February 2017
• The President's message
• SFFB wants your feedback!
• Mid-Winter Naturist Festival
• Treasure Coast Naturists /
Blind Creek Beach update
• SFFB February Board meeting
• B.E.A.C.H.E.S. annual meeting
• Beach Ambassador training
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UPCOMING EVENTS:
February 4, 2017
Treasure Coast Naturists
Membership Drive and
After-Beach Party
Jensen Beach, FL
February 5, 2017
Southern California
Naturist Association (SCNA)
Super Bowl Pot Luck
and Chili Cookoff
Victorville, CA
February 16-21, 2017
Mid-Winter Naturist Festival
Sunsport Gardens
Family Naturist Resort
Loxahatchee Groves, FL
February 18-19, 2017
25th Annual Kite Day
(clothed event)
Skyward Kites, Inc.
Haulover Park
Miami, FL
February 18-19, 2017
AANR / SCNA booth at
Los Angeles Travel &
Adventure Show
(clothed event)
Los Angeles Convention Center
Los Angeles, CA
March 3-12, 2017
16th Annual Super Bowl South
Mega Volleyball Tournament
Lake Como Nudist Resort
Lutz, FL
March 11, 2017
Southern California
Naturist Association (SCNA)
Mardi Gras Party
Altadena, CA
March 18-19, 2017
17th Annual Lovers' Cup
Tennis Tournament
Lake Como Nudist Resort
Lutz, FL
March 25, 2017
CottonTail Corner Nude Swim
Hardisty Fitness &
Leisure Centre
Edmonton, AB, Canada
April 9, 2017
25th Annual Dare to Go Bare
5K Run & 2.5K Walk
Lake Como Nudist Resort
Lutz, FL
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Join South Florida Free Beaches
Beach Education Advocates for
Culture, Health,Environment
& Safety (B.E.A.C.H.E.S.)
501(c)(3) nonprofit educational and charitable adjunct to SFFB
Find a nude beach group to join!
The Naturist Society
Body acceptance is the idea.
Nude recreation is the way.
Learn all about Haulover Beach! Click on above image to download this informative, 20-page booklet, pick up a free copy from a dispenser unit at Haulover Beach, or order by mail (S&H, US$5.00 in U.S. or Canada, US$10.00 elsewhere). Send request to address below (in e-mail version of newsletter).
Bringing Together the Largest Nudist Community in the World
nusasun.com
Gay Naturists International, Inc.
Life is Great; Live it Nude! ©
Find a men's naturist club or naked yoga group to join!
Read GNI BuffBuzz, GNI's official blog, updated semi-monthly.
Looking for naturist places in Florida?
Click on above image to search for naturist clubs, resorts, yoga classes, and other businesses statewide. See alphabetical and geographical listings and an interactive map. Also includes a list of beaches.
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February 2017 President's Message
by Richard Mason
Some things "bare" repeating!
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We want your feedback.
SFFB is interested in your comments and recommendations. Send us an e-mail or write to us at the address at the bottom of the left-hand column.
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The President's Message has many functions besides educating, informing, motivating, and stimulating the reader. Each month, there are many new readers of the newsletter. Because many of them are also new to the nude beach experience, naturism, Haulover Beach, and South Florida Free Beaches, Inc. (SFFB), we sometimes have to repeat information for their benefit.
The Florida legislative session opens next month in Tallahassee, the state capital. Committees have been reorganized and meetings have been taking place since last November. SFFB supports a lobbyist in Tallahassee and Miami-Dade County to keep an eye on what bills are proposed and to represent our and all naturists' interests in Florida. In Miami-Dade, we are currently working to obtain additional public safety personnel and lifeguards in Haulover Park. You can read more about this in the December 2016 issue.
Membership drive going on now!
South Florida Free Beaches / Florida Naturist Association, Inc. is a sponsorship / membership association of like-minded people and we are currently conducting our annual membership drive.
If you are not a current member of South Florida Free Beaches, please consider becoming one — numbers matter. At $35 per year for your household, it costs just 67¢ per week. A key benefit is the continued, clothing-optional use of Haulover Beach. How much is that worth to you? Join or renew at sffb.com.
We also have a separate Legal Defense & Political Action Fund that supports our government affairs efforts and assists individuals cited for nude sunbathing. Even if you're not ready to (re)join just yet, please consider donating to this fund (not tax-deductible) to help with current challenges. Donations by bank check should be mailed to the address below. Thanks!
Six days of fun, growth, and community in the nude
29th Annual Mid-Winter Naturist Festival
Thursday – Tuesday, February 16-21, 2017
Sunsport Gardens Family Naturist Resort
14125 North Rd, Loxahatchee Groves, FL
(14 miles west of West Palm Beach)
Reminder: Join other naturist men and women and their families from Florida and the rest of North America for the continent's first regional naturist gathering in 2017. Come for any or all of the days — it's up to you!
This nude gathering features nearly 300 scheduled activities, including a broad array of seminars, workshops, sports, music and dance (including nightly drum circle around a huge bonfire), and social activities. There are also several off-site events, which include canuding on the jungly Loxahatchee River and excursions to Haulover Beach in Miami and Blind Creek Beach in Fort Pierce, FL.
The Mid-Winter Naturist Festival is one of a series of Naturist Society-sanctioned nude events each year. Diversity is valued, and all are welcome. Pre-registration is encouraged for planning purposes, but not required. (It makes check-in quick and easy.) Proceeds of the Festival benefit The Naturist Society and South Florida Free Beaches. Get details and/or register.
Be sure to visit the SFFB / B.E.A.C.H.E.S. booth in the vendor area. Volunteers are needed to help staff the booth each day of the Festival. If you can spare some time to cover one or more shifts, please contact Richard Mason.
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Click above for a video tour of Sunsport Gardens
Family Naturist Resort with Morley and Anne.
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Help get the word out! The Festival has a listing on Facebook. Click on Going or Interested if you will or may attend, and use the Share button to invite your friends, post the event on your timeline and in other naturist groups you belong to, and send it in a message.
Meanwhile, try Sunsport Gardens' nude drumming circle, every Friday from 9 p.m. to midnight. (The first Friday of every month is a little more elaborate.) Free entry starts at 5 p.m.; visitors must depart by 2 a.m. Includes use of amenities such as the café, showers, pool, spa, and sauna. You must present your government-issued photo ID for admission. Get directions.
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Treasure Coast Naturists / Blind Creek Beach update
Treasure Coast Naturists (TCN), mentors of Blind Creek Beach in Fort Pierce, FL, held their first Beach Ambassador training on January 28 and 29. The training was presented in Fort Pierce by South Florida Free Beaches and B.E.A.C.H.E.S. Foundation Institute. (See related article.) Trainees included nearly all of TCN's Board of Directors plus several other volunteers from Blind Creek and Haulover Beaches. There was also a presentation by Tampa Area Naturists (TAN) on the recently renewed effort to obtain a clothing-optional beach in the Tampa Bay area.
TCN had been recruiting Beach Ambassadors for several months prior to the training, and this was the formal launch of their program. At the conclusion of training, they started to put together a duty schedule. Additional Beach Ambassadors are sought, and you can find out more and volunteer via TCN's Beach Ambassador web page.
TCN's effort to grow continues with a membership drive and after-beach party on Saturday, February 4, 6:00 – 11:30 p.m. at a private home in Jensen Beach, FL. It is open to TCN members only. Join TCN via its membership web page.
TCN is presenting an update about Blind Creek Beach at the Mid-Winter Naturist Festival. (See related article for details.)
As part of its fundraising (to help pay for portable toilets at Blind Creek Beach and other club expenses), TCN is introducing the beautiful vintage beach posters, printed on metal or plastic, shown below. (The images here are censored slightly for display on Facebook; the actual posters show full nudity.) They will soon be available at the TCN information booth on Blind Creek Beach, which usually operates on weekends. For additional info about these and other items, visit TCN's merchandise web page.
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SFFB Board meeting
The Board of Directors of South Florida Free Beaches meets on the second Saturday of every month at 2:00 p.m. under the North Chickee (thatch-roofed shade structure) near Lifeguard Tower 15 on Haulover Beach unless another date and time or location is announced. See below for the long-term schedule. Any planned exception to this pattern is noted with an asterisk.
The meeting is open to SFFB sponsors / members, supporters, and invited guests. Prior to setting out, check the upper left-hand corner of SFFB's home page at sffb.com (under Today's Beach Reports) for any change in date, time, or location due to unavailability of Board members or in case of inclement weather, when the meeting may take place indoors.
Don't miss an SFFB Board meeting — add the schedule to your calendar now!
February 11, 2017
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March 11, 2017 |
April 8, 2017
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May 13, 2017
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June 10, 2017
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July 8, 2017
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August 12, 2017
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September 9, 2017
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October 14, 2017
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November 11, 2017
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December 9, 2017
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B.E.A.C.H.E.S. Foundation Institute annual meeting
Beach Education Advocates for Culture, Health, Environment & Safety (B.E.A.C.H.E.S.) Foundation Institute is the 501(c)(3) nonprofit educational and charitable adjunct to SFFB. B.E.A.C.H.E.S.' Board of Governors is holding its annual meeting at the Mid-Winter Naturist Festival (see related article for location and other details) on Saturday, February 18, 2017, 9-11 a.m.
Of related interest that day at the Festival are the Blind Creek Beach Update at 11 a.m. and Florida Naturist Groups: Sharing Information, Developing Strategies, 4:00 – 5:30 p.m. The latter brings together leaders and other key representatives of most of the major naturist advocacy organizations from around Florida. The meeting venues are listed in the final schedule that is provided upon check-in at the Festival. All Festival attendees are welcome to sit in on these sessions.
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Beach Ambassador training
Do you spend a lot of time on Miami's nude beach? If so, you have a chance to give back by volunteering as a Beach Ambassador (BA) to help maintain naturist standards on Haulover Beach and keep it safely nude for all to enjoy. Sign up for and attend a training to become part of a wonderful corps of volunteers.
BAs serve as beach monitors and greeters, a combination of block watch and welcome wagon. For their service, BAs at Haulover Beach get a cool hat, ID badge, and free parking on their duty days. Seasonal residents are welcome to participate.
Beach Ambassador training for the remainder of 2017 is scheduled for Haulover Beach in Miami on Saturday, April 8, July 8, and October 14. If you have any questions or wish to sign up for a training session, contact Ken.
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