June 2019

• Editor's Message — Focus on
Blind Creek Beach
• SFFB June Board meeting
• New Mobi-Mats® for Haulover
• Fort Collins, CO passes on
U.S. Supreme Court appeal
• New group forms to pursue
clothing-optional beach in Tampa
Bay Area
• Shop for Dad on AmazonSmile
and support B.E.A.C.H.E.S.
Foundation Institute

UPCOMING EVENTS:

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!

Grand Lido™ Negril
Au Naturel All-Suite Resort
Negril, Jamaica
An upscale and elegant naturist resort
Represented by Fox Travel American Express

The Landon
(formerly, daddy O hotel miami)
Bay Harbor Islands, FL
Textile, but close to Haulover Beach

Lake Como Family Nudist Resort
Lutz, FL
The place to be ... naturally!

Sunsport Gardens
Family Naturist Resort
Loxahatchee Groves, FL
Clothes-free recreation in a
natural, tropical paradise!

The Naturist Society Foundation
Body acceptance is the idea.
Nude recreation is the way.

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Learn all about Haulover Beach! Click on above image to download this informative, 20-page booklet.

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Bringing Together the Largest Nudist Community in the World
nusasun.com
Pick up a free copy at a newspaper dispenser box on Haulover Beach.

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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.

Register to attend GNI's annual nude Gathering for men, August 16-25, 2019 (shorter options available). Late registration fees kick in on July 16.

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Nudist Florida, an online magazine by AANR-Florida (Florida region of American Association for Nude Recreation), helps you find places to enjoy nude recreation.

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Looking for additional 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.

by Seth Paronick

We reported in the past two months' issues on a threat to the clothing-optional status of Blind Creek Beach in Fort Pierce, FL from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), which owns most of the land that the beach is on and leases it to St. Lucie County. DEP objects to nude use there and has made moves to force the County to end it.

TCN hired a Tallahassee lobbyist with extensive experience in naturist issues to get a temporary hold placed on pending actions by DEP and to pursue positive steps with key players. He succeeded in obtaining that hold through the end of June, with the possibility of extension.

The lobbyist is continuing discussions with DEP and other Florida state entities in pursuit of a compromise that may address DEP's concerns while accommodating continued nude use on part of Blind Creek Beach. The administration of St. Lucie County is firmly behind retaining the clothing-optional beach and is actively participating in these efforts to achieve a resolution.

SFFB Board meeting on Haulover Beach, June 8

The Board of Directors of South Florida Free Beaches usually meets on the second Saturday of every month at 10:30 a.m. (an earlier time than last year's meetings) 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 the second Saturday pattern is noted with an asterisk.

The meetings are 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 bad weather, when the meeting may take place indoors.

Don't miss an SFFB Board meeting — add the schedule to your calendar now!

Fort Collins, CO passes on U.S. Supreme Court appeal

We reported in the April 2019 issue that the outgoing City Council of Fort Collins, CO had deferred to the incoming council to decide whether to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court the City's recent defeat in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit regarding its ordinance banning public exposure of female breasts. Enforcement is enjoined while the case works its way through the courts. It is currently remanded to the U.S. District Court for further review.

The newly seated City Council voted 4-3 on May 21 against proceeding with an appeal, although it has until June 17 to change its mind in case settlement agreements with the plaintiffs fail. The 10th District's decision is binding on Colorado, Wyoming, New Mexico, Kansas, Utah and Oklahoma. Because it's at odds with decisions of a couple of other U.S. District Courts, there is the potential for a U.S. Supreme Court review of a similar case from elsewhere.

For details, read Fort Collins won't pursue ban on public toplessness to U.S. Supreme Court. We will continue to monitor this case and report on updates as they occur.

New Mobi-Mats® for Haulover Beach

After months of the public's having to navigate worn-out Mobi-Mats® (mobility access mats) onto Haulover Beach opposite lifeguard tower 15, followed by the removal of a large section of mats in February, new mats were installed in March.

This was accomplished through the efforts of Richard Mason, South Florida Free Beaches, Inc. (SFFB)'s President and Government Affairs Committee Chair. After waiting for internal processes of the Miami-Dade Parks, Recreation and Open Spaces Department, Richard decided to reach out directly to the Department's Disability Services Manager, Mary Palacios, to get it done in the current fiscal year.

Mobi-Mats® are essential for people in wheelchairs and those that use wheeled carts to carry their gear onto the beach. Along with the nearby wheelchair ramp, they exemplify the many amenities that SFFB and its 501(c)(3) adjunct, B.E.A.C.H.E.S. Foundation Institute, have obtained to improve beach visitors' experience.

Tampa Bay Free Beaches forms to pursue c/o beach

A new group, Tampa Bay Free Beaches (TBFB), is forming to obtain a clothing-optional beach in the Tampa Bay Area. It aims to bring focus and direction where previous efforts have floundered.

All interested are invited to a meet-and-greet with the TBFB Board of Directors on Saturday, June 29, 2019 at 9:30 a.m. in the Recreation ("Rec") Hall of Lake Como Family Nudist Resort in Lutz, FL. There is to be a discussion of how to move forward with the beach project and what the group can accomplish together. June 28 is the deadline to RSVP by e-mail to befree (at) tampabayfreebeaches
.com to be included on the admission list for the front gate.

There's also an opportunity to meet the TBFB Board on Saturday, June 8, 2019, noon – 3 p.m., when they have an information table at the annual Corn Fest at Lake Como.

Shop for Dad on AmazonSmile and support B.E.A.C.H.E.S. Foundation Institute

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. Since last year, B.E.A.C.H.E.S. has been registered as an eligible recipient of donations from Amazon through its AmazonSmile program.

This year, Father's Day is on Sunday, June 16. If you shop for the dads in your life on Amazon, consider doing so via AmazonSmile (same products, prices, and service as regular Amazon) via B.E.A.C.H.E.S.' special link at smile.amazon.com/ch/65-0963638. Amazon then donates ½% of your eligible purchase amount to B.E.A.C.H.E.S. at no cost to you!

Occasionally, AmazonSmile runs promotions in which it donates a higher percentage. You can multiply the impact by sharing the above link and explanation with your naturist friends. Whenever you shop on Amazon, please access it via the above link to help B.E.A.C.H.E.S. Thank you!

You can also add a donate button for B.E.A.C.H.E.S. to your Facebook timeline posts. Whenever you post something beach- or naturism-related, consider doing this to encourage your followers to donate to B.E.A.C.H.E.S. through Facebook. When selecting the beneficiary, search for B.E.A.C.H.E.S. under at least the first few words of its full name, Beach Education Advocates for Culture, Health, Environment & Safety Foundation Institute.

Furthermore, you can add a donate button for B.E.A.C.H.E.S. to your Evite^® invitations. ("Party with a purpose.") Include a bit of explanation in the message to invitees to encourage them to donate to B.E.A.C.H.E.S. through Evite. (Such donations are processed by Pledgeling, an Evite partner.) As above, search for B.E.A.C.H.E.S. under at least the first few words of its full name.

Of course, donations are also accepted directly via the Donate tab on B.E.A.C.H.E.S.' website at beachesfoundation.org. Donations to B.E.A.C.H.E.S. are tax-deductible in the U.S. to the extent permitted by law. (Consult your tax adviser.)

Donations to B.E.A.C.H.E.S. are used for naturist education, free beach advocacy, capital improvements to Haulover Beach or other clothing-optional beach sites, its disability beach access program in cooperation with the Paralyzed Veterans of America Florida Chapter and the Miami-Dade County Commission on Disability Issues (CODI), the Beach Ambassador Program, and other purposes as listed in the scope of B.E.A.C.H.E.S.' mission.