Haze gray and underway; the life of a Sailor aboard USS John C. Stennis (CVN 74) can lack color, literally. Some Stennis wives are doing what they can to make their Sailors’ lives a little brighter.
In an effort to make sure Stennis Sailors have an aesthetically pleasing place to live and work when in port, some Stennis wives got together Wednesday morning, to beautify Naval Base Kitsap-Bremerton; planting trees just outside the base gym.
“It’s the Sailors, not just the base and the ship, but families use this area, the gym and the recreation area,” said Shelly Smith, a volunteer.  “We just wanted to help beautify it for everyone and spruce it up, to give back to the place that Stennis calls home.”
The volunteers drew help and inspiration from several different sources in an effort to make this beautification a success.
“We worked with a master gardener to choose plants that were drought tolerant and low maintenance,” said Nicia Webb, a volunteer.
This event also allowed the volunteers to participate in several ecological events happening on a national stage.
“We planted all 27 planters outside of the gym, in an effort to make it a little nicer looking for everybody on base,” said co-chairperson of the Stennis Officer Spouse Group (SOS) Emily Anderson. “We thought it was fitting because yesterday was Earth Day and Friday is Arbor Day.  We are just thinking about the environment and giving back a little bit.”
The organizers of the beautification effort wanted to give a wide spectrum of people a chance to participate in this event, drawing volunteers from SOS, the Chiefs’ Spouse Club (CSC) and Family Readiness Group (FRG).
Junay Johanson, wife of Stennis commanding officer, added that the maintenance and upkeep of the newly planted trees would be split between all three groups. 
Now as Stennis Sailors work and play around NBK, their environment will be a little better.  As Stennis prepares to get underway in May to begin the work-up cycle in preparation for a 2009 deployment, the crew will know they have a beautiful home to return to.