RECRUITING FUN FOR ALL; SEABEE SUMMERFEST DRAWS CROWD AT PORT HUENEME.Byline: Paul O'Donoghue Staff Writer Three-year old Autumn Gardner's face lit up when it was finally her turn to get behind the steering wheel of the enormous road scraper See scraping. of the Naval Construction Battalion at Port Hueneme Port Hueneme (wī'nē`mē), city (1990 pop. 20,319), Ventura co., S Calif., on the Pacific coast; founded 1870, inc. 1948. It has an artificial deep-sea harbor and is the site of a huge naval construction-battalion (Seabee) center. . ``I want to get up, I want to get up,'' she told her granddad, Dan Gardner, as they stood in line waiting their turn to get aboard the scraper and other machines used by the Construction Battalion, known as the Seabees, at the annual Seabee Summerfest. But Autumn's smile said it all when Gardner, 60, hoisted her into the 7-foot-high cab. Like a pea in a pod, she sat on the enormous seat and turned the wheel from side to side, beaming proudly back at her granddad, a retired Navy man, and her brother Cody, 6. ``I like the wheels,'' said Cody, tapping one of the six-foot diameter black tires with his hands. Dan Gardner, who served as an electrical technician aboard Navy blimps and helicopters back in the '50s, said the event made him proud to have been in the service and to be able to chaperone chaperone /chap·er·one/ (shap´er-on) someone or something that accompanies and oversees another. molecular chaperone his grandchildren GRANDCHILDREN, domestic relations. The children of one's children. Sometimes these may claim bequests given in a will to children, though in general they can make no such claim. 6 Co. 16. around while their parents are on vacation. ``This is nice for them to see the equipment; it's exciting,'' he said. ``The kids like this.'' The Gardners were among thousands who turned out for the festival that shows off what the famous Seabees do and more. The Seabees are basically the construction wing of the Navy, building bridges, roads, wharfs, fortifications This is a list of fortifications past and present, a fortification being a major physical defensive structure often composed of a more or less wall-connected series of forts. or anything else needed. Seabees are in Kosovo assisting with reconstruction efforts, officials said. Aside from the heavy-duty construction equipment such as bulldozers, trucks and tankers and Humvees, there are bands, a fair with rides including a Ferris wheel Ferris wheel, amusement park ride. It consists of a power-operated wheel that is about 50 ft (15 m) in diameter. It has two rims that are parallel to and equidistant from the shaft about which the wheel rotates. , food booths, camouflage face-painting, machine guns, mortars and the highlight of this year's event, tours of the USS Bunker Hill Two ships of the United States Navy have been named USS Bunker Hill, in remembrance of the Battle of Bunker Hill during the American Revolutionary War.
A line of hundreds snaked along the wharf waiting for guided tours of the ship. Van Nuys resident Mary Dell, who came with some friends, was impressed. ``I wish I had my grandchildren here; it's very educational for all of us,'' she said. ``And it's very family orientated o·ri·en·tate v. o·ri·en·tat·ed, o·ri·en·tat·ing, o·ri·en·tates v.tr. To orient: "He . . . . I like that.'' Conditions on Saturday were glorious, with a nice breeze coming off the ocean keeping temperatures in the mid- to high-70s. More than 20,000 people turned up for the free two-day event last year, and even more are expected this year, said Linda Wadley, a spokeswoman for the base. ``The commanding officer (of the base) wants the community to come aboard and see what the Seabees do,'' Wadley said. The festival kicked off with a presentation of colors, the national anthem and a review of nearly 500 sailors in dress whites Noun 1. dress whites - a dress uniform for formal occasions dress blues dress uniform - a military uniform worn on formal occasions plural, plural form - the form of a word that is used to denote more than one on the base's parade ground by U.S. Navy Vice Admiral James Amerault, deputy chief of naval operations chief of naval operations n. pl. chiefs of naval operations Abbr. CNO The ranking officer of the U.S. Navy, responsible to the secretary of the Navy and to the President. , and other dignitaries including Rep. Elton Gallegly Elton W. Gallegly (born March 7 1944), an American politician, has been a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives since 1987, currently representing the 24th District of California (map). , R-Oxnard. After the sailors finished their parade and stood in formation on the parade ground, a Navy F-14 jet roared directly overhead, drawing gasps and applause from the crowd. ``This is quite nice,'' said Naval Lt. Greg Lunsford, with his son Scott, 3, on his shoulders. ``I should say this has been the best parade I've seen yet.'' Lunsford, a civil engineer, has been based at Port Hueneme for 17 years. ``I think this is good because it shows the community how their tax dollars are being spent,'' he said. Kids, mostly boys, swarmed onto the parade route to gather up empty shells cast off from a display of shooting skills from 60-caliber machine guns mounted on two Humvees, firing blanks that looked and sounded like the real thing. Eleven-year-old Seamus Dallas Mehan from Los Robles Robles is a common surname in the Spanish language meaning oaks, and may refer to:
``I like the shooting part, the noise that you get, and picking up the bullets,'' he said. His granddad, Dallas Holverson, a retired Seabee who lives in Ventura, said he loves to come to the festival, which began in 1986, because it brings him together with with his Navy comrades, his ``second king-size family.'' ``It's just a great event for the citizens around the base in particular,'' he said. ``It's very interesting for the people.'' The festival continues today. THE FACTS What: Seabee Summerfest 99 Location: Naval Construction Battalion Center, Port Hueneme. Enter through Pleasant Valley Road or Victoria Avenue entrances. Admission: Free. CAPTION(S): 2 Photos PHOTO (1--Color in Conejo and Simi Editions) A seaman and his mate walk by a military bulldozer Saturday morning en route to the Seabee Summerfest 99, which runs through today at Port Hueneme. (2--Color in Conejo and Simi Editions) Visitors check out an oversize o·ver·size n. 1. A size that is larger than usual. 2. An oversize article or object. adj. o·ver·size also o·ver·sized Larger in size than usual or necessary. Adj. 1. military truck on display at the Seabee Summerfest 99. Joe Binoya/Special to the Daily News |
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