Spear Fishing Tournament, Local Bands to Benefit MAGIC Foundation Saturday

Two back-to-back events Saturday—a spear fishing tournament in Newport, followed by live music featuring local bands in Middletown—are helping to raise funds through the MAGIC Foundation for children and adults who suffer from growth-related disorders.

The Annual Hannah Grace Fundraiser starts Saturday, Aug. 28, with a spear fishing tournament from 11 am to 3 pm at King's Beach off Ocean Drive in Newport, followed by live music at 6 pm at the Middletown Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) Hall featuring local bands "Milkbread" and "The Age," making for a great day for friends and family to enjoy for a good cause.

Patch recently spoke with Rob Marvelle Jr., who has put on this fundraiser since 2004 after his own family experienced a personal tragedy. Through the MAGIC Foundation, Marvelle has raised funds every summer to help other children and adults who suffer from growth related disorders.

And he's accomplished this doing something that he knows very well—spear fishing.

Today, the Annual Hannah Grace Fundraiser is one of the largest spear fishing tournaments in the Northeast.

Patch: Hi, Rob. Tell us about your event this Saturday.

Marvelle: Our event is called The Hannah Grace Spear Fishing Tournament, named after my niece. Hannah was stillborn ... My sister carried her for approximately seven months before she ultimately passed away. I cannot begin to imagine how hard that is for a person to go though. My sister is one of the strongest people I have ever known.

Our first year was quite small with only eight participants but, even though we only had a few people involved, the feeling of happiness that came when sending off a donation was unreal. That feeling inspired me to put more effort into the following year's event.

Since 04' we have grown each year. And I made it my personal goal to build this event into the largest spear- fishing meet in the Northeast. We have since passed that goal and now average 50+ divers a year.

Our tournament is pretty relaxed as opposed to some fishing events. There are very few rules but plenty of fish stories.

Patch: Tell us about spear-fishing...

Spear fishing, for those who may not be familiar, is basically underwater hunting. 

We dive only with the air in our lungs, no SCUBA tanks, and take fish using what basically amounts to a bow and arrow.

Divers may weigh-in one fish in each of the two individual categories, Largest Striped Bass & Largest Black Fish.  Last year's winning fish were a 46-pound bass and a 10-pound black fish.

Patch: How and when did you get involved with the MAGIC Foundation?

Marvelle: I got involved with The MAGIC Foundation about seven years ago when I started the Hannah Grace Spear Fishing Tournament.  The short story is my sister lost a child to an illness called Turner Syndrome.  It is a chromosomal disorder that affects only female embryos at a rate somewhere around 1-in-20,000.  Many children affected by this disorder can go on to lead a somewhat normal life however in some cases death occurs, often times pre-birth.

This was the case with my sister.  From her loss I thought it important to turn a negative into a positive one that could be beneficial to other children and families who have to live with Turner Syndrome.

Patch: Why spear-fishing?

I have been spear fishing since the age of 12 and have seen and attended many tournaments in New England, so I thought why not hold one to raise money for this illness. Once making the decision to put together the event we needed to find a benefactor to donate the money to. After some internet research and a few phone calls we (my wife Jodi and I) decided that The MAGIC Foundation was who we wanted to work for.

Patch: How is money raised for the MAGIC Foundation?

Marvelle: We do this through a Spear Fishing Tournament.  Divers sign up for the event and compete in two categories, largest striped bass & largest tautog (blackfish).  Aside from the registration fees we also hold a rather large gear raffle.

The last two years we have averaged over 50 divers and raised around $4,000 for the foundation.

This year we decided to have a party after the tournament, which we are opening up to anyone (not just the divers) who wish to come.  We are charging a $10 cover to attend.  Some food and drinks will be provided as well as entertainment from a few local bands. This is not a super organized event, just something where people can come and hang out, listen to some music and help raise a little money.  We will also have a second raffle at the party with donations from the Newport community.

Patch: What does the MAGIC Foundation do?

Marvelle: The MAGIC Foundation is a national non-profit organization created to provide support services for the families of children afflicted with a wide variety of chronic and/or critical disorders, syndromes and diseases that affect a child's growth. Their vision is to reduce the emotional and physical trauma caused by growth disorders, resulting in healthier, happier children and consequently adults.

MAGIC stands for Major Aspects of Growth In Children and is made up of over 25,000 families whose children have growth hormone deficiency or other medical conditions which affect their growth.

Patch: From your particular fundraiser, where do the proceeds go?

Marvelle: We donate 100-percent of the profits from our spear fishing tournament and raffle to The MAGIC Foundation. We have set up our own fund through MAGIC specifically to benefit children and families dealing with Turner Syndrome. Depending on the amount of participation in our event we typically donate $1,500 to $2,000 each year.

This is an Annual event and we would love to see as many people take part as possible. The more divers we can get registered the greater our donation to MAGIC will be.

Patch: How much has the foundation raised to date?

Marvelle: Good question. Personally I have not kept track of how much we have raised in the seven years but I would guess somewhere around $8,000 to $9,000.

Patch: What was the largest fish ever caught?

Marvelle: The largest fish ever weighed-in for our tournament was a 48.8-pound striped bass weighed in by local dive legend John Warnock.

Patch: How long can you personally hold your breath?

Marvelle: Me, not long.  My dives are in the 60 - 90 second range but some of the guys we hunt with can make dives up to four minutes.  Hunting takes place in very shallow water out to depths of 60 feet or more—all without the assistance of SCUBA.

Patch: And speaking of which, is there a record for something like that?

Marvelle: I have no idea what the record for breath-holding is. Fourteen minutes, maybe? If you are asking about fish records, the largest bass ever taken by spear was around 69 pounds and the largest black fish stands around 24 pounds.

Patch: Thank you, Rob, for your time and good luck with Saturday's event! 

The Spear Fishing Tournament starts at 11 am, Saturday, Aug. 28 at King's Beach on Ocean Drive in Newport and is followed by live music featuring local Bands "MILK BREAD" & "THE AGE" at the .

 There's still time to sign up for the tournament. For information about registration or attending Saturday's event, please contact Rob Marvelle on his website, www.newportfreedive.com.

 For more information about the MAGIC Foundation please visit www.magicfoundation.org.