MARYSVILLE — The parking lot of O’Reilly Auto Parts at the intersection of Fourth Street and State Avenue became a bustling car wash Aug. 21, as the chief petty officer selectees of the USS Abraham Lincoln scrubbed down vehicles to raise money for their ship’s chief’s mess.

“By the end of the day, we’ll have had about 20 chief selectees show up,” said USS Abraham Lincoln Chief Petty Officer Eric Powell Aug. 21. “But because it’s a family thing, we have a lot of their spouses and kids here washing cars too.”

According to Powell, the chief’s mess uses these monies to provide services such as barbecue meals for the ship’s junior sailors.

“The training that our chief selectees go through can be intense,” Powell said. “An event like this, in addition to benefitting our sailors and the community, is more relaxed and allows the chief selectees to let their guard down. We’re all one big family.”