September 2019

• Editor's Message: Take
Hurricane Dorian seriously!
• SFFB has new mailing address
• In memoriam: Tom Chittenden
• Florida free beach roundup
• SFFB September Board meeting
• Sun's out, buns out in NC town
• B.E.A.C.H.E.S. meets with
Haulover's State Senator Pizzo
• New Hampshire top-free case
may head to U.S. Supreme Court
• Registration open for GNI men's
nude Gathering, Aug. 21-30, 2020

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 21-30, 2020 (shorter options available).

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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

Reminder: Please note our new mailing address. Our old PO box will be closed soon.

In memoriam: Tom Chittenden, co-founder of South Florida Free Beaches

by David Baum, SFFB Recording Secretary, with additional information from Richard Mason, SFFB President, and Bruce Frendahl

Tom Chittenden, co-founder of South Florida Free Beaches, passed away of a heart attack on March 12, 2019 at age 80.

Tom was the naturist's naturist. The six-foot-tall Somerville, MA native was a teacher, MENSA member, and Dale Carnegie grad who knew how to make a speech (brief video clip, 1:17). Tom was active during the 1970s in Boston and on Cape Cod with his club, "Nood Group," which held house parties and nude swims for five years.

In 1975, Tom (at left in the adjacent photo) went to a large, nude beach event on a section of Cape Cod National Seashore. Even then, he had no problem being interviewed or being photographed nude. The organizer of that event was Lee Baxandall (center in the adjacent photo), who would soon form The Naturist Society. Tom became a friend and Lee asked for his help with the growing "free beach movement" in Florida after Tom moved there in 1977.

Tom used the name, "The South Florida Free Beaches" as the contact for clothing-optional beach information in this area. He gathered names of "free beach nudists" who used Virginia Key Beach, which was the unofficial clothing-optional beach in the Miami area at that time.

In 1980, Tom met Barbara Kahn (now, Petersen), who had her own social group of nudists. Consolidating the names on their respective lists, they created a group called South Florida Free Beaches (SFFB). After Virginia Key Beach was closed to nude use, Tom continued doing interviews on radio and television and fought to open more nude areas. While protesting in favor of clothing-optional recreation, he was arrested four times (once on live TV), but never convicted.

During the 1980s, Tom took members of SFFB to visit nudist camps and other clothing-optional beaches or sites that would be good candidates for nude use, including an isolated area of Haulover Beach. He stepped away from SFFB for a few years, but then returned after Haulover had become the long-desired clothing-optional beach.

He later adopted the nickname, "Portside Tom" and lived on a houseboat in the Florida Keys, and then found a life and a wife in Guatemala. His house had a rooftop sun deck for nude sunbathing. In later years, Tom became part of a living history group of pirate reënactors (as seen at right). With his full beard and tall, lanky form, Tom made an impressive Blackbeard.

Tom Chittenden was highly respected in naturist circles. His life work, personality, and perseverance will be fondly remembered. For details and more photos of Tom's history with SFFB, read my previous articles on him. If you have any reminiscences of Tom that you would like to share with readers in a future issue, please e-mail them to SFFB's Newsletter Editor.

Florida free beach roundup

Tampa Bay Free Beaches

Tampa Bay Free Beaches (TBFB), a naturist club that formed a few months ago to pursue a clothing-optional beach in the Tampa Bay Area, held its second open meeting on August 31 at Eden RV Resort in Hudson, FL. Despite concern about Hurricane Dorian swirling to the east of Florida (see related article above), more than two dozen people turned out to meet with TBFB's team of six directors.

They discussed ideas for fundraising and membership development, including assigning each Board member to a nudist resort in the area to post club news and promote the club there. There was talk of obtaining banners and items to sell, such as towels, shirts, hats, etc., printed with the club's logo. Another suggestion was for TBFB to have an information table in the exhibitors' hall on the next Bare Necessities The Big Nude Boat cruise. Someone mentioned possible collaboration with a radio station and a sailing company in the area. The TBFB Board approved a $250 donation to B.E.A.C.H.E.S. Foundation Institute to support the latter's efforts on TBFB's behalf. (See related article below.)

TBFB encourages individuals to join Friends of the Island Parks and businesses to join the Dunedin Chamber of Commerce. The Friends group is a citizen support organization that helps protect, promote, and provide educational services in Honeymoon and Caladesi Island State Parks, both located near Dunedin, FL (north of Clearwater). Membership in the group includes 12 free admissions to Honeymoon Island per year among other perks. TBFB is a member of the Chamber and is establishing friendly relationships there with business supporters.

TBFB's Board of Directors plans to hold monthly executive meetings and open public meetings every other month, along with social gatherings from time to time. As we have previously reported, TBFB enjoys the formal support of other Florida and national naturist organizations. You can also support TBFB's efforts by joining and/or donating to the club and "liking" its Facebook page at facebook.com/TampaBayFreeBeaches.

Treasure Coast Naturists

Treasure Coast Naturists (TCN), the group that mentors clothing-optional Blind Creek Beach on Hutchinson Island in Fort Pierce, FL (see related article above), has a cleanup on Blind Creek Beach on Saturday, September 21 in conjunction with International Coastal Cleanup Day. TCN is looking at having another nude bowling and billiards night, probably in November. Once a date is set, we'll report it. Keep an eye out.

South Florida Free Beaches

South Florida Free Beaches noted with concern a no-swim advisory issued by Miami-Dade County on August 12 for certain locations in the northeastern part of the county, due to leakage from a cracked sewage pipe. The advisory included only the first 500 feet (152 meters) of Haulover Beach to the north of Haulover Inlet, but many avoided the waters farther north on Haulover Beach in an abundance of caution.

At press time, we had not seen any announcement of the completion of pipe repairs, but the most recent test of Haulover Beach waters, dated August 26, indicated that they met quality standards. If you go there, check at the nearest lifeguard tower for the current status of water quality. Warning: While Hurricane Dorian is in the region, surf conditions will be very rough and may include strong, rip currents. (See related article above.) Avoid swimming if warning flags are posted.

SFFB Board meeting on Haulover Beach, Sept. 14

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 chickee (thatch-roofed shade structure) near the beachside showers just inside the entrance to Haulover Beach behind lifeguard tower 15 unless another date and time or location is announced. See below for the remainder of this year's 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!

August 21 meeting with Haulover State Senator

Following up on recent, informal contacts, Shirley Mason and Seth Paronick, Executive Director and President, respectively, of B.E.A.C.H.E.S. Foundation Institute, met on August 21 with Florida State Senator Jason Pizzo and Maggie Gerson, his chief legislative aide, in his district office in Miami's Palm Grove neighborhood. B.E.A.C.H.E.S.' government affairs consultant participated by phone.

They discussed in more detail the quest to reëstablish clothing-optional beaches at several sites around Florida where they used to exist and possible approaches at the state level to accomplish that. Senator Pizzo's District 38 encompasses Haulover Park, and he appreciates its signifi-cance to Miami-Dade County's economy and quality of life.

NH top-free case may head to U.S. Supreme Court

We reported in the February 2019 issue that the New Hampshire Supreme Court had rejected the appeals of three women convicted of violating a municipal ordinance prohibiting public exposure of female breasts. The plaintiffs filed on July 8 a request for the United States Supreme Court to review the New Hampshire Supreme Court's decision. The U.S. Supreme Court will decide whether to hear the case before its session opens on October 7. We will continue to monitor this story and bring you updates as they occur. For details, read NH 'Free the Nipple' activists ask U.S. Supreme Court to weigh in on topless sunbathing.

Sun's out, buns out in Carolina Beach, NC

The Town Council of Carolina Beach, NC voted on August 13 to remove buttocks from the list of body parts that may not be exposed in public. Thong-style bathing suits are now legal. For details, read Sun's out, buns out: NC beach town amends public nudity ordinance.

Early bird registration open for 2020 GNI Gathering

Gay Naturists International (GNI)'s 2019 men's nude Gathering just ended on August 25, but registration is already open for the next one, August 21-30, 2020. Modest discounts are available for registrations submitted through April 30, 2020. Find out more and register.