As part of the festivities associated with the first ever commissioning of a navy ship in Orange County, host city Seal Beach got some newly planted trees yesterday. 33 members of the USS Dewey crew planted more than 50 New Zealand Christmas trees along Lampson Avenue as a community service project for Seal Beach. The navy’s newest and most sophisticated ship, The Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer, USS Dewey (DDG-105), will be commissioned at Naval Weapons Station Seal Beach, on Saturday, March 6, 2010.

Addressing the USS Dewey volunteers, City Manager David Carmany acknowledged the efforts: "during the Civil War, when the Monitor and the Merrimac sailed, every other Navy in the world became obsolete. When USS Dewey sails next week, every other ship in the world will become obsolete. We greatly appreciate all of the labor that prospered USS Dewey to our service; the labor of the Northrup Grumman and Boeing employees, and certainly the labor of the Dewey crew, and your families. We thank you for your service to our community and for your service to our nation," said City Manager David Carmany

The trees were donated by Trees for Seal Beach. Major donors to this week's commissioning events include BAE Systems, Boeing Integrated Defense Systems, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding Inc., and the UCLA Foundation.

Seal Beach Mayor Pro Tem Michael Levitt, and Captain (ret) Jonathan Kurtz, welcomed the Dewey and its officers and crew to Seal Beach last Friday. "On behalf of the City of Seal Beach and its 25,000 residents I'm honored to welcome you to Seal Beach and your officers and crew should feel that Seal Beach is their home away from home." said Seal Beach Mayor Pro Tem Michael Levitt

"We're thrilled to have the commissioning as close to our home port, San Diego, so that not only your families can be there but our families as well. Already we feel that the Seal Beach citizens and city council have embraced us as if we were from here. We're very happy to be here in Seal Beach for our commissioning." said USS Dewey Commander Warren Buller.

Seal Beach city officials released the following statement:
As we begin this week-long schedule of events culminating with the commissioning ceremony on Saturday, March 6th, of significance to us in our hearts and minds is each of the men and women of the USS Dewey, who proudly represent the core values of honor, courage, and commitment to the U.S. Navy. We wholeheartedly appreciate and applaud their professionalism and dedication, and acknowledge their commitment to the U.S. Navy and the United States of America that takes them away from their families to defend our freedom each and every day.

As you can imagine, we are very eager for the commissioning of the USS Dewey here in our city, and being a part of the celebration of this symbolic and patriotic event will forever be a footprint in the history of our city. We truly hope the crew members enjoy their time here with us in Seal Beach and we very much look forward to the commissioning ceremony on Saturday, March 6th.

In closing, the City of Seal Beach salutes and commends Commander Warren Buller, the officers and crew of the USS Dewey (DDG 105), and congratulates them on the upcoming commissioning of one of the Navy's newest and most advanced destroyer warships in the world!