THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, September 28, 1996 TAG: 9609280236
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY EARL SWIFT, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: 60 lines
The Navy plans to kick off a local ``Fleet Week'' next month to underline its cultural and economic importance to a region often jaded about the sight of warships, attack jets and dixie cups.
The first installment of what the seagoing service hopes to see become an annual tradition, the festival will witness concerts, military demonstrations and a day aboard Navy ships for 1,200 area civilians.
Softball and golf tournaments, a hangar dance, ship visits and ceremonies scattered throughout Hampton Roads will round out the effort, which begins Oct. 8.
``It provides an opportunity for both the public and the sea services to concentrate on the bonds that have developed between them in the area,'' said Cmdr. Morgan Smith, a spokesman for the Norfolk-based Atlantic Fleet, noting that the week's events are being staged with the help of the Coast Guard, Marine Corps and area city governments.
``I think the goal is to reach out to all of the communities and for them to come together and have a better appreciation for the people who live in their communities who are part of the sea services.''
Conceived by Adm. William J. ``Bud'' Flanagan Jr., the Atlantic Fleet's outgoing commander, the festival comes a year after the Navy and Norfolk City Hall teamed up to mark the service's 220th birthday.
Its keystone event may well be the trips for 1,200 or more guests aboard five Navy ships, which will put to sea shortly after dawn Oct. 8 and return that evening.
Tickets for the visits have been distributed to South Hampton Roads cities, which are handing them out to a ``cross-section of their communities,'' Smith said.
Visitors to the amphibious transport dock Trenton, the guided missile cruiser Thomas S. Gates, the guided missile destroyer Barry and the oiler Merrimack will walk on and off the ships from their Norfolk Naval Station piers.
About 375 people will get an added thrill: They'll go aboard the anchored Kearsarge on landing craft that will drive into the amphibious assault ship's flooded well deck.
Another high point comes Oct. 11, when more than 2,000 Navy and Coast Guard personnel will congregate on Norfolk's Elizabeth River waterfront for a lunchtime ceremony marking the bonds between the local Navy and civilian communities.
The event will include a parade of ships, an aircraft flyover, a demonstration by SEAL commandos and a concert by the Atlantic Fleet Band.
Among other events will be a free concert by country music star Pam Tillis at Town Point Park, starting at 5 p.m. Oct. 8; a blessing of the fleet at the Portsmouth Naval Medical Center; and naval vessel tours at the Norfolk Naval Station, Little Creek Naval Amphibious Base, Chesapeake's Great Bridge lock and Huntington Park in Newport News.
Military bands will offer free concerts throughout the region, and several events - among them, a SEAL parachute demonstration at the Suffolk Peanut Festival - will piggyback on other, longer-standing festivals.
``It's giving the public a better appreciation for what we do, who we are, and the fact that we live in these communities,'' Smith said. ``It's a chance for them to focus on it.'' by CNB