FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

FROM: DELAWARE RIVER & BAY LIGHTHOUSE FOUNDATION

The Delaware River & Bay Lighthouse Foundation is finding a growing number of young people interested in lighthouses and has initiated a new program to help sustain their interest and spread it to their families.

This "youth trend" bodes well for lighthouse preservation, according to Judith Roales, president of the Foundation. "What kids are interest in, their parents and adult friends usually become interested in," Roales said, "and the more people who learn about the plight of aging, decommissioned lighthouses, the more likely we are to be able to preserve the important ones."

The Foundation already gets numerous requests to present programs about lighthouses for schools and other groups. "These are always a big hit with youngsters," Roales said. Young people also write to the Foundation asking for information and telling about lighthouses they have seen and ones they want to see. They also send drawings of their favorite lighthouses.

To further encourage young artists and young preservationists, the Foundation will start publishing their drawings on its website www.delawarebaylights.org  and will reward those who submit drawings with a small gift.

The rules for publication are simple:
      1. Each picture must be an original drawing or a coloring by a child or young person (less than 18 years of age).
      2.  Only pictures of Delaware & Delaware Bay lighthouses will be published on line.
      3.  Hard copy of each work must be sent to the Foundation at P.O. Box 708; Lewes, DE 19958.  No email or digital submissions will be accepted.  No submissions will be returned.
      4.  Write the name, address, and age of the young artist on the back of each submission. Only the name, age, and city will be published with the picture.
      5.  The Foundation reserves the right to select pictures for publication.  Although it will try to publish as many pictures as possible, some may not be published.  The Foundation reserves the right to limit the number of pictures published from any one youngster.
      6.  Pictures become the property of the Foundation and may be used in other exhibits or displays as well as on-line.

Each youngster who has a picture published on the website will receive in return one of the Foundation’s new "L is for Lighthouse" vinyl stickers of a Delaware lighthouse.