USS Beloit crew stops in Beloit for picnic, other events

BELOIT — Beloit residents mingled with crew members of the USS Beloit Saturday during a picnic event at ABC Supply Stadium where crew members played games and shared a meal with Beloiters.

Residents and sailors enjoyed played yard games including Kubb, bags and yard bowling.

The picnic was one of the events planned prior to the formal commissioning ceremonies for the USS Beloit, a Freedom Class Littoral Combat Ship which was christened and launched in Marinette, Wisconsin on May 7, 2022.

USS Beloit Commander LeAndra Kissinger said no specific date or place has been announced for the commissioning of the ship. However, she did say the next big event for the USS Beloit will be the Mast Stepping ceremony, which is set for Oct. 3.

“We already have Beloit Fire Department and Beloit Police Department patches, as well as some coins which will become part of the mast,” Kissinger said.

Mast Stepping usually involves placing or welding coins into the mast of the ship. In this case the coins were designed to reflect significant sites and history of Beloit.

Kissinger said the commissioning ceremony will take place this fall. The commissioning formally places the ship into service.

The USS Beloit recently took part in a trial cruise. It has a crew of about 65, but that will grow to about 80 before the ship is commissioned, Kissinger said.

She said Beloit has become sort of a second home for her, and after a few visits to the community, she is becoming familiar with the people, the businesses, and some of the restaurants she likes. During her most recent visit, she brought along her sister and daughter.

She also is looking at the USS Beloit as a familiar place for her and her crew.

“A ship becomes a home, an office, a dinner table,” she said.

She presented the first flag to fly on the USS Beloit to members of the USS Beloit Commissioning Committee on Saturday.
Retired Major General Marcia Anderson, who was selected as ship’s sponsor for the USS Beloit, was also at the community picnic event Saturday.

“I am here to recognize the crew, because they are the ones who make it work,” she said of the crew of the USS Beloit.
Anderson is a Beloit native and she was the first African-American woman to rise to the rank of Major General in the U.S. Army Reserve. She retired from the Army Reserve in 2016 and from her civilian job in 2019.
“Retirement has been very good to me,” she said.

She said she will be at the Mast Stepping ceremony for the USS Beloit in a few weeks, and she is looking forward to it.

Lt. Brett Norton is a member of the USS Beloit crew, hailing from Jacksonville, Florida. He has served in the Navy for four years and before becoming a crew member for the USS Beloit, he served on the destroyer DDG 109 Jason Dunham.

Norton said he was on the ship for its recent trial run and he enjoys the ship so far.

“I like it a lot. It’s a good crew — good people,” he said.

Petty Officer First Class Donny Jackson has been with the Navy for. 14 years. The Williamson, Georgia native has been a member of the ship’s company for two other ships and assisted with the deployment of a third.

He was enjoying a game of bags on the field at ABC Supply Stadium Saturday as others enjoyed games around him.

The USS Beloit was named after Beloit, Wisconsin because of the U.S. Navy’s long-standing relationship with the community and with Fairbanks Morse Defense, which has build engines for many naval vessels.

A USS Beloit Commissioning Committee was formed to raise funds for activities leading up to and relating to the commissioning of the ship. Those who want to donate can go to the website at www.ussbeloit.org/donations.