Local military families attended a live performance by Sesame Street characters at the Carey Theater at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash., Aug. 26.

“The Sesame Street Experience” is part of a tour of U.S. military bases worldwide and is the result of a partnership between the Sesame Street Workshop and the United Service Organizations (USO).

“The show is based on ‘Sesame Workshop’s Talk, Listen, Connect’ DVD, and this show gives children a concrete message about dealing with family separation,” said Lonnie Cooper, USO tour manager for the show. “This show is great entertainment for the entire family, and it gives children a positive message.”

“The parents appreciate what we do for them, and it’s been very successful,” added Cooper.

The 25-minute “Sesame Street/USO Experience for Military Families,” featuring Elmo, Grover, Cookie Monster, Rosita and Zoe, is designed to address the concerns of today’s military families as they deal with the hardships of deployments and lengthy separations.

Service members also volunteered their time to help support the show by assisting with set up and break down for the event.

“I enjoy being able to give back to the community and help out in any way I can,” said Yeoman 2nd Class (AW) Daniel Hamilton, volunteer, Joint Base Lewis-McChord. “This is a great program for military children, and it gives a great message to kids.”

The Sesame Street Workshop/USO partnership debuted its first show at the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center at Twentynine Palms, Calif., in July 2008. Since then The Sesame Street/USO Experience for Military Families has traveled more than 45,000 miles to 76 bases in nine countries. More than 120,000 service members and families have been entertained during 176 shows.

“This show is an essential tool for children because it makes it easy for them to learn and understand how to deal with deployment,” said Air Force Staff Sgt. Eliu Moreno, volunteer, McChord Air Force Base.