October 2019

• Editor's Message: St. Lucie
County moves toward formally
designating Blind Creek Beach as
clothing-optional
• SFFB has new mailing address
• Florida free beach roundup
• SFFB October Board meeting
• Corrections to previous issue
• New Hampshire top-free case
may be heard in U.S. Supreme
Court (update)
• Fort Collins, CO repeals anti-top-
freedom ordinance

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). Early Bird discounts in effect through April 30, 2020.

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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.

Florida free beach roundup

Treasure Coast Naturists

Treasure Coast Naturists (TCN; see related article above) held a cleanup on Blind Creek Beach on Saturday, September 21 in conjunction with International Coastal Cleanup Day. Volunteers hauled off six 30-gallon bags of trash, a rug, some rope, and a worn-out chair. While the beach was fortunately not damaged by the offshore passage of Hurricane Dorian last month, trash continues to wash up on the sand in its wake. TCN asks beachgoers to bring a bag to collect and remove whatever trash they can each time they visit.

TCN has a holiday party and after-beach potluck dinner on Saturday, November 9, 2019, starting at 6:00 p.m., in Jensen Beach, FL at a private home with a heated pool. This event is for TCN members only, but you may join at the party. Click or tap above for details, including downloading a membership form to complete in advance, if needed. Send e-mail to TCN to RSVP and to get the address or if you have any questions about the event.

TCN holds a nude bowling and billiards night in a location on Florida's Treasure Coast on Sunday, December 15, 2019, starting at 8 p.m. The cost is $20 for TCN members or $25 for non-members. Drinks and food are extra. Send e-mail to TCN to RSVP and to get the address or if you have any questions about the event.

TCN holds its first clothing-optional audience live theater event on Saturday, February 1, 2020 at St. Lucie Community Theatre (SLCT) Pineapple Playhouse in Port St. Lucie, FL. Titled, The Bare Truth, this comedic play deals with a naturist theme, although the cast remains clothed. Audience members may be nude, but it's not required. A welcome party with refreshments starts at 1 p.m. and curtain time is 2 p.m. This event is a fundraiser for Treasure Coast Naturists, and reservations are available exclusively through TCN for $20 (TCN members) or $25 (non-members). Send e-mail to TCN to reserve your seat(s) or if you have any questions about the event.

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, is to have an information table on Sunday, October 13, 2019, 9 a.m. – 3 p.m., at the 16th Annual Classic Car Show at Lake Como Family Nudist Resort in Lutz ("loots"), FL (just north of Tampa). The club hopes to gain new members and donations. The club's offerings on that date include raffles and a limited number of TBFB baseball caps for a donation of $25 each. Get details.

TBFB's Board of Directors holds an open meeting and potluck lunch on Saturday, November 2, 2019, 10:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m., in the Recreation Room of Paradise Lakes Condominium Association in Lutz, FL. For free admission to the meeting (only), you must register no later than noon on November 1.

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.

South Florida Free Beaches

There weren't any no-swim advisories affecting Haulover Beach in September 2019, but South Florida Free Beaches noted with concern a couple of instances last month in which the results of the weekly water quality test by the Florida Department of Health were rated as "poor." The Miami Herald explained in an editorial on October 9, 2019 that Miami-Dade and Broward Counties announce no-swim advisories for fecal contamination of beach waters only after a second, confirmatory water sample yields higher-than-acceptable levels of coliform bacteria.

This means that bathers may be exposed to heightened risk for up to a few days between the initial and follow-up tests, or may never receive a warning if the follow-up test finds that bacteria levels have fallen to within an acceptable range. The editorial calls for the two counties to issue no-swim advisories immediately upon an initial water sample failure or for the State of Florida to intervene to require them to do so. For the full editorial, read How do we know if our beaches are poop-free and safe for swimming? We don't.

Beach patrons should check the Florida Department of Health's Florida Healthy Beaches Program website for the latest water quality test results before deciding whether to enter the water, or check at the nearest lifeguard tower. (On the same website, press Return to Main Menu for test results from other beaches around Florida.)

B.E.A.C.H.E.S. Foundation Institute

At press time, B.E.A.C.H.E.S. Foundation Institute, the 501(c)(3) nonprofit, educational and charitable adjunct to South Florida Free Beaches, was setting up to record the final scenes depicting typical scenarios of Haulover Beach Ambassadors' interactions with beach patrons for training videos that have been in development since its Beach Ambassador Training Conference a year ago, which was professionally recorded.

B.E.A.C.H.E.S. has scheduled an exclusive, four-hour training by the Florida Association of Nonprofits, of which B.E.A.C.H.E.S is a member, on Friday, November 22, 2019. Part of an anticipated series, the training focuses on effective organization and development for boards of directors of clothing-optional beach advocacy groups. It will be live-streamed for registrants who are located remotely. B.E.A.C.H.E.S. aims to have at least two officers or directors from each eligible organization.

Priority for this first training goes to established and prospective B.E.A.C.H.E.S. Chapter groups, but there may be some space for board members of other free beach groups to participate. If your free beach advocacy group has any questions about this or future board training opportunities, contact Shirley Mason, B.E.A.C.H.E.S. Executive Director.

SFFB Board meeting on Haulover Beach, October 12

The Board of Directors of South Florida Free Beaches usually meets on the second Saturday of every month at 10:30 a.m. 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!

Corrections to previous (September 2019) issue

In the obituary for SFFB co-founder Tom Chittenden, the last name of co-founder Barbara Peterson was misspelled.

Due to editing errors, the remaining dates of SFFB Board meetings in 2019 were incorrect. They're shown correctly, below left. At press time, the times of the October 12 meeting might have been subject to change to accommo-date the filming of a Beach Ambassador training video.

In the article on the August 13, 2019 decision of the Town Council of Carolina Beach, NC to remove buttocks from the list of body parts that may not be exposed in public, the link to the report by a local television station was missing.

NH top-free case may be heard in U.S. Supreme Court

Update: We reported in last month's issue that the U.S. Supreme Court would soon decide whether to hear a municipal top-free conviction appeal by three women from New Hampshire. At press time, the Court had requested a response from New Hampshire but extended the deadline to November 15. We will continue to monitor this story and bring you updates as they occur. For commentary by Christine Hallquist, the unsuccesful 2018 Democratic candidate for New Hampshire Governor, read Hallquist urges U.S. Supreme Court to take N.H. 'Free the Nipple' case.

Fort Collins, CO repeals anti-top-freedom ordinance

In the June 2019 issue, we reported that the incoming City Council of Fort Collins, CO had decided against asking the U.S. Supreme Court to review its ordinance banning public exposure of women's breasts, which was struck down by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit. This case was in the news again last month after the City Council voted to remove the ordinance from the City's books, effective September 17. For details, read Fort Collins erases topless ban that inspired 'Free the Nipple' lawsuit.

This is the end of this case, and the 10th Circuit's decision is binding throughout its jurisdiction, which includes Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Utah, and Wyoming. Nonetheless, after suspending enforcement briefly, police in Tulsa, OK announced on September 30 that they would resume enforcing Oklahoma's statute banning public exposure of women's breasts after the state's Attorney General determined that the Fort Collins case had ended without adjudication. For details, read Tulsa police will resume enforcing ban on women going topless [sic] in public.

The issue could eventually end up before the U.S. Supreme Court because the 10th Circuit's decision is at odds with a ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit, which, in 2017, upheld Chicago's ordinance banning public exposure of women's breasts. It also conflicts with a May 2019 decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit, which upheld such an ordinance in Springfield, MO. The U.S. Supreme Court is amenable to taking up cases to resolve such discrepancies among U.S. District Court jurisdictions.