, Senior Policy Advisor to Judge Samaniego, holding the peace torch. We would like to thank Vanessa for coordinating the route in Downtown El Paso and for her enthusiastic support.
Judge Samaniego spoke to us about the importance of peace in his community and that without peace nothing can be accomplished in life. He was very excited to meet the Peace Run since he is a running enthusiast and couldn’t wait to run a couple of miles with us around downtown in El Paso.
Along the way Judge Samaniego shared the Peace Torch with many people enjoying the beautiful sunny day. They were pleasantly surprised and so happy to offer their own wishes for world peace.
As we ran along in downtown El Paso with the Judge, it was evident that he is well known, respected and loved in his community.
After running with Judge Samaniego for 2 miles he kindly invited us to his office. Salil, Executive Director of the Peace Run, thanked him for his kindness and awarded him with the Peace Run Torch Bearer Award to honor him for his many years of public service to the community. He also spoke about the importance of his ability to offer kindness and concern for his constituents and others that he meets in his very busy role as County Judge.
Harita Davis, USA Coordinator, offered him a beautiful 'Jharna Kala' painting by the Founder of the Peace Run, Sri Chinmoy.
We would like to offer our gratitude to Spectrum News, ABC 7 local News and K Fox News for their support in covering this important event in El Paso.
Mark Dorion, our local coordinator, invited us to cross the border into Mexico for a short visit to the beautiful city of Juarez.
The team crossing the border bridge to Mexico.
Nastya, our Ukranian runner, between Mexico and the US on top of bridge.
Mark took us to visit Museo De La Revolución en la Frontera or Museum of the Border Revolution, which shows the Mexican Revolution from 1910-1920 and how Mexico finally accepted the Rio Grande as its northern border with the US. These two neighboring countries have been at peace with each other ever since.
After visiting the museum we shared the torch with wonderful people in Ciudad Juarez. They were all so happy to hold the torch and make their own wish for world peace. Many of them also wished us well in our journey.
We would like to offer Mark Dorion our deepest gratitude for his tireless work in organizing our events in Texas and Mexico today.
