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NUDE CRUISE RAFFLE IS OPEN!
The annual Keep Our Beaches Bare fundraising raffle is now open for ticket orders. The raffle started a bit late, but we're delighted to announce that we're giving away two — yes, two! — nude Caribbean cruises, along with several other great, naturist vacation prizes. Get details and order your raffle tickets now! |
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October 2018 President's Message:
Help keep Haulover Beach clothing-optional!
by Richard Mason
Bonus: 15 months for the price of 12 if you join now as a sponsor / member of South Florida Free Beaches
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What does SFFB do for you and why should you join and donate to it?
South Florida Free Beaches (SFFB) was established in September 1980, while there was still an informal, historically clothing-optional beach on Virginia Key (located in Biscayne Bay between Coconut Grove and Key Biscayne). That nude beach was lost in 1982 when jurisdiction was transferred from (then) Dade County to the City of Miami.
Haulover's naturist beach didn't just happen by itself, nor was it created by the government. Through diligent research, planning, organization, and execution, SFFB launched the clothing-optional section of Haulover Beach, which is part of a Miami-Dade County park, in 1991. Its existence is based on the facts that there is no anti-nudity ordinance at the County level and the Florida Supreme Court has ruled that mere nudity in the absence of lewd and lascivious behavior is not a violation of Florida Statute 800.03, the state's indecent exposure law.
Support this important work and help keep Haulover Beach clothing-optional. Join or renew as an SFFB sponsor / member and/or donate!
Haulover Naturist Beach has been an enormous success over the past more than quarter-century, providing a clean, safe, pleasant, and easily accessible place for naturists to sunbathe, swim, and socialize nude in the open air. Countless friendships and even marriages and other long-term partnerships have resulted from its peaceful and welcoming ambience. It has also had an enormous, positive economic impact on Miami-Dade County as a significant draw for tourism.
It's tempting to take the nude beach in Haulover Park for granted, as too many beachgoers do, but it has gone through and still faces many challenges. Through all of these, SFFB has been and continues to be the mentor, advocate, and watchdog for the naturist beach, vigilantly monitoring for threats and opportunities, lobbying, cajoling, and protesting, making carefully considered campaign contributions to naturist-friendly candidates for office, and rallying the public to resist encroachments on its right to nude recreation on Haulover Beach.
It's SFFB that meets constantly with Haulover Park staff, Miami-Dade County and adjacent city officials, and state legislators and administrators in Tallahassee, Florida's capital. It's SFFB that for many years solely carried the cost of a lobbyist there, as described above left, although a couple of other Florida naturist organizations have since also hired him, multiplying his impact for naturist interests.
Join or renew as an SFFB sponsor / member and/or donate!
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This is an appeal to join or renew as a sponsor / member of South Florida Free Beaches / Florida Naturist Association, Inc. (SFFB/FNA). We want to start by thanking all current and past members for their dedication and support to our association. If you are a current member of SFFB (with membership expiring at the end of 2018) or were a member in any of the previous several years, you should also receive a printed renewal notice by regular mail.
Annual membership runs from January 1 to December 31. A new or lapsed member who joins now, however, gets the rest of 2018 plus all of 2019 for the cost of one year! We are keeping our annual membership dues at $35 per household, or just 67¢ per week. With that, you get peace of mind that Haulover Beach will remain open to nude use and the pride and satisfaction of helping keep it so. Join or renew on line (preferred) or download a form that you can mail in with a check, at sffb.com/join.php.
With your application, in addition to dues, if you can, please make a substantial donation to our Legal Defense & Political Action Fund, which supports our government affairs efforts and assists individuals cited for nude sunbathing.
It costs much more than we receive in dues to operate this association, which deals with local, statewide, and sometimes national concerns. We try to accomplish as much as possible with volunteers and additional fundraising. To keep Haulover Beach open to nude / naturist use, we must keep our commitment as its mentors and stewards to the Miami-Dade County Board of County Commissioners and the Mayor, and we incur expenses in doing so.
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Ramon Maury, SFFB lobbyist
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SFFB/FNA is the only strong, non-landed naturist association in Florida. It has therefore fallen to us to maintain a paid, professional lobbyist in Tallahassee, the state capital, to educate legislators and other state officials about naturist issues and to vet legislation with any possible impact on naturists, especially proposed changes to the criminal code.
Furthermore, we have to keep Haulover Beach squeaky-clean and safe in order to protect its clothing-optional status and to help other groups like ours obtain or preserve their naturist beach. We have therefore additionally tasked our lobbyist to advocate for more funding in the Miami-Dade County budget for needed public safety services on Haulover Beach that are lacking or deficient.
Other successful naturist beaches include Blind Creek, Playalinda, and Apollo Beaches on Florida's east coast and Bates Beach in Santa Barbara, CA. We are also making progress with our partners toward obtaining a rule change, at least, on a trial basis, that could allow for nude beach use in an as yet undetermined Florida State Park.
Consider your dues and donation to be an investment in the future of naturist / nude recreation in Florida and the other 49 states. "Haulover Beach is the model. South Florida Free Beaches is the way!"
Thank you in advance for your 2019 membership and additional support and for sharing this message with a friend!
If you are not a current sponsor / 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, as noted above. 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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Raffle: Chance to win a nude Caribbean cruise or other great, naturist vacation prizes for two!
B.E.A.C.H.E.S. Foundation Institute and South Florida Free Beaches (SFFB) / Florida Naturist Association have just launched our 2018 Keep Our Beaches Bare fundraising raffle.
Make a donation* and enter the drawing for a chance to win one of two deluxe, balcony staterooms for two — yes, we're giving away two cruises! — on Bare Necessities Tour & Travel Co.'s The Big Nude Boat | Best Bare Beaches Caribbean cruise aboard the Carnival Sunshine, sailing round trip from Port Canaveral, FL (near Titusville), January 25 – February 3, 2019, with calls in The Bahamas, Jamaica, Mexico, and Isla Roatán (Honduras) and four days at sea, or one of four other one-week naturist vacation packages in Florida (except as otherwise noted) for two persons, including stays at:
• Grand Lido™ Negril Au Naturel All-Suite Resort (4 days/3 nights), Negril, Jamaica
• Cypress Cove Nudist Resort & Spa, Kissimmee (near Orlando, one week, two prizes)
• Lake Como Family Nudist Resort, Lutz ("loots," near Tampa, one week)
Get all the details and order your raffle tickets at: beachesfoundation.org/fundraiser
You may order raffle tickets on line through Friday, November 30, 2018. The drawing is to be held on Sunday, December 2, 2018 at 2 p.m. on Haulover Beach in Miami, FL at the North Chickee (thatch-roofed shade structure) near lifeguard tower 15. Winners need not be present to claim their prize; they will be notified. Give your friends the above link or share this message with them and encourage them to get raffle tickets!
* 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 and SFFB's mandate.
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Beach Ambassador Training Conference draws nearly 30 participants
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Top: Shirley Mason (right), B.E.A.C.H.E.S. Executive Director, leads a
discussion. Bottom: Florida State Senator-elect Jason Pizzo addresses
conferees during luncheon meeting at Hiro Japanese Restaurant in North
Miami Beach, FL, close to Haulover Beach. |
The 2018 Beach Ambassador Training Conference took place September 28-30, 2018 in a spacious, vacation rental home in Hollywood, FL. This retreat allowed the nearly 30 participants to delve deeply into topics related to the successful management of a clothing-optional beach, incuding a Beach Ambassador Program. The Conference was hosted and co-sponsored by B.E.A.C.H.E.S. Foundation Institute, supplemented by a generous grant from the Naturist Education Foundation and with organizational support from SFFB.
Some of the conferees were from groups that mentor clothing-optional beaches with an existing Beach Ambassador Program, such as SFFB (Haulover) and Treasure Coast Naturists (Blind Creek Beach; see related article below), while others were with groups that are hoping to restore clothing-optional beaches in Palm Beach County and the Tampa Bay Area. Officials of the American Association for Nude Recreation (AANR) attended to become more familiar with free beach efforts.
Among the guest speakers were Nancy (Tiemann) Solvin, owner and President of Bare Necessities Tour & Travel Co. (see related article above), retired Chief Bob Maler of Miami-Dade Fire Rescue Ocean Rescue Bureau (lifeguards), and Florida State Senator-elect Jason Pizzo (pictured at left) of District 38, which includes Haulover Park.
B.E.A.C.H.E.S. is gathering feedback from Conference attendees and, on the basis of that, hopes to put on more such events in various parts of the U.S., particularly where traditional, clothing-optional beaches have been lost.
Meanwhile, 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. If you have any questions or wish to sign up for a one-on-one or small-group training this autumn, contact Ken.
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Red tide warnings close Haulover Beach
Haulover and other Northeast Miami-Dade County beaches were ordered closed on Thursday, October 4, 2018, after water tests indicated a "moderate" level of the algae that cause red tide. Miami-Dade County reopened the affected beaches on Friday, October 5, but warned patrons with respiratory issues to avoid them. Throughout the summer and continuing into autumn, red tide caused enormous kills of marine life and respiratory and ocular irritation to humans on Florida's West Coast (Gulf of Mexico), but Southeast Florida was not affected until now. Stay alert to advisories from Miami-Dade County before going to Haulover Beach. For more info, read County Mayor Carlos Giménez's October 4 statement and/or watch the video clip of him below.
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SFFB Board meeting on Haulover Beach, October 13
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!
| October 13, 2018
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November 10, 2018 |
December 8, 2018
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Treasure Coast Naturists nude bowling, October 7
Treasure Coast Naturists (TCN), the group that mentors Blind Creek Beach in Fort Pierce, FL, is holding a nude bowling night on Sunday evening, October 7, 2018 at a location on Florida's Treasure Coast. In case bowling is not your thing, billiards are also available. To RSVP and obtain details, contact TCN ASAP at blindcreekbeach@yahoo.com.
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Nude-A-Palooza tribute band concert, October 20
Cypress Cove Nudist Resort in Kissimmee, FL (near Orlando) invites you to its 11th Annual Nude-A-Palooza Charity Benefit Tribute Band Concert, Saturday, October 20, 2018, starting at noon. Featuring six bands, the concert benefits breast cancer research. In its previous ten years, this event has raised nearly $350,000 for that cause.
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"Good-bye, farewell, au revoir" from Club Orient, but it's not fini
In the May 2018 issue, we reported on plans by famed naturist resort Club Orient on Orient Bay in St. Martin to rebuild and get some units open by next month and more in April 2019. Hélas, that is not to happen. In the letter quoted below, dated October 4, 2018, Club Orient explains that, under the heavy financial burden of carrying staff without a resort, Orient Beach Club, the company that has operated the resort, is closing.
This is not the end, however, as most of the units belong to individual owners, many of whom are still awaiting insurance settlements and have not started to rebuild. Read the letter to get a sense of the hope that remains for an eventual resurrection of the resort.
"Dear Friends,
"For those of you who have been following our postings online or read the emails we have previously sent, what we're about to say should not come as a total shock. But, please read it carefully and understand the following only affects Orient Beach Club (OBC), which employs all of the staff and operates the resort. The Copropriété (Copro) which owns the land on which Club Orient is built and is similar to an HOA is responsible for the vast majority of structures.
"OBC received its insurance money in full on October 31, 2017, which included business interruption insurance. It has now been over a year that OBC has been waiting for the Copro to receive its money, so the rebuilding can begin.
OBC has had to pay "chomage partiel", which is similar to unemployment in some countries, but different in that the company must pay out 85% of an employee's actual wages and is reimbursed at only a percentage of minimum wage rates. This form of unemployment has been a very expensive proposition.
"We were comfortable doing this as the Copro believed we would have at least some of our units ready for the high season starting in November/December. This prognostication, unfortunately, has proven not to be the case.
"Even if the Copro was to receive their money in October or November, they could not complete any of the necessary rebuildings and repair until Summer or even longer. OBC cannot afford to continue to operate while missing two full high seasons, last year and this coming year.
"OBC expects to be legally closing its doors over the next thirty days with the assistance of a government liquidator. We have just about completed contacting all the people who still had advance deposits on hold for a future stay. To all of you who were kind enough to donate them or delay asking for their return, you are a big reason why we have been able to continue to survive this long. Thank you very much for your help.
"Now, does this mean Club Orient is finished? NO. It merely means the management company OBC, which is the employer and operator of the revenue-producing areas is closing.
"Once the Copro receives its funds and the re-building commences, a new management company would have to emerge to operate Club Orient. Hopefully, most of the same staff will still be available and return.
"Once again, the only reason OBC must close is they have no resort to manage and no way to continue to pay the staff without revenue being generated.
"So, this is a very sad time for all of us, many of us have given years and often decades of our lives to Club Orient as employees. Most of us have never felt like employees, but more like being a part of an extended worldwide family.
"We cannot predict what will happen next, as we will not be involved. We know the Copropriété is continuing in its efforts to re-build Club Orient and has contracts in place, once the legal and insurance issues are resolved.
"Our website and Facebook page will remain up for at least the next few months, and we have listed an email address to be able to contact a representative of Club Orient who is on the island.
"Thanks to all of you for your support over the years and we have missed seeing you this last year. We are heartbroken this mess has not yet been rectified and hope that the Copro will be able to rebuild very soon, so we can once again welcome all of you back to paradise.
"Au Revoir"
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