With determination and paint, along with a lot of wood and screws, Sailors assisted in creating a waterfront replica of the Victorian street scape of Dickens' Christmas Towne, at Decker Half Moone Center in downtown Norfolk, Nov. 16.

Dickens' Christmas Towne, hosted by Nauticus Museum, is in its fourth year with bigger and bolder attractions from years past, and with volunteers and the helping hands of Sailors from the amphibious assault ships USS Bataan (LHD 5) and aircraft carrier USS George Washington (CVN 73), the Dickens' Christmas Towne attraction looks brighter.

Beth Bilderback, Nauticus public relations specialist, said the Dickens' Christmas Towne was the brain child of Steven Kirkland, Nauticus executive director, who, with a love for Christmas and Victorian England, sought to create an affordable holiday tradition for the community to enjoy. Featured will be puppetry, amazing jugglers,
magicians and performers, as well as Father Christmas, the English version of Santa Claus.

"We have a ton of free children activities, crafts and live entertainment," Bilderback said. "There's music and lighting and people walking around dressed as Victorians carolling throughout Dickens' Christmas Towne."

For Sailors from both George Washington and Bataan, it was more than just hanging up lights, trimming the Christmas tree and decorating the town. It was a great way give back and maintain a positive working relationship with the local community at large.

"As Sailors, it's not just about doing our jobs and deploying, but also going out in the community to help individuals, organize food drives or volunteering [with] non-profit organizations like Habitat for Humanity," said Chief Machinist's Mate James Joyner, Bataan's volunteer coordinator.

According to Events, Staging and Labor Supervisor Joe Spikings, creating the Dickens' Christmas Towne was not an easy feat, with approximately 2,400 man-hours divided between eight to 50 people working at various times throughout project.

"It takes anything and everything, whether it's painting, building [or] climbing to get the job done," Spikings said. "The Navy usually comes in as volunteers and you wouldn't know they are volunteering because they work so hard [and are] polite and professional. To be honest with you, it's the volunteers that make it all come together."

This project also brought together Bataan and George Washington Sailors who normally don't work alongside one another, in giving back to the public.

"It's good just to be able to come out and work with people from the ship that I usually would not get to work with because we have different jobs. We also get to meet people from other ships and come together and give back to the community," explained Machinist's Mate 3rd Class Hayden Robinson, assigned to Bataan.

Nauticus' Dickens's Christmas Towne opened to the public on Nov. 18 and will run through Dec. 31.

For more from USS Bataan, visit http://www.bataan.navy.mil, http://www.navy.mil/local/lhd5/ or http://www.facebook.com/ussbataan.

For more from USS George Washington visit http://www.washington.navy.mil or http://www.facebook.com/USSGW.

For more information, visit http://www.navy.mil, http://www.facebook.com/usnavy, or http://www.twitter.com/usnavy.