Erich Schuttauf, Executive Director
Our Prayers Are With Texas, Arkansas, and Louisiana as Hurricane Ike Approaches

Ike is presently a category 2 storm that may intensify to category 3 before it makes landfall on the Texas coast some time around midnight.  According to reports, bands of rain and wind have stretched as far as 150 miles in either direction of the storm so, depending on where it ultimately hits, it could impact Louisiana and Arkansas as well.

We are holding our members and our clubs closely in our thoughts and prayers this morning.  The crowded roads and limits on available fuel, coupled with uncertainty about Ike’s path, make it difficult to decide whether to leave or stay put and brace for the storm.

We ask our clubs in the path of the storm to give us a call on Monday, if possible, and let us know how you and your members are doing.

Pasco Sheriff Explains Comments in Media

You will recall that in a previous weekly report we included copy of a letter I sent to Sheriff Robert White over comments he allegedly made to the press during a political debate which linked “nudist colonies” with crime and prostitution.  This week I received a signed letter of explanation in which he apologized for comments that had been reported out of context.  As he further explained, his comments were meant to demonstrate that the county is not “ultra conservative” for purposes of applying laws that require conduct offensive to contemporary community standards.  He has also agreed to a meeting with representatives of AANR and me in the future.

Advocacy – Representing the Rights of Nudist Grandparents and Parents

Speaking of Pasco, this week Carolyn Hawkins, Steve Vickers, and my daughter Madeline joined me in traveling there to attend a legal hearing on behalf of a member who lives in Lake Como club.Florida’s Division of Children and Family refused to allow this member any visitation with her two granddaughters if the visits would take place at the club.

I represented the member as her pro bono attorney when the matter was taken before a Sixth Circuit judge.  We prepared and filed a number of legal papers with the court including a Petition for Grandparents’ Visitation and a memorandum of law in support of that petition.  During the hearing, we were allowed only a minimal opportunity to speak.

There is some good news to report from the hearing, albeit not much.  For one thing, it’s clear that the member/grandmother will be allowed unsupervised visits of up to a weekend in length, as long as those visits take place off club grounds.  For another, the judge made it clear that when the girls’ mother, who lost custody of the girls over some criminal problems, regains custody she is free to bring them to Lake Como.

However, the judge adamantly refused to allow visits to Lake Como as long as the girls can be considered to be in the custody of the state.  The judge noted that the state does not customarily like children to be placed in settings with multiple common areas (i.e. any mobile home park??) where they may encounter strangers.  NAKED strangers?  That’s even more problematical said the judge.

It was difficult to get many words in and our attempts to put on live witness testimony from Carolyn about her grandson Steve growing up in a nudist club (as well as my daughter’s positive experiences visiting Como) were rebuffed.

We applaud this grandmother, who has offered her granddaughters a wholesome place to visit ever since they were born, for pressing for her rights. And we appreciated the opportunity to represent her.  A brief story in the St. Petersburg Times which relays accurate facts about the case is available here: http://www.tampabay.com/news/briefs/article807031.ece

This case serves as a reminder of why there MUST be organized, professional advocacy for nude recreation such as AANR provides.  We happened to have knowledge that among the staff and persons assembled in the courtroom that morning, there were people who have visited, belong, or have relatives who belong to Pasco nudist clubs.  But they were not in the position to speak up for nudism or this grandmother.

Our office received other calls from concerned members this week who needed AANR to help speak up for them:

In South Dakota-a father who has been a member of the Association must answer questions for investigators after his 15-year-old son let it slip to a school counselor that the family goes to nudist parks and is occasionally nude at home.

Elsewhere in Florida-a father with custody of his 17-year-old son has been served with a petition to modify custody brought by his ex-wife who claims that nudism is inconsistent with the son’s religious upbringing.

Michigan-a father and family has sought our assistance with materials to help educate an ex-spouse about nude recreation so that they can diffuse her objections to visits to area clubs before those objections grow into a legal problem.

Congratulations To Two AANR Clubs

Congratulations are in order for Solair Recreation League of Woodstock, Connecticut, and to PSHS of Mohnton, Pennsylvania, for stories about their clubs which ran in the media over the past week.  Numerous members of these clubs agreed to be interviewed and did a great job of portraying nude recreation as fun, relaxing, and worth giving a try for readers who might consider giving it a try.

You can find links to both pieces in the section by Carolyn Hawkins, below.  Great job, clubs!

Minutes Online

Thanks to Sharon McLeod’s fast and efficient work, the minutes from the AANR annual meeting and board meeting have been distributed to the board. They can be viewed online in the download zone of both Member Benefits and Club Services sections of www.aanr.com.

Carolyn Hawkins, Public Relations Coordinator
Positive Publicity

Check out the positive link below regarding PSHS “Camp near Reading barely a refuge for ‘naturists’ ” http://www.enquirerherald.com/365/story/313928.html

Link below talks about Solair “Members at Woodstock Nudist Camp Attempt to Debunk Myths” http://www.nbc30.com/news/17407122/detail.html

Linda Berry, Director of Publications
The Bulletin

The October issue will go to the printer on Tuesday of next week.

The E-Bulletin

E-Bulletin subscribers read: Shoppers at shopping malls in 24 U.S. cities were greeted by employees wearing nothing but black aprons with “Ask Me Why I’m Naked” printed in large white letters.  You, too, can read the entertaining stories every two weeks. Sign up now at www.aanr.com for this free online publication.

Debra Sue Stevens, Government Affairs

REQUEST: Print the following in your Club Newsletter or send to your members in your E-News.  We want the members to know what GAT does for them!

The Cape Cod Beach Coalition Mid-Summer Report (07/23/2008)

Reported by Bill Falconer, AANR East Public Lands Volunteer Ludlow, MA 01056 Phone/fax 413-583-6877 mrcapp@netzero.net

This midsummer report finds beach activities to be normal with no unusual complaints. CCNS Rangers are spread thin but still conduct weekly routine patrols. I have interacted with several and have had no reported problems but verbal warnings have been given. Granted I’m not there all the time nor have I talked with all the Rangers. The following beaches were visited on a number of occasions, talking with beach users.

• Race Point – Mostly textile with remote nude use.
• Hatch’s Harbor – Mostly textile and fishermen with remote nude use.
• Herring Cove North – Mostly textile and fishermen.
• Herring Cove South – Gay and topless nude use, some sexual activity.
• Provincetown – Mostly textile with some topless.
• Head of the Meadow – Mostly textile with remote nude use.
• Longnook – Main beach textile, nude use to the east. Shades of the past. A mounted horse on Longnook brought back a time when rangers patrolled on horse three decades ago. The Longnook beach has suffered serious erosion and the textiles have moved east. The nude section has moved considerably and there is a large unused zone.

This year the Cape population is down with vacancies at many B&B’s during the week. Weekends still find the bike racks filled for the walk into Herring Cove South. Less users may mean less tickets and warnings. Attempts to meet with the editors of the P-Town Banner and Cape Cod Times resulted only with phone calls. Each would consider publicity for the next Clean-up.

THINK SUN!!  Bill Falconer AANR GAT Fact

Thanks to AANR dues paying members and club owners, AANR is working on public lands with your help.  Yes, all clubs and AANR participating businesses are important to AANR, and supporting nude recreation on public lands is essential to our movement.