{"id":69485,"date":"2017-09-05T18:22:16","date_gmt":"2017-09-05T18:22:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/uncategorized\/2017\/09\/05\/elmo-cookie-monster-heading-for-europe-for-ninth-year-of-performing-for-military-kids\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T14:04:49","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T14:04:49","slug":"elmo-cookie-monster-heading-for-europe-for-ninth-year-of-performing-for-military-kids","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/off-duty\/military-culture\/2017\/09\/05\/elmo-cookie-monster-heading-for-europe-for-ninth-year-of-performing-for-military-kids\/","title":{"rendered":"Elmo, Cookie Monster heading for Europe for ninth year of performing for military kids"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Elmo, Cookie Monster and other furry neighbors from Sesame Street are headed overseas once again on a USO tour along with their friend Katie, the military kid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.uso.org\/programs\/sesame-street-tour-schedule\">two-month tour<\/a> will kick off Sept. 11 at Naval Air Station Sigonella, Italy, before visiting Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, Great Britain and Spain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The costumed characters will perform more than 30 shows at 19 military bases, entertaining parents and their young children while delivering messages about dealing with the unique challenges of military life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cA lot of kids come in the show excited to see Elmo or Cookie Monster &#8230; but when they leave they tell me that Katie is their favorite person because she\u2019s just like them,\u201d said USO tour manager Nicole McClendon, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=gPAnPCMuZm8\">in a video produced last year<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/gPAnPCMuZm8\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Each installation will decide which 30-minute show is performed on their base, with some installations choosing both \u201cKatie\u2019s Family Transitions to Civilian Life,\u201d and \u201cKatie is Moving to a New Base.\u201d Sesame Workshop debuted the character of Katie in 2011 with \u201cKatie is Moving to a New Base.\u201d The civilian-transition show debuted in 2016. &nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Sesame Street\/USO Experience for Military Families has toured the world since July 2008, making it the longest-running traveling tour in the USO\u2019s 76-year history. The characters have performed more than 1,100 shows on 150 military bases in 33 states and 11 countries. They\u2019ve distributed more than 2.8 million outreach materials and entertained nearly 600,000 service members and military families.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The tours grew out of Sesame Workshop\u2019s <a href=\"http:\/\/sesamestreetformilitaryfamilies.org\/\">Sesame Street for Military Families<\/a> initiative, providing a variety of videos and other resources for military families to help their children navigate the challenges they face.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cSesame Workshop is proud to continue our longstanding partnership with the USO, employing our early childhood expertise and beloved Sesame Street characters to support and celebrate military kids and families as they learn, heal and grow,\u201d said Jeanette Betancourt, Sesame Workshop\u2019s senior vice president of U.S. social impact, in an announcement of this year\u2019s tour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Click <a href=\"http:\/\/uso.org\/sesame\">here<\/a> for more information about the tour.&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The two-month tour begins in Italy on Sept. 11.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":104196,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":68,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[101,68,26,13,18],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3300],"class_list":["post-69485","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-military-culture","category-newsletters","category-off-duty","category-spouse"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"MY3DMYKVHBF4TGQTAAF4L3LTP4","arc_canonical_url":"\/off-duty\/military-culture\/2017\/09\/05\/elmo-cookie-monster-heading-for-europe-for-ninth-year-of-performing-for-military-kids\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented 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