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December 2019 Editor's Message:
by Seth Paronick
St. Lucie County Tourist Development Council formally backs designating Blind Creek Beach as clothing-optional
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Treasure Coast Naturists (TCN), the group that mentors clothing-optional Blind Creek Beach (BCB) on Hutchinson Island in Fort Pierce, FL, has announced some very positive developments. The following article is based closely on TCN's press release of November 7, 2019 (with edits agreed to upon request by B.E.A.C.H.E.S. Foundation Institute).
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TCN Vice President Carl Flick presents to the St. Lucie
County Tourist Development Council on October 10, 2019.
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The Treasure Coast Naturists Board, along with its Tallahassee lobbyist, Ramon Maury, and St. Lucie County Deputy Administrator Jeff Bremer, made a collective, 30-minute presentation to the St. Lucie County Tourist Development Council on October 10, 2019. Each of the three presenters was given ten minutes. The purpose was to ask that the Council officially endorse and recommend designation of Blind Creek Beach as clothing-optional.
The Tourist Development Council voted unanimously to support Blind Creek Beach's clothing-optional status as well as the installation of advisory signs demarcating the naturist section of the shore. The Council's recommendation has been forwarded to the St. Lucie County Commission.
Following this, TCN's Board met again with four out of five St. Lucie County Commissioners and was to convene soon with the fifth one. Based on these meetings, TCN anticipates a majority of County Commissioners to vote for clothing-optional designation of the beach. One sticking point has nothing to do with naturism. Rather, it's a concern about how money is appropriated for bathrooms and other infrastructure.
The message received from all five St. Lucie County Commissioners is that Treasure Coast Naturists has done a great job managing Blind Creek Beach. Commissioners maintain that TCN has proven to be a valued partner to St. Lucie County. TCN has also successfully demonstrated that Blind Creek Beach visitors fill local hotels and restaurants and are making a difference in increasing local housing market sales. People are moving to St. Lucie County from all over North America in order to be near the nude beach. Elected officials know this.
During the summer, Treasure Coast Naturists became a full member of the St. Lucie County Chamber of Commerce. On August 21, 2019, TCN's Board held a productive, 90-minute meeting with Terissa Aronson, Executive Director of the Chamber. TCN gained her full support for beach designation and signage. Since that time, TCN has sponsored a Chamber of Commerce event and has networked with other Chamber members.
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Ramon Maury, TCN lobbyist
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In two (summer and fall of 2019) meetings with St. Lucie County Deputy Administrator Jeff Bremer, he made it clear that TCN's March 2019 hiring of Tallahassee lobbyist Ramon Maury (at right) made a significant difference in ending the dispute between the State of Florida's Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) and St. Lucie County. [Editor's note: For background, see related articles in the April 2019, May 2019, and June 2019 issues of this newsletter.]
The argument between these two government entities focused on the clothing-optional status of Blind Creek Beach. A majority of the land within the county beach park is leased by St. Lucie County from the State of Florida. In August 2019, the final settlement of this three-year dispute (after protracted, behind-the-scenes, and fractious debate) demonstrated that hiring Ramon Maury was a sound decision by TCN's board.
TCN was able to raise more than $10,000 from Blind Creek Beach visitors. It also received a total of $10,000 in the form of a grant and a loan from the Naturist Action Committee (NAC) and the Naturist Education Foundation (NEF), respectively. It should be noted that TCN has subsequently paid off the loan along with extending sincere thanks for the timely support of NAC and NEF.
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TCN's Tallahassee lobbyist Ramon Maury provides the economic
argument for Blind Creek Beach to the St. Lucie County Tourist
Development Council on October 10, 2019.
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It is anticipated that, after designation, St. Lucie County will immediately move to install naturist advisory signs. Currently, County staff is working with TCN to wordsmith specific language for the draft ordinance designating the beach. Visit St. Lucie Florida, the County's tourism promotion office, anticipates including a new web page that will highlight Blind Creek Beach's naturist section as a great, family vacation destination.
In the spirit of paying it forward, TCN donated $5,000 to the naturist 501(c)(3) nonprofit, B.E.A.C.H.E.S. Foundation Institute. B.E.A.C.H.E.S. is embarking upon a "Phase II" with Ramon Maury. Phase II will further build on the singular progress of Blind Creek Beach. It will expand the focus and coordinate with Tallahasee to open up and designate other clothing-optional beaches around the state.
Among the many ideal geographic locales, these could include former naturist beaches located in what is now Honeymoon Island State Park (Pinellas County), Bahia Honda State Park (Florida Keys), Caspersen Beach (Sarasota County), and the former Guana River State Park Beach (near St. Augustine). Many potential locations exist. If you would like to make a tax-deductible donation to B.E.A.C.H.E.S.' Phase II effort, please do so at beachesfoundation.org/donate. Let's all pay it forward.
Treasure Coast Naturists has not crossed the finish line yet, but finds itself in a good place. Celebrate with TCN by participating in some fun, nude events over the coming weeks. (See related article below for details.)
Meanwhile, 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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Free beach roundup
Florida
Tampa Bay Free Beaches
The Board of Directors of Tampa Bay Free Beaches (TBFB) held an open meeting and potluck lunch on Saturday, November 2, 2019 at Paradise Lakes Condominium Association in Lutz, FL. There were guest talks by representatives of American Association for Nude Recreation and Humana, the latter of whom also brought lots of treats to share at lunch. A generous donation by Neighbor- hood Associations of Paradise Lakes and individual donations, including some in consideration of TBFB's branded baseball cap (at right), provided a welcome boost to the club's treasury. The next TBFB open Board meeting, to be followed by a potluck lunch, is planned for late Saturday morning, January 18, 2020, with the start time to be announced. Newsletter editor wanted: TBFB is seeking a volunteer with strong writing, proofreading, and formatting skills to help provide content and format for its bimonthly e-newsletter (six issues per year). The newsletter will inform club members and interested parties about its organization and the progress it is making toward reëstablishing legal, clothing-optional beaches on the West Coast of Florida. The ideal candidate would be someone who resides in the Tampa Bay Area and can attend some of TBFB's Board meetings and events to interview TBFB volunteers, Board and rank-and-file members, and interested parties to obtain content for stories.
Visit TBFB's contact page to communicate with the Board about the newsletter editor position or any other matter and/or to sign up for the club's e-mail list. You can also support TBFB's efforts by joining and/or donating to the club, "liking" its Facebook page at facebook.com/TampaBayFreeBeaches, and following @TampaBayFree on Twitter. Membership dues are just $20 per year per household, but are an important way to sustain the club.
Treasure Coast Naturists
Treasure Coast Naturists (TCN), the group that mentors Blind Creek Beach on Hutchinson Island in Fort Pierce, FL, has major news in the progress toward official recognition of the beach's de facto clothing-optional status. See the related article above for details. For other Blind Creek Beach news, subscribe to Beach Blast, TCN's free, weekly e-blast, and "like" its Facebook page at facebook.com/TreasureCoast Naturists. Here are three TCN event reminders:
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.
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.
B.E.A.C.H.E.S. Foundation Institute | South Florida Free Beaches
The holiday gift-giving season is here. 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!
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 (at far left), 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.
British Columbia, Canada
Wreck Beach Preservation Society
Wreck Beach Preservation Society (WBPS), mentor of the clothing-optional beach in Vancouver, BC, Canada and a B.E.A.C.H.E.S. chapter group, is seeking donated items for the silent auction at its 43rd Annual Christmas Party on Saturday, December 7, 2019 at Royal Canadian Legion Grandview Branch #179 in Vancouver, BC, Canada. If you have an item or two (e.g., vintage clothing, artwork, new appliances, or music devices) to donate to the silent auction, that would be wonderful and much appreciated. Of course, you're also welcome to bid on items.
These items are often worth a lot more than your final bid and you get to take home some wonderful treasures or excellent gifts at a really good price, while helping raise much-needed funds for WBPS. Bring cash, please. Contact Judy at (604) 856-9598 for more information.
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SFFB Board meeting in a private location, Dec. 14
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!
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Giving Tuesday, December 3 — do it for naturism!
Tuesday, December 3, 2019 is annual Giving Tuesday (#GivingTuesday), "a global generosity movement unleashing the power of people and organizations to transform their communities and the world."
On that morning or as soon thereafter as you can, please click or tap below to make a generous donation to any or, if possible, all of these U.S. Internal Revenue Code 501(c)(3) tax-exempt, nonprofit, naturist foundations. Because of their status, such donations to them are tax-deductible by U.S. taxpayers to the extent allowed by law. Do good and take a deduction on your 2019 income tax!
• B.E.A.C.H.E.S. Foundation Institute
• Naturist Education Foundation (NEF; by mail only)
• The Naturist Society Foundation
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Top-freedom equality case roundup
New Hampshire
We reported in the October 2019 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, but had given New Hampshire until November 14 (it was misstated as the 15th in the cited article) to submit a response. Citing staff workload, the New Hampshire Attorney General's office since requested and received yet another extension to December 5. We will continue to monitor this story and bring you updates as they occur but, in the meantime, you can track Docket No. 19-64 on line.
To recap, the New Hampshire Supreme Court ruled on February 8, 2019 (see related article in that month's issue of this newsletter) on a municipal ordinance against women exposing their nipples in public (although there is no such prohibition at the state level). The request to the U.S. Supreme Court, on behalf of the women whose convictions under that ordinance were upheld, to review that decision is based on their contention that the U.S. Constitution protects them from laws that deny equal treatment on the grounds of sex, an argument that the New Hampshire Supreme Court explicitly rejected.
Colorado
In late September, Effie Krokos, a woman in Loveland, CO, was cited by police for indecent exposure after she removed her top while playing frisbee with her shirtless husband in their front yard. When she protested that a recent ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th District in a case involving a similar ordinance in Fort Collins, CO (see related article in the October 2019 issue) ensured her right to do so, the officer dismissed it as a "rumor" and stated erroneously that the ruling applied only in Fort Collins.
On the contrary, the 10th Circuit's decision is binding throughout its jurisdiction, which includes Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Utah, and Wyoming. Knowing her rights, Krokos lawyered up and sued the City of Loveland. On October 24, the City agreed to settle with Krokos for $50,000 and to dismiss her case without prejudice and to seal it. Loveland also announced that it would suspend enforcement and train its police on the case law. For details, read Woman cited for being topless [sic] in Loveland wins $50,000 settlement, indecent exposure case dropped and Why Loveland is paying $50K over topless [sic] frisbee ticket.
Utah
In late September, it was widely reported that Tilli Buchanan, a woman in West Valley City, UT, a suburb of Salt Lake City, had been charged in February with multiple counts of lewdness involving a child under Utah's lewdness statute for being unexpectedly but briefly seen top-free by her stepchildren as she and her husband removed their shirts when they re-entered their living quarters after installing insulation in the garage. The incident had occurred more than a year before, but police acted much later in response to a complaint from the children's biological mother, who had heard about it from them. If convicted, Buchanan could be required to register as a sex offender.
Although aware of and studying the 10th Circuit ruling in the Fort Collins, CO case, West Valley prosecutors believe that it may not apply because the law under which Buchanan was cited is at the state, not municipal, level, is not discriminatory (although her shirtless husband was not arrested in the same incident), and has implications on Utah's enforcement of child protection. Buchanan's American Civil Liberties Union attorneys filed a motion that Utah's lewdness law be found unconstitutional on grounds that it discrimates on the basis of sex. Buchanan's case was heard on November 19, 2019 in the Third Judicial District of Utah Courts. The judge said she would rule in a couple of months.
We will continue to monitor this story and bring you updates as they occur. For details, read Utah woman charged with lewdness after being topless [sic] in her own home and Utah woman fights charge after step-kids see her topless [sic] at home.
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Six days of fun, growth, and community in the nude
32nd Annual Mid-Winter Naturist Festival
Thursday – Tuesday, February 13-18, 2020
Sunsport Gardens Family Naturist Resort
14125 North Rd, Loxahatchee Groves, FL
(14 miles west of West Palm Beach)
Join other naturist women and men and their families from Florida and the rest of North America for the continent's first regional naturist gathering in 2020. Come for any or all of the days — it's up to you!
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Click or tap above to view photos from the 2018 Festival.
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This nude gathering features more than 250 scheduled activities, including a broad array of seminars, workshops, sports, meditation, yoga, music and dance (with nightly drum circle around a huge bonfire), and social activities. See the 2020 Festival schedule for an idea of the activities that are offered. (Place your cursor over the document for page controls.) 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 The Naturist Society Foundation-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 Foundation, South Florida Free Beaches, and Treasure Coast Naturists. Get pricing and/or register.
Click or tap above for a video tour (13:41) of
Sunsport Gardens Family Naturist Resort.
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For any questions about the Festival or the resort, contact Sunsport Gardens at frontdesk@sunsportgardens.com or (561) 793-0423. If you attend the Festival, be sure to visit the South Florida Free Beaches / B.E.A.C.H.E.S. booth in the vendor / exhibitor area.
Meanwhile, try Sunsport Gardens' naked drum circle, first Friday of every month from 9 p.m. to midnight. Entry is from 5 p.m. to 11 p.m. with a ground fee of $5; visitors must depart by 2 a.m. Includes access to amenities such as the café, showers, pool, spa, sauna, volleyball and tennis courts, nature trail, etc. You must present your government-issued photo ID for admission. Get directions.
The next two circles are on December 6, 2019 and January 3, 2020, respectively.
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