Greetings!
As the newly elected Secretary and Newsletter Editor, I wanted to kick off the fiscal year with an introductory newsletter. I look forward to serving in both capacities and welcome you to send any items or announcements you want to share or that may be of interest to fellow members directly to me at Secretary@gmail.com. Please include DWW Newsletter in the subject line.
You may not be aware that for over 40 years I held a variety of office positions, including Office Manager, Administrative Assistant, and Paralegal. I obtained my Associate’s Degree in Business Administration with a specialty in paralegal in 2011. In 2019, I left the law office and sold my home and its contents to live and travel the U.S. and Canada full-time in a 35-foot motorhome. While traveling, I worked remotely writing blogs for businesses worldwide. In 2024, I retired, purchased a park model in Yuma, Arizona, and plan to become an Arizona resident within the next year.
Past volunteer positions include Secretary and other committee chair positions for the PTO when my children were young; Secretary for a Precious Moments Collectible Group; Art Show Committee at the St. Clair Art Association; Historian at Studio 1219; Historian, Vice President, and President of the Blue Water Shutterbug Club; and Vice President and Newsletter Editor of the St. Clair County Genealogy and History Society. I joined DWW in 2019.
I am working on a memoir about my husband’s and my attempt to adopt our granddaughters, who were taken by Child Protective Services and then adopted out to strangers. I have published travel articles with photographs, write a monthly genealogy column for The Lakeshore Guardian, have several articles published in The Freshwater Reporter, and sell my photography on Fine Art America.
I look forward to serving in my new positions at DWW.
Grace Grogan, DWW Newsletter Editor
Membership Dues Deadline Extended
At an Interim meeting of the DWW Executive Committee held June 4, 2025, it was unanimously agreed to extend the 2025 deadline for payment of membership dues until August 31, 2025.
If you have not submitted payment of your 2025 Membership Dues, you can use the PayPal link on the DWW home page or mail payment to our new address: DWW, PO Box 2711, Farmington, Michigan 48333.
President’s Letter
I hope you’re all enjoying your summers and having productive writing endeavors!
At the June 2025 board meeting, we set aside time to brainstorm about new (and renewed) ideas for DWW.
Here are some of the common themes discussed:
-Interest in networking with each other through live and online events, including a Fall 2025 125th Anniversary networking celebration and a picnic-style membership drive meet and greet.
-Bringing back the emerging writer category in some form and opportunities to mentor other writers.
-Surveying the membership about what they want out of DWW.
-Website improvements, such as an enhanced membership directory where members can have a “profile” they maintain, making the website seem more open and friendly, and including meeting minutes behind the member paywall.
If you have ideas but you’re unable to attend meetings, reach out to any of the board members, or to me at President@Detworkingwriters.org.
Our next meeting will be on July 16, 2025, at 7 pm via Zoom. Please email President@Detworkingwriters.org for a zoom link.
Regards,
Laura Hedgecock, DWW Board President
Please Join Us !
The next DWW Board Meeting will be held July 16, 2025, at 7:00 pm via Zoom. All members are welcome! Please email
President@Detroitworkingwriters.org to receive a Zoom link. We hope you will join us and provide input to help the Board better serve its members.
Board Members 2025-2026
President—Laura L. Hedgecock
Vice President—Diane VanderBeke Mager
Treasurer—Bill Rathburg
Secretary—Gracie Grogan
Honorary Director—Richard Stiennon
Honorary Director—Linda Sienkiewicz
Honorary Director—Kathleen Ripley Leo
Share Blog Article
Do you have a blog article that would be helpful to other members? We want to share it with our other members by re- posting. Please email the blog link to President@Detroitworkingwriters.org.
New Mailing Address
Effective immediately, if you are mailing anything to the DWW, including your membership renewals, please use our new address:
DWW
PO Box 2711
Farmington MI 48333
Environmental Writing: Narrating the Natural World
Saturday, June 28, 2015-2:00 to 3:30 pm.
The Detroit Writing Room is hosting a workshop called “Environmental Writing: Narrating the Natural World” at Next Chapter Books, 16555 East Warren Avenue Detroit, MI 48224 in Detroit. The workshop will be led by journalist and author Anna Clark, and provides attendees an opportunity to reconnect with the natural world through writing. Prompts and exercises help attendees explore their relationship with nature.
Ella Miller, events@detroitwritingroom.com, provided this invitation and is offering DWW 20% off on tickets; she can send a promo code.
Tickets are $55 and are available at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/environmental-writing- narrating-the-natural-world-tickets- 1263554969929?aff=oddtdtcreator.
And by the way, everything in life is writable about if you have the outgoing guts to do it, and the imagination to improvise. The worst enemy to creativity is self- doubt.”