NAS Sigonella Celebrates Fourth of July with a Bang

CATANIA, ITALY

07.04.2017

Story by Petty Officer 2nd Class Christopher Gordon  

Naval Air Station Sigonella

NAS SIGONELLA, Sicily – Sailors and civilians onboard Naval Air Station (NAS) Sigonella celebrated the Fourth of July weekend with a “Red, White and Boom” celebration Friday, June 30.
The festivities were open to all Sigonella service members and civilians and allowed each U.S. ID holder to bring up to five guests from the local community.
“I am happy that Naval Air Station Sigonella can open up our base to the local community to celebrate our American Independence Day,” said Capt. Brent Trickel, commanding officer of NAS Sigonella. “We love the opportunity to show our Italian hosts and neighbors how we, as Americans, commemorate this day.”
NAS Sigonella opened its gates to the public at 5:00 p.m. and offered a wide variety of food and beverage tents, bowling specials, a corn hole tournament, live music, and a Nerf battle between children and U.S. Marines.
Different NAS Sigonella associations, from the Chief Petty Officer’s Mess, First Class Petty Officer Association, to the Sea Bee Ball Committee and almost a half-dozen more, manned the food tents. There was chicken adobo, ribs, corn dogs, hamburgers, hot dogs, and snack food ranging from snow cones to funnel cake.
“The food was amazing!” said Adriana Patti, an Italian guest for the festival. “I’ve never had any of these foods before so it was a really nice thing to be able to try.”
Just a short walk away from the food tents was the corn hole tournament, with 15 two-person teams battling it out for the first place prize of two $25 gift certificates to the Navy Exchange.
“We’ve done the corn hole tournament the past few years and it’s been very popular,” said Bill Gatlin, the fitness director on NAS 1. “It’s a good back yard Fourth of July barbeque type game and it’s one of those games literally anyone can play—you don’t have to be athletic, tall, big, or strong, so it’s a fun.”
Meanwhile, inside the gym right next door to the corn hole tournament was a small battlefield. Marines with painted faces and full uniforms took cover behind the temporary structures as dozens of children opened fire with their toy guns.
As the children rained havoc in the form of foam darts upon the Marines, outside on center-stage was live music played by the local Charlie’s Angels band.
While the corn hole tournament and Nerf battle came to an end, the Kids Zone Carnival Games filled with life. Traditional carnival games were present for kids to compete and potentially win small prizes like stuffed animals or toys. Set up in the carnival area was a gladiator style game where two people could stand up on small cushioned podiums and try their luck at knocking the other off with cushioned spears. Lastly, the carnival zone set up a giant inflatable obstacle course where children got to run, crawl, and climb through in order to get to the finish line—a tall inflatable slide.
Later in the afternoon at 6:30 p.m. event organizers and staff from Morale Welfare and Recreation (MWR) laid down plastic tarp, tables, and apple pie in front of the main stage. Eight adults and eight children competed in the eating contest. The rules were simple: first one to eat the entire apple pie with no hands wins. Faces covered with whipped cream, apple filling and piecrust chewed tirelessly in a symphony of laughs and cheers from the surrounding crowd.
The sun set and the band 2U/Almost Journey took the stage. The band covered songs from the bands Journey and U2 well into the night until 10:00pm, when the lights turned off and the crowd sat in the soft summer grass, anticipating the loud and colorful conclusion.
“Though I know that Italians are big fans of fireworks for Saint festivals and New Year’s Eve, the Fourth of July is when we Americans really get serious about our fireworks,” said Trickel. “From 1776 onward the U.S. has commemorated our Independence Day celebration with fireworks, to illuminate the nation from the east to the west coast.”
The night came to a close as NAS Sigonella continued the American tradition here abroad and fired off a fireworks display, with beautiful explosions of light and color, giving the well-deserved name of Red, White, and Boom.

• Date Taken: 07.04.2017
• Date Posted: 12.29.2017 04:12
• Story ID: 260635
• Location: CATANIA, IT