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PHOTOS: 2011 Sesame Street/USO Experience Tour in Japan
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
The Sesame Street/USO Experience for Military Families -- a free traveling USO tour exclusively for military families based on Sesame Workshop’s award winning Talk, Listen, Connect (TLC) initiative -- is headed into the home stretch of its seven-month world tour. In April 2011, the tour unveiled a brand new Sesame Street character named Katie, designed exclusively for this tour at a Joining Forces rally hosted by First Lady Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden. Visit www.uso.org/sesame for the most up to date tour schedule.
| From left to right, Elmo, Rosita, Cookie Monster and Grover welcome the children from Yokota Air Base in Japan. The Sesame Street crew re-examines the challenges of deployments but focuses on their impact on military kids. |
| Katie, the new military friend that relocated to a new location with her family, is the special addition to the Sesame Street gang for this tour. The gang helps her open up about her fears and excitement in dealing with change and making new friends, something military kids experience frequently. Katie said: "I want to thank all my new friends for making me feel so welcomed! It was so much fun discovering new places with all of you." |
| Cookie Monster reaches out to make friends with a young fan. Since its inception three years ago, the tour has taken its message to more than 240,375 troops and military families, and performed more than 415 times on 122 military bases in 33 states and 10 countries. |
| Katie, left, and Elmo bend down to greet the children. Elmo said: "Elmo had so much fun visiting all his military friends and family! Thank you for singing and dancing with Rosita, Cookie Monster, Katie and Elmo. Elmo can’t wait to see you all again!" |
| Grover walks through the crowd, meeting thrilled youngsters. This tour debuted overseas at Fort Wainwright in Alaska on April 23 and will wrap up at Kadena Air Base on Nov. 5. To date, the tour's fifh installment has performed 100 shows on 46 bases in Alaska, Hawaii, Guam, Korea, Turkey, Italy, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, the United Kingdom, Spain and Japan for 47,821 service members and their families. |
USO Photos by Fred Greaves
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