USS Constitution Participates in Tampa Bay Navy Week

By Seaman Shannon Heavin, USS Constitution Public Affairs

CHARLESTOWN, Mass. (NNS) -- Sailors assigned to USS Constitution will participate in Tampa Bay Navy Week during the Gasparilla Pirate Festival in Tampa Bay, Fla., Jan. 22-29.

Sailors will first perform a color guard ceremony at the McDonald's Children Gasparilla Extravaganza parade.

They will provide naval history lessons at area middle schools and interact with children at Joe and Anna Garcia Salesian Boys and Girls Club.

They are scheduled to give Navy ball caps to children at St. Joseph's Children's Center and visit veterans from Bay Pine Veterans Hospital. Lastly, Sailors will cook and serve to those in need at St. Petersburg Ronald McDonald House.

"I'm excited to begin our 2011 participation in Navy Weeks by sending a detachment of USS Constitution Sailors to Tampa Bay," said Cmdr. Tim Cooper, Constitution's 71st commanding officer. "Navy Weeks provide us with a unique opportunity to bring USS Constitution's story to people who can't easily come and see the ship. Additionally, it allows our Sailors to interact in a meaningful way with different parts of a community that does not have a significant Navy presence."

This is the first Navy Week Constitution Sailors will participate in, in 2011. They performed similar activities in 2010 at Des Moines, Iowa; Spokane, Wash.; Boston and Baltimore.

"I wasn't fortunate enough to go last year," said Quartermaster 3rd Class Jared Hutchins. "I spoke with other Sailors who went on past Navy Weeks though, and it sounded like something I really could contribute to. The history presentations, Caps for Kids, anything interacting with and helping children, I wanted to be a part of."

The primary purpose of Navy Week is to increase Navy awareness by presenting the Navy to Americans who live in cities that normally do not have a significant naval presence. Tampa Bay Navy Week will showcase the mission, capabilities and achievements of the U.S. Navy and provide residents the opportunity to meet Sailors firsthand.

Constitution is located in the Charlestown Navy Yard in Boston and is the world's oldest commissioned warship afloat. The ship welcomes more than 500,000 visitors a year.

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