Mayor of Belen, NM to visit Barstow!

April 7th, 2007 is the "Hispanic Chamber of Commerce 3rd Annual Chili Cookoff". This is also Belen to Barstow Fiesta Days. I have invited Mayor Ronnie Torres to join us and present the City of Belen a proclamation. I am excited to represent Belen, many citizens of this area have relatives and friends in Barstow, says Mayor Torres. Also representimg Belen's delegation will be Lou Zimmerman of the Railroad, Ken Gibson of the Harvey House and Roger Swanson, a local business person. As a descendant of Belen, I am proud to be part of this historical event. Below is the request for the proclamation. City Councilmember Joe Gomez -

Council is being asked to establish a sister-city relationship between the City of Barstow and the City of Belen, New Mexico. Doing this would formalize long-standing relationships between our two cities. In the late 1940s and early 1950s, many families from the Belen area moved to Barstow to work either at the Santa Fe Railway or the Marine Base, and their descendants have made significant contributions to the City of Barstow. In fact, an estimated 60 percent of Barstow’s Hispanic citizens are descendants of persons who moved here from New Mexico. It is proposed that to celebrate the relationship between Barstow and Belen, Barstow honor our shared cultural heritage with an annual New Mexico Chili Cook-Off. The Third Annual New Mexico Chili Cook-Off is scheduled for Saturday, April 7, 2007 from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. at Dana Park. This event is sponsored by the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, which plans in future years to expand it to a three-day, weekend-long event. Mayor Ronnie Torres of Belen, New Mexico, will attend the chili cook-off this year at the head of a delegation of four representatives of Belen. The attached proclamation would establish a sister-city relationship with the City of Belen, New Mexico; would declare April 7, 2007 “Belen Day” in the City of Barstow; and would declare the intention of the Council to celebrate the shared cultural heritage of Barstow and Belen annually with a New Mexico Chili Cook-Off. It would be presented to the Belen, New Mexico delegation at the cook-off.