Early in the morning, before running into Connecticut, all of our team members visited a statue of Sri Chinmoy holding a Peace Torch, Founder of the Peace Run, at Roger Williams Park in Rhode Island.
The Peace Torch is a symbol of the yearning for peace that we wish to share with people all over the world. As we share our torches with the people that we meet we give them the opportunity to express what peace means to them and share ideas of how to manifest peace in their lives and the lives of others.
This young man named, 'Bible', came to greet us and find out what the statue is all about. He has seen this statue many times as he passes through the park on his bicycle and he was happy to meet us to share his ideas about peace.
This Peace Tree was planted as a young sapling by Sri Chinmoy on 27 July, 1982. Just as the tiny tree has grown enormously since it was planted, peace can also grow and spread rapidly to make the world a more beautiful and joyful place to live. The original plaque reads: "May my aspiring and loving heart's gratitude-plant grow upward every day, O my Lord Supreme."
Before leaving Rhode Island for Connecticut we collected a soil sample which will be one of 50 soil samples we have been collecting, one from each of the 50 United States. We will plant a Peace Tree with all the soil samples after our 50-State Peace Run comes to a close in September.
We finally entered our last of the 48 contiguous states as we crossed a Causeway, or land bridge, from Rhode Island.
This Causeway was dedicated to Peace on July 10, 1991 by the Town Council of Exeter, Rhode Island, honoring the Peace and its Founder, Sri Chinmoy, for their ongoing efforts for peace.
Our men's team ran the Peace Torch into the city of Norwich, Connecticut in the morning. Arpan, a native of Connecticut, hands the torch to Bill Champagne, who helped to organize some peace events here in Norwich.
Kari Wall cheerfully shares the Peace Torch, We are grateful to her for organizing the people here to come here to greet us and share their own goodwill and wishes for peace at the Otis Library.
Tim Smith, is one of the original members of the local running club, the Mohegan Striders. He is a veteran marathoner who has run a 2:24 marathon in his youth, and has helped to organize runners and friends to run with us through Norwich for over 20 years. We are very inspired by and grateful for his infectious enthusiasm, dynamism and his support of the Peace Run.
Cheerful friends passing the Peace Torch and offering their smiles and wishes for peace.
The bubble machine added a childlike cheerfulness to our event here as we passed the torch to all the wonderful people at the Otis Library.
Thank you Otis Library and the friendly people of Norwich. It was a great way to be welcomed into Connecticut.
Tim Smith, holding the Peace Torch and official city flag of Norwich, along with two runners from the Mohegan Striders, Paul Andruskiewicz and Troy, ran with Arpan and some of our other runners through Norwich.
Our next stop was at the Norwich Free Academy (NFA) where we were greeted by many local people including Dayne Rugh, Director of the Slater Memorial Museum. Dayne told us some of the important history of the museum which is next to the Academy.
Norwich Free Academy (NFA), was founded in 1854 and in operation since 1856, is a coeducational independent school for students between the 9th and 12th grade. Located in Norwich, Connecticut, the Academy serves as the primary high school for Norwich and the surrounding towns of Canterbury, Bozrah, Voluntown, Sprague, Lisbon, Franklin, Preston, and Brooklyn. It was recognized by the U.S. Department of Education as a National Blue Ribbon School of Excellence in 2001.
After introducing our team at this beautiful museum and school which offers over 35 different languages, we offered our Certificates of Appreciation to some of the runners and their families. We are grateful to Dr. Nathan Quesnell, (right), who is the head of the NFA who so kindly helped to organize this warm welcome to the Academy.
We were then led by some of the NFA student running team around the track behind the Academy.
The Director of the high school marching band cheerfully and enthusiastically greeted us along with many of the student band members who were have a practice on the field as well.
The Peace Torch was passed around to all of the students who kindly offered their goodwill and wishes for peace as well.
Tim Smith then led us through town to send us off to our next destinations in Connecticut.
Along the way we stopped by one of the historical monuments dedicated to some of the local Native American tribes who resided here centuries ago.
The women's team started running a section of Connecticut towards our next destination, the City of New Haven. Violeta is enjoying her run through Connecticut, our last stated before reaching New York once again.
Along the way, as usual, we meet many local people who cheerfully want to share the torch and offer their wishes and prayers for peace.
Anita, from Croatia, cheerfully carries torch through a local town.
Harita, our team captain, has been running everyday since the beginning of our journey in April.
Wonderful people even stop their cars to see what we are doing and to hold the torch for peace.
Gints, from Latvia carries the torch in another section of our route to New Haven.
Sarankhuu from Mongolia is enjoying his run in this beautiful state as well.
Salil, Executive Director of the Peace Run, has been cheerfully running with the team here in the U.S. since day one.
We finally reached New Haven. New Haven is a coastal city on Long Island Sound, in Connecticut. It’s home to the Ivy League Yale University, founded in 1701. New Haven was one of the first planned cities in the U.S.[5][6][7] A year after its founding by English Puritans in 1638, eight streets were laid out in a three-by-three grid, creating the "Nine Square Plan".[8] The central common block is the New Haven Green, a 16-acre (6 ha) square at the center of Downtown New Haven. The Green is now a National Historic Landmark, and the "Nine Square Plan" is recognized by the American Planning Association as a National Planning Landmark.[9][10
We ran to the Boys and Girls Club of New Haven where we were warmly greeted by the students and staff members.
We introduced our team by having the children guess our countries after giving them clues.
The children take part in our Peace Run songs with actions and singing.
The Mayor of New Haven, Justin Elicker, kindly came to greet us and take part in our ceremony with the children. He was first elected in January 2020, and has served as mayor for the last six years. He was most recently re-elected to a fourth two-year term in 2025 with over 84 percent of the vote in the general election.
Mayor Elicker addressed the children with such sweetness and natural enthusiasm.
He even took part in our guessing game with the children, showing them where New Haven is on the map.
Arpan, a native of New Haven, shares the Peace Torch with Mayor Elicker after offering him our Peace Run Torch-Bearer Award. This Award is presented to people from many walks of life who have helped to spread peace in the world by serving their communities tirelessly and selflessly. Since the Covid pandemic in 2020 Mayor Elicker has created programs to help improve the conditions of the city of New Haven and to help build a more prosperous and peaceful community here.
We are so grateful to Mayor Elicker for his cheerful oneness with the Peace Run and with the constituents with the City of New Haven.
Tameika Miller, the CEO of three of the Boys and Girls Clubs in the New Haven area, cheerfully receives our Certificate of Appreciation and a colorful peace painting by Sri Chinmoy, Founder of the Peace Run. We are very grateful to her for coming here to join us and offer her smiles and support of our peace endeavors here in New Haven.
The children then get a chance to pass the Peace Torch as they help to spread peace, one person at a time.
We were happy to see our good friend Jim Bamber who came here from a nearby town in southern Connecticut where he lives. Many years ago Jim ran with our team through a section of the U.S. and was cheerfully waiting for us to come to New Haven to share the Peace Torch once again.
The children proudly hold their artwork on the theme of peace and photos they had printed out from a previous Peace Run event here two years ago.
Many of the children were happy to read from our Peace Run cards and brochures.
The final and most fun part for the children was running around the gymnasium on the 'peace train' as they passed under the 'peace bridges' along the way.
We are very grateful to the children and staff at the Boys and Girls Club in New Haven, especially Yazlene, or Miss 'Y', as the children call her. (Behind our banner in orange shirt) She helped to organize the children to take part in welcoming us here and joining in all of our inspiring events here.
