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November 2019 President's Message:
Help keep Haulover Beach clothing-optional!
by Richard Mason
Bonus: 14 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 govern-ment. 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. (Read its history.) 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 chal-lenges. 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 consid-ered campaign contributions to naturist-friendly candidates for office, and rallying the public to resist encroachments on its right to nude recrea-tion 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 several 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 2019) or were a member in any of the previous several years, you should also receive a printed renewal notice by regular mail sometime in November. Prospective members who provided their mailing address during the same time frame are also to receive a letter.
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Annual membership runs from January 1 to December 31. A new or lapsed member who joins now, however, gets the rest of 2019 plus all of 2020 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 near 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 2020 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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Florida free beach roundup
Tampa Bay Free Beaches
Reminder: The Board of Directors of Tampa Bay Free Beaches (TBFB) 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. Visit TBFB's contact page to communicate with the Board and/or to sign up for the club's e-mail list.
Treasure Coast Naturists
Here are three reminders and one new event for Treasure Coast Naturists (TCN), the group that mentors clothing-optional Blind Creek Beach on Hutchinson Island in Fort Pierce, FL.
Reminder: 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.
Reminder: 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 has its third annual Happy Nude Year Skinny-Dip / Polar Bare Plunge on Saturday afternoon, January 1, 2020 on Blind Creek Beach.
Reminder: TCN hosts 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.
Naked Yoga on the Sand, usually offered on Saturday mornings on Blind Creek Beach by Nelson, TCN's President, is canceled for the rest of the year, due to tides and weather. To be notified of its restarting in 2020 and other Blind Creek Beach news, subscribe to Beach Blast, TCN's free, weekly e-blast, and "like" its Facebook page at facebook.com/Treasure
CoastNaturists.
B.E.A.C.H.E.S. Foundation Institute | South Florida Free Beaches
B.E.A.C.H.E.S. Foundation Institute has arranged in partnership with South Florida Free Beaches a four-hour training in Fort Lauderdale by the Florida Association of Nonprofits, of which B.E.A.C.H.E.S. is a longtime 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. An online attendance option is available for those that can't be there in person. Get more info and register.
The holiday gift-giving season is approaching. If you shop for yourself and your loved ones on Amazon, consider doing so via AmazonSmile (same products, prices, and service as regular Amazon) via B.E.A.C.H.E.S.' special link at smile.amazon.com/ch/65-0963638. Amazon then donates ½% of your eligible purchase amount to B.E.A.C.H.E.S. at no cost to you!
Occasionally, AmazonSmile runs promotions in which it donates a higher percentage. You can multiply the impact by sharing the above link and explanation with your naturist friends. Whenever you shop on Amazon, please access it via the above link to help B.E.A.C.H.E.S. Thank you!
Central Florida Naturists
[Editor's notes: The following article is shared by permission of Central Florida Naturists (CFN) from the September 2019 issue of its newsletter. CFN is an all-volunteer association supporting nude use of Apollo and Playalinda Beaches at Canaveral National Seashore on Florida's Space Coast. To receive more articles like this one, subscribe to CFN's free, quarterly e-newsletter.]
Central Florida Naturists (CFN) keeps getting a trickle of questions such as, "When are you guys going to get organized?" and "When can we join?"
While we have addressed this in previous newsletters, for the newbies (and the forgetful), Central Florida Naturists was a strong and vibrant organization with hundreds of active members back in the mid-1990s, joining together in a battle with politicians and church leaders intent on eradicating public nudity from Florida. (See history.) At the end of the battle in 2000 (we won), the exhausted CFN leadership made a strategic decision to "disappear" to help the emotions on both sides fade away.
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This photo of Playalinda Beach is courtesy of TripAdvisor.
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Finally, in December of 2017, a small group of mostly original leadership assembled to test the waters for reigniting the Central Florida Naturists organization. We rebuilt the web site, opened a Twitter account (@CFNaturists), and projected reactivating in 2018. Well, here it is, the end of 2019, and it remains still only a dream.
Unfortunately, by then, leadership had dispersed too far from the beaches to expect active participation. More significantly, we had lost the "glue" of the fight that kept the organization active and vibrant. Today, nudity on our beaches continues largely without incident. Nudists and park rangers are at peace, many on a cordial, first-name basis.
We continue to plead for local leadership volunteers, but the overwhelming majority of our nude beach visitors are vacationers and curiosity-seekers from other states and other countries. Sure, we could create a bogus "membership" and, no doubt, many would "join" purely to provide encouragement, but that seems kind of empty.
We continue to plead for local-area individuals interested in, if nothing else, being a CFN presence on the Canaveral National Seashore (CANA) beaches. Does this sound like you? Please consider it and let us know! We solicit your active participation. If you have ideas on what you'd like to see us become, please e-mail us at info@cfnat.org.
Central Florida Naturists remains pledged to:
1. being a source of accurate and truthful information as it relates to naturism and CANA;
2. exemplifying the true naturist lifestyle on our beaches, countering porn beach fantasies;
3. representing non-sexual naturism to 65% of Americans who have never skinny-dipped;
4. participating in public service with the National Park Service and Canaveral National Seashore;
5. getting recreation back into naturist activities by getting people off their couches;
6. tearing down the [barriers] that currently lock nudism inside high-walled, commercial communities; and
7. encouraging the forming of friendships with other naturists.
If you haven't already done so, get your annual pass for $40 for unlimited entry to Canaveral National Seashore and Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge and visit often. U.S. citizens or permanent residents age 62 or over may purchase a Lifetime Senior Pass for $80 for unlimited entry to more than 2,000 recreational sites (including CANA's Apollo and Playalinda Beaches) managed by six federal agencies or purchase an Annual Senior Pass for $20, which, after four years, can be traded in for a lifetime pass.
Call for Beach Ambassadors
Do you spend a lot of time on Miami's nude beach? If so, consider giving back by volunteering as a Beach Ambassador (BA) to help maintain naturist standards on Haulover Beach and to keep it safely nude for all to enjoy.
BAs serve as beach monitors and greeters, a combination of block watch, welcome wagon, and concierge. 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.
Ken Tauer, SFFB Executive Secretary and Haulover Beach Ambassador Captain, is available to meet on Haulover Beach with anyone considering becoming a BA to describe what it's like and to answer any questions. Visit the Haulover Beach Ambassador page for information. If you're interested, contact Ken by e-mail or at (954) 599-8420.
Treasure Coast Naturists is also recruiting Beach Ambassadors for Blind Creek Beach in Fort Pierce, FL. Visit the Blind Creek Beach Ambassador page for information. If you have any questions, send e-mail or call (772) 800-5841.
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SFFB Board meeting on Haulover Beach, November 9
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!
| November 9, 2019
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December 14, 2019 |
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In memoriam: Fred Van Nest
Florida naturists mourn the sudden passing of Fred Van Nest on October 16 at a hospital in Kissimmee, FL. At press time, the cause of death was unknown and arrangements for a celebration of his life were to be announced at a later date.
Fred was very involved in many aspects of organized naturism, serving as a Trustee of the American Association for Nude Recreation, Secretary of the American Nudist Research Library (ANRL), and President of the Nudist Rights Coalition Political Action Committee, to name just a few. He was also a longtime member of SFFB and The Naturist Society.
Fred had a keen mind and sound judgment, coupled with an easygoing person-ality. His counsel was highly valued, and his loss leaves a breach. You can get a good sense of the man from this video interview (16:22) at ANRL on April 7, 2015.
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Grin and bare it (an occasional, lighthearted feature)
Astronauts au naturel
by David Baum, Recording Secretary, South Florida Free Beaches
Fifty years ago, on November 20, 1969, Apollo 12 astronauts Charles ("Pete") Conrad and Alan Bean walked on the lunar surface while command module pilot Richard Gordon orbited overhead. When their work on the Moon was over, it was time to return to the lunar module and then to lift off toward the command module.
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Pete Conrad is reflected in Alan Bean's visor.
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Their space suits were so covered with moondust that, after they docked with the command module, the lack of gravity caused the dust to form "a gray, gritty cloud inside the lunar module," according to Bob Ward, author of The Light Stuff: Space Humor — From Sputnik to Shuttle. "To keep from tracking all that dust into Dick Gordon's nice, clean command capsule, the two moonwalk-ers started stripping.
"Soon, Conrad is down to wearing only a pair of earphones, and he and Bean are feeling like the first pair of space streakers. Then, floating there in his altogether, Conrad has an odd thought: If their lunar module should prematurely jettison with him still inside, he will leave the world exactly as he entered it — without a stitch on."
According to Apollo 12: The NASA Mission Reports, they gave their dirty suits to Gordon so that he could stow them away inside the command module, while Conrad and Bean brought up the rest of their gear and lunar samples.
Conrad noted that, after the lunar module was jettisoned, he and his fellow moonwalker "went to work and started stowing the gear... Dick was busy and Al and I were naked. We didn't have any clothes on; we wanted to get cleaned up after we had stashed everything because the gear we were stashing was dirty." Despite their best efforts, the fine, weightless, lunar dust drifted through the zippers of the contingency sample bags and got inside the command module, anyway!
When the Apollo 12 astronauts returned safely to Earth, they were properly attired, of course.
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