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Read about Delaware's one-of-a-kind writing conference. Plus, Wilmington's newest arts group is on the move, it's love at first (Web) site in Media Watch, and a local patriot helps rally the troops.
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A local author created a one-of-a-kind writing workshop to battle mitochondrial disease.
As is the case with any good writer, Maribeth Fischer knows how to get the word out.
So she started the “Writers at the Beach: Pure Sea Glass” conference in Rehoboth Beach in 2005 to raise money for and awareness of little-known mitochondrial disease. Fischer says the well-attended conference is the only one in the country founded with the sole purpose of raising money for a charity. “The cause is kind of what makes it,” she says.
The three-day conference, hosted by the Rehoboth Beach Writers’ Guild, of which Fischer is the founder and president, depends fully on volunteers. Fischer handles most of the organizing, including recruitment of a keynote speaker and panelists and determining workshop topics. She says Delaware is one of only two states with no university-supported writers conference.
“When I started, I thought it would be for one year,” she says. “I can see why nobody else does it this way. It has to be a 100 percent volunteer effort.”
“Writers at the Beach” is held in memory of two of Fischer’s nephews, who died from mitochondrial disease. One thousand to 4,000 children in the United State are born with it every year. The disease affects parts of the body that require the most energy, such as the brain, heart, lungs and muscles.
In its first four years (it was not held last year), the conference raised $50,000 for mitochondrial disease research. This year, proceeds will go to Nemours/Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children to aid families whose children are being treated for the disease.
“The money was going toward research, but in research dollars, that’s nothing,” Fischer says. “With what’s going on with the economy, it seemed more important to help the families. One of the main things kids take is an expensive vitamin supplement that is not covered by insurance. Being able to give money for that might be the difference between families having to stay in the hospital or go home together.”
This year’s conference will be held March 26-28 at the Atlantic Sands Hotel & Conference Center in Rehoboth Beach. For more, visit writersatthebeach.com. —Drew Ostroski
Page 2: Nomadic? No Matter | The New Wilmington Art Association is constantly on the move. It's all part of the big picture (and painting, and sculpture...)
