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November 2015 President's Message
by Richard Mason
Raffle info
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CANCELLED
Nude Year's Festival
Dec. 31, 2015 - Jan. 2, 2016
B.E.A.C.H.E.S. Foundation Institute has announced with much regret the cancellation of its planned Nude Year's Festival on Haulover Beach in Miami, FL, due to the continuing impasse regarding the 1:00 a.m. end time for Friday and Saturday in the event permit as approved by Miami-Dade County, which owns and operates Haulover Park.
This restriction precludes overnight camping, a key element to the success of the Festival. Experience has shown that the lack of on-site, overnight accommodation reduces participation, making the multi-day event with full catering and entertainment financially infeasible. Read more...
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The Keep Our Beaches Bare raffle being held as an annual fund raiser for both South Florida Free Beaches and B.E.A.C.H.E.S. Foundation Institute is in its final weeks. The drawing is scheduled for Sunday, November 29, 2015 at 2:00 p.m. on Haulover Beach at the South Chickee.
Prizes are for two and include: 10-day Bare Necessities nude cruise • 5-day stay at Hidden Beach Resort - Au Naturel Club • Cypress Cove weekend (two prizes) • 2-day/3-night stay at daddy O hotel miami • weekend at Lake Como • weekend at Sunsport Gardens • two prizes for lunch or dinner at Werner Staub's Peppermill Restaurant. See details below.
Winners do not need to be present to claim their prize. Raffle tickets are available on line at beachesfoundation.org/fundraiser.
Florida Legislature notes
We recently learned that there will be a bill introduced in the House Criminal Justice Committee that will concern minors. We expect that the bill will include the issue of photos and this could have consequences for naturist families. We will report in this medium as soon as we obtain details.
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South Florida - A Naturist Perspective
Richard's monthly column in NUSA Sun
October 2015: Haulover Beach Journal
Richard describes the evolution from complaints about clothed people on the nude beach to acceptance. Today's newbie could be tomorrow's seasoned naturist! Read...
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Our lobbyist, Ramon Maury of Maury Management Group, Inc., is watching developments of this and other bills that are circulating at this time. The Florida Legislature has been holding committee meetings in Tallahassee since last September, and they hope to have all bills finalized before their session in March. Next year is an election year and their goal is not to get bogged down in controversy during session.
Blind Creek Beach
The leadership of the Friends of Blind Creek Beach group is going through growing pains on their beach in Fort Pierce, FL. There have been recent improvements to the beach area by St. Lucie County (see below), but the number of naturist visitors may be larger than the County anticipated. There are also security issues raised by Florida Power & Light because of the proximity to their nuclear plant. As with any public usage of sensitive land, several government agencies are involved.
Beach Ambassador training
This year's remaining Beach Ambassador (BA) training is scheduled for Haulover Beach in Miami on Saturday, December 12.
BAs are volunteers that 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. If you have any questions or wish to sign up for a training session, contact Ken.
Ends this month: Enter raffle for chance to win nude Caribbean cruise for two
B.E.A.C.H.E.S. Foundation Institute and South Florida Free Beaches / Florida Naturist Association continue to promote the 2015 "Keep Our Beaches Bare" fundraising raffle. Make a donation* and enter the drawing for a chance to win a balcony stateroom for two on the Bare Necessities nude cruise, February 6-16, 2016, from Fort Lauderdale, FL to the multicultural Caribbean or one of six other, three-day, two-night naturist vacation packages in Florida (except as otherwise noted) for two persons, including stays at
• Hidden Beach Resort - Au Naturel Club by Karisma (6 days/5 nights), Kantenah, Riviera Maya in Mexico's Yucatán peninsula (one hour south of Cancún)
• Cypress Cove Nudist Resort & Spa, Kissimmee (two prizes)
• daddy O hotel miami, Bay Harbor Islands (textile, but near Haulover Beach)
• Lake Como Family Nudist Resort, Lutz (near Tampa)
• Sunsport Gardens Family Naturist Resort, Loxahatchee Groves (near West Palm Beach)
and two lunch or dinner packages for two at Werner Staub's Peppermill Restaurant on the Intracoastal Waterway in Sunny Isles Beach (textile, but walking distance to Haulover Beach).
Get all the details and order your raffle tickets at: beachesfoundation.org/fundraiser
Tickets may be ordered on line through Friday, November 27, 2015. They are also available on Haulover Beach in Miami at the SFFB information booth when it is set up at the South Chickee (thatch-roofed canopy) near lifeguard station 13. The drawing will take place in the same location on Sunday, November 29, 2015 at 2:00 p.m. Winners need not be present to claim their prize; they will be notified. Give your friends the link or print out a brochure for them from the raffle page.
* Donations will be used for naturist education, free beach advocacy, capital improvements to Haulover Beach or other clothing-optional beach sites, disability beach access program, and other purposes as listed in the scope of B.E.A.C.H.E.S.' mission.
Florida nude beach roundup: new improvements
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Haulover Beach, Miami: After nearly two years' closure to create a wheelchair ramp on the beach side of the pedestrian underpass beneath Collins Avenue (State Road A1A) and to reconfigure parking to make space for a boat storage facility, the North Lot, located opposite the clothing-optional section, has had a "soft" reopening. As of this writing, there had been no public announcement and there was no signage to that
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Haulover Beach north parking lot now open!
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effect, but 237 spaces, of which 25 are reserved for handicap permit parking, became available to the public early this month. The northernmost entrance (just south of the Arlen House Condominium complex) was still labeled as a "construction entrance." An alternative is the entrance to the marina, a short distance south. Construction continues on the boat storage facility on the bay side of the lot. There was no word from Miami-Dade County on when the official reopening of the lot would occur.
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| Click on image for larger view. |
Blind Creek Beach, Fort Pierce: During October, St. Lucie County built a panoramic observation deck (see video clip), a crushed-shell walking path, and a shade structure upland of the beach. In early November, a temporary, portable outhouse was delivered, thanks to private donors and volunteers. If you would like to donate to the fund that pays for the maintenance of the outhouse, please contact Nelson.
Friends of Blind Creek Beach, the naturist group that is guiding efforts for the clothing-optional beach, held a potluck party there on Halloween to celebrate all October birthdays. It was such a success that there will be another potluck lunch on the beach on Saturday, the 28th of this month, starting at noon, to celebrate all November birthdays.
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Caspersen Beach, Venice: This beach is not clothing-optional, but Suncoast Naturists (SCN), based in Sarasota, FL, is advocating to make it so on a quarter-mile section. The group's commitment to the beach dates back to May 2001, when it contracted with Sarasota County to be the official, Adopt-A-Park sponsor of the beach, organizing quarterly cleanups ever since.
SCN has set up a crowdfunding page to receive online contributions to help defray expenses of its Free Caspersen Beach project. The group also seeks additional signatures on its online petition to the Sarasota County Sheriff.
SCN hosts Food, Fun, Freedom, featuring a potluck picnic, food collection for All Faiths Food Bank in Sarasota, fund drive, 50-50 raffle, and games, in the park above Caspersen Beach on Saturday, December 5, 1-4 p.m.
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| Click to view beach video clip. |
Effort launched for clothing-optional beach in North Carolina
NewEdenBeach.org has launched a campaign to secure a recognized, clothing-optional beach in North Carolina, possibly on Bird Island, located in the southeastern corner of the state. With limited exceptions, North Carolina law bans public nudity, so this may entail legislative action. To kick off the campaign, they're asking supporters to follow them on Twitter (@NewEdenBeach) and to sign their petition to North Carolina's governor and state legislators. For more info, contact the group via Twitter or e-mail.
Six days of fun, growth, and community in the nude
28th Annual Mid-Winter Naturist Festival
Thursday - Tuesday, February 11-16, 2016
Sunsport Gardens Family Naturist Resort
14125 North Rd, Loxahatchee Groves, FL (14 miles west of West Palm Beach)
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 2016. Come for any or all of the days - it's up to you!
This nude gathering features more than 240 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 will benefit The Naturist Society and South Florida Free Beaches. Get details and/or register.
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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