This Saturday, August 3rd 2024, marks 5 years since the mass shooting at a local Walmart that claimed the lives of 23 victims. Countless more were affected; family, friends, our city, and all those that stood with us. I can personally recount where I was when I got the phone call from my cousin that they had just been made to evacuate Cielo Vista Mall next door.
Everyone processes grief differently. For some people it feels like yesterday, for others they may just want to forget. For those that are interested in participating or knowing about memorial events happening in our community, I have here a list from epstrong.org
- El Paso County and the El Paso United Family Resiliency Center, ("FRC"; a branch of the United Way of El Paso), will have their "Day of Remembrance" event August 3rd at Ascarate Park at 6900 Delta. There will be a sound bath from 8am to 9am at the Healing Garden inside Ascarate with members from the FRC present, and an official ceremony at 6pm with local officials, an unveiling of a mural from 3 local artists, and a reading of the names.
- Various buildings and landmarks will be lit orange in remembrance of the victims on August 3rd, including areas of the El Paso International Airport and the Public Art Sculpture on I-10 and Airway. The community is encouraged to light up their house as well with luminarias or orange bulbs. The Star on the Mountain will flash 23 times August 3rd at 8pm to honor the 23 victims.
- The El Paso Museum of Art and UTEP's Dance and Theatre Department and College of Liberal Arts will have a performance August 2nd at 7pm, August 3rd at 1pm and August 4th at 1pm located at 1 Arts Festival Plaza. Admission is free.
- August 2-4, the El Paso Museum of History will have a digital wall memorial during museum hours, and will also feature recovered objects from the original memorial site in the lobby.
- PBS El Paso will have a segment of their docuseries "Only in El Paso" highlighting the August 3rd Memorial at Jim Crouch Park. This will be available on pbselpaso.com, @pbselpaso on Instagram and Facebook, and on local channel 13 at 7pm on August 2nd
- August 3rd at 12pm, the Judge Marquez Library at 610 N Yarbrough will have a Family Painting Hour focusing on various iconic El Paso Scenes.
For more events and for a list of services being offered to those affected, please go to epstrong.org
#ElPasoStrong