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B.E.A.C.H.E.S. Foundation Institute and South Florida Free Beaches (SFFB) / Florida Naturist Association are delighted to announce the record-breaking results of the 2017 Keep Our Beaches Bare fundraising raffle. 347 donors collectively contributed $15,130, a nearly 90% increase over the total donations in last year's raffle. There was also a 20% increase in the number of donors participating.
The drawing took place as scheduled on Sunday, November 26, 2017 on Haulover Beach in Miami. A video of the drawing is available at left. We are very grateful to all of the donors, whose generosity positions us to keep up with increased challenges. The winners are listed on B.E.A.C.H.E.S.' website at beachesfoundation.org.
We are also very grateful to our prize donors, without whom this fundraiser would not have been possible. Please patronize them!
• Bare Necessities Tour & Travel Co. donated the first prize, passage for two in a deluxe, Ocean Suite stateroom on The Big Nude Boat Caribbean cruise aboard the Carnival Victory, sailing round trip from Miami, FL, February 2-12, 2018, to the Dutch ABC islands (Aruba, Bonaire, and Curaçao), the Dominican Republic, and a private island in The Bahamas, with four days at sea. As of this writing, there are only a handful of staterooms left, so use the above link to book ASAP if you want to sail on this!
| We are grateful to our prize donors, without whom this fundraiser would not have been possible. Please patronize them! |
• Karisma Hotels & Resorts donated the second prize, a four-day, three-night, all-inclusive stay for two at Hidden Beach Resort – Au Naturel Club in Kantenah, Riviera Maya on Mexico's Yucatán peninsula (near Playa del Carmen and an hour from Cancún).
• Blue Diamand Resorts donated the third prize, a four-day, three-night, all-inclusive stay for two at Grand Lido™ Negril Au Naturel All-Suite Resort in Negril, Jamaica.
• Fox Travel – An American Express Travel Representative, an agent for the above two resorts, assisted in arranging second and third prizes.
• Cypress Cove Nudist Resort & Spa in Kissimmee, FL (near Orlando) donated the fourth and fifth prizes, three-day, two-night stays for two.
• daddy O hotel miami in Bay Harbor Islands, FL (near Haulover Beach) donated the sixth prize, a three-day, two-night stay for two. The hotel is textile-only, but welcomes naturist guests. Mention South Florida Free Beaches for a 10% discount.
• Lake Como Family Nudist Resort in Lutz, FL ("loots," near Tampa) donated the seventh and eight prizes, three-day, two-night stays for two. Lake Como is the venue for Florida Young Naturists Naked Winter Gathering 7, December 8-10, 2017. (See calendar listing at left.) Tampa Area Naturists (TAN) is bringing a contingent.
• Sunsport Gardens Family Naturist Resort in Loxahatchee Groves, FL (near West Palm Beach) donated the ninth prize, a three-day, two-night stay for two. Sunsport Gardens is the venue for a number of upcoming events (see calendar listing at left), including the Mid-Winter Naturist Festival, February 15-20, 2018. (See related article below.)
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 (below) and SFFB's mandate.
* 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 South Florida Free Beaches (SFFB) / Florida Naturist Association. Its overall mission is to establish, protect, maintain, and improve the physical, social, and legal integrity of naturist (clothing-optional) beaches in the United States and Canada. See B.E.A.C.H.E.S.' full mission statement for details.
The President's Message column by Richard Mason, SFFB President, resumes in the January 2018 issue of this newsletter. On his behalf, I am including below his usual message about joining and/or donating to South Florida Free Beaches.
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.
SFFB also has a separate Legal Defense & Political Action Fund that supports its 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 (in e-mail version of newsletter). Thanks!
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Six days of fun, growth, and community in the nude
30th Annual Mid-Winter Naturist Festival
Thursday – Tuesday, February 15-20, 2018
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 2018. Come for any or all of the days — it's up to you!
This nude gathering features nearly 250 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 a couple of off-site events, which are 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, South Florida Free Beaches, and Treasure Coast Naturists. Get details and/or register.
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Click above for a video tour of Sunsport Gardens
Family Naturist Resort with Morley and Anne.
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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 SFFB.
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 drum circle, first Friday of every month from 9 p.m. to midnight. 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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Nude beach on Vermont lake faces potential ban
We reported in the June 2017 issue about public objections to infrastructural expansion plans around the nude beach on Lake Willoughby in Westmore, VT. With the increasing popularity of the site, state authorities wanted to add parking, boardwalks, and restrooms, for which space would be cleared by removing a significant area of trees.
There has been nude use for decades in this corner of the lake's Southwest Cove, but controversy comes up from time to time. This past summer, city officials received reports of nude sunbathers intimidating clothed visitors to the traditional, nude beach with demands to leave, and they have heard from tourist hikers who were shocked to find nudity when the trail opened to the lakeshore without any warning signage.
The Westmore Selectboard (town council) met with the town attorney to discuss a public indecency ordinance that would end nude use of the lake beach, and introduced a draft at its meeting in early October. The Selectboard may include the nudity issue in its next annual report, to be followed by consideration of the ordinance at its annual meeting in March 2018. The public would have an opportunity to provide input and to challenge it via petition to the town's voters.
We will continue to monitor this story and bring you updates. In the meantime, for extensive details, read The end of Lake Willoughby's nude beach?.
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Trae Crowder, "Liberal Redneck," goes to nude camp
In the August 2017 issue, we reported that Trae Crowder, a comic and pundit billed as "The Liberal Redneck," would be performing at the 32nd Annual International Gathering of Male Naturists, put on that month by Gay Naturists Interna-
tional (GNI) in the Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania.
Trae went there with two fellow comics,
who apparently (or maybe pretending) misunderstood "naturists" as something like environmentalists. Upon arrival at the venue, however, they observed that all the attendees were nude. At first, they felt some awkwardness, but, as they interacted with and performed standup comedy for the naturist men, they became more comfortable. Watch the above video for a taste of their experience. Spoiler alert: Of course, by the end of their visit, these straight, non-nudist guys got naked.
Registration for the GNI Gathering in August 2018 is open to men aged 21 or over. Prices increase on January 1, 2018.
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Breastfeeding mother stands up to harassment
Brittni Medina was standing in a long line last month at Disneyland in Anaheim, CA with her husband and infant son. Her son was hungry, so she started to breastfeed him with no covering. A couple of women behind her scowled and commented loudly and, she said, snarkily that she should take her child to a restroom to feed him.
Plotting to shame them back, Ms. Medina had her husband take a photo of her with her son, but including the two disapproving women within the frame. She then posted it to Breastfeeding Mama Talk, a nursing mothers' support page on Facebook with nearly a million "likes," and it went viral.
Ms. Medina has received both positive and negative feeback. She says she appreciates the former and is unfazed by the latter. It's noteworthy that she heard from a relative of the two women, who expressed embarrassment over their behavior. She says that one of the women in the photo has posted a comment in an article about the incident, denying it happened.
For additional details, read This mom got shamed for breastfeeding at Disneyland, and her response was epic and Ms. Medina's Facebook thread, in which she states that no woman should be shamed for feeding her baby uncovered.
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SFFB Board meeting on Haulover Beach, December 9
The Board of Directors of South Florida Free Beaches usually 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 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!
| December 9, 2017
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January 13, 2018 |
February 10, 2018
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| March 10, 2018
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April 14, 2018 |
May 12, 2018
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| June 9, 2018
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July 14, 2018 |
August 11, 2018
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| September 8, 2018
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October 13, 2018 |
November 10, 2018
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| December 8, 2018
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