Emily and Eleanor, with their father Staff Sgt. Daniel Mangan, 48th Medical Support Squadron Lab technician, dance to the songs being sung by Elmo and Friends at RAF Lakenheath on Sept. 10, 2009. The Sesame Workshop, working with the USO, is travelling through bases in Europe, Alaska and Hawaii doing shows with a 'military parents' theme. (U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Chris Stagner)
Cookie Monster shows a RAF Lakenheath audience that no matter how many cookies he eats he can still get down at a show Sept. 10, 2009. The Sesame Workshop, working with the USO, is travelling through bases in Europe, Alaska and Hawaii doing shows with a 'military parents' theme. (U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Chris Stagner)
Children in the audience dance with Elmo and Friends at RAF Lakenheath on Sept. 10, 2009. The Sesame Workshop, working with the USO, is travelling through bases in Europe, Alaska and Hawaii doing shows with a 'military parents' theme. (U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Chris Stagner)
Briley Murry (in the Elmo sweatshirt), daughter of Staff Sgt. Brian Murry of the 488th Intelligence Squadron at RAF Mildenhall, England, and her mother Rachel enjoy the Elmo and Friends show RAF Lakenheath on Sept. 10, 2009. The Sesame Workshop, working with the USO, is travelling through bases in Europe, Alaska and Hawaii doing shows with a 'military parents' theme. (U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Chris Stagner)
by Tech. Sgt. Chris Stagner
48th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
9/11/2009 - ROYAL AIR FORCE LAKENHEATH, England -- Air Force bases across the world are filled with noise at decibel levels that sometimes defy human understanding. It's a way of life Air Force families have come to understand. Very rarely, though, are those decibels created by the excited squeals of children and not the thunderous roar of jet engines.
The RAF Lakenheath Fitness Center gym was just the place for off-the-chart decibels of children's squeals Sept. 10, 2009, when the United Service Organizations and Sesame Workshop teamed to bring Elmo and Friends to Lakenheath for two shows, much to the delight of children across the base.
The excitement in the gym was so thick you could taste it as Cookie Monster, Grover, Zoe and Rosita danced and sang, but it took on a life of its own when Elmo came into the show.
"It was good," said Rachel Murry, wife of Staff Sgt. Brian Murry of the 488th Intelligence Squadron at RAF Mildenhall, whose daughter, Briley, attended the show in an Elmo sweatshirt. "It was an experience I'll share with my daughter forever. She was smiling and clapping with the music the entire time. She really enjoyed it. "
While this was Sesame's first visit to Lakenheath, their shows with the USO are nothing new in their repertoire.
"The show played 42 bases in the states last year," said Lonnie Cooper, USO Tour manager. "We're doing Europe, Alaska and Hawaii this year; and we're hoping to get the funding to go to Asia next year."
The theme of the show, one about parents who are gone with military duty, touched home with members of the audience.
"With Elmo having a family member in the military, it really brings home to the little folks that even though mommy and daddy may not be home, we're always close at heart," said Staff Sgt. Michael Young, 48th Aerospace Medicine Squadron Public Health technician.
