Erich Schuttauf, Executive Director

Wishing You A Very Happy and Safe Holiday

Memorial Day weekend marks the traditional start of the summer season for many AANR clubs and we want to wish you the very best for a safe holiday with good weather.

We also wish to express our deepest thanks to the men and women who have served, or are currently serving, in the US and Canadian armed forces to protect the freedoms that we enjoy. We are grateful for your sacrifice and the sacrifices that your families have made.

In observance of the holiday our offices will be closed on Monday, May 26th.

My Thanks

Yesterday I returned to the office after being on the road with my family visiting my terminally ill father in Massachusetts. On the way back to Florida, we learned that my wife’s father had to be scheduled for emergency open heart surgery creating yet another crisis. I deeply appreciate the thoughts, prayers, and messages of support that so many of you passed along during this difficult time.

PR Opportunities

This week American Airlines announced that it plans to charge passengers $15 for the first checked bag on domestic flights beginning mid-June in an effort to respond to escalating fuel costs. Other carriers expressed likelihood that they would follow. Again seeing an opportunity for press coverage–and to inject a bit of levity for weary travelers–we began
distributing an updated “pack less relax more” media release.

In other PR news, a number of you wrote to us letting us know about a new commercial for Honda in which the driver and his teenage son “rescue” stranded nudist balloonists and offer them a lift home. While some of the humor is tongue-in-cheek and not all of the messaging is positive (there are expressions of embarrassment and discomfort) the advertising campaign also demonstrates that simple group nudity is a subject the company feels safe enough to air within America’s living rooms. If you would like to see the advertisement online, click here:

http://www.adgabber.com/video/video/show?id=546804%3AVideo%3A96213

(My thanks to Lynn von Hagel of publications for tracking down this link.)

As Lynn’s all-new edition of the E-Bulletin points out, there’s also an ice cream company advertising its low fat product with an invitation to “go skinny-dipping.”

San Onofre Beach Threatened

AANR is currently supporting efforts by the Friends of San Onofre Beach and the Naturist Action Committee to preserve the tradition of clothing-optional use of this beautiful beach in California following an announcement of plans by state authorities to prohibit nudity there effective this June. Yesterday Debra Sue prepared a CapWiz dispatch sent to nearly 8,000 subscribers explaining how to help and a rally on the beach is planned tomorrow. We appreciate this opportunity for all within the nudist and naturist community to come together in support of San Onofre.

Carolyn Hawkins, Public Relations Coordinator

We are still getting pick ups from The New York Times article as well as the Nakation pitch. We also sent out a press release regarding the cost of the baggage when flying “Don’t Know What To Do About the Cost of Extra Luggage on Your Next Flight?)

Steve and I set up a booth at the I-75 Welcome Center last weekend as part of our partnership with Visit Florida. This gives us a chance to educate folks visiting Florida and sharing information about the Florida clubs that may be near their destination.

Debra Sue Stevens, Government Affairs

Thank You Letter from Oregon Senator Vicki Walker who ran for Secretary of
State:

Dear American Association for Nude Recreation,

Before we close our campaign doors, I wanted to thank everyone for your generous support over the past several months. Unfortunately, big ideas did not triumph over big money in this campaign, but it was definitely not for a lack of hard work or support from all of you.

We were outspent 4 to 1, but I believe we made the most of our available resources. Amanda and Sara were incredible assets to the team, and everyone gave what you could to ensure Oregonians would have able and determined leadership in Salem. From endorsements to financial contributions, to letters to the editor, to distributing literature to your friends and neighbors — I am truly grateful for your tremendous support!

I am so proud of the campaign we ran! We had a good, strong message that resonated with people who heard me speak, and we used ideas like my Counting for Oregon plan as the fuel for our campaign. Ideas like campaign finance reform, accountability for corporate tax subsidies, meaningful and balanced initiative reform, building confidence in our electoral system, sound investments in our Common School Fund and wise trust land management. I will continue to work on these and many other issues in the months ahead, and you can always count on me to hold government and candidates accountable for the promises they make to the people of the state of Oregon.

I leave this race with the dignity and confidence with which I began. I have served my community well over the past decade, and I thank them for their overwhelming support in this election. And while I have not been given the opportunity to take my work to a larger platform, I am grateful for the years I have been able to give everyone a seat and a voice at the table.

Again, thank you for your support and I hope to see you all in the future!

Regards,
Vicki Walker

AANR-NW Participates “Down by the River”

Submitted by: Shirley Gauthier-Oregon GAT Chair

The Glassbar Island Nude Beach Volunteers (GINBV) www.glassbarisland.org hosted their first AANR affiliated SOLV “Down by the Riverside” event this year. Their first SOLV cleanup was on May 19, 2001. An article in the local paper listing the accomplishments of the event provided the numbers for the group to estimate they cleaned up 2% of the total removed from all of Oregon. AANR is fortunate that GINBV chose to affiliate with AANR and that they brought such a solid history of partnering with SOLV and the Oregon State Parks Department with them.

A recent fire at Glassbar left a portion of the area blackened. Paul Tollenaar, the Park Ranger for Southern Willamette Management Unit presented GINBV with twenty-five pounds of wild grass seed to replant the area.

Ranger Paul brought the huge dump truck and volunteers completed litter patrols, completed invasive species patrols, and completed trail maintenance.. Trail maintenance in the area involves removing a lot of blackberries. You might have to be an Oregonian nudist to vision the work that involves.

AANR-NW hosted “Down by the Riverside” at Rooster Rock State Park nude beach. Forty-one volunteers participated to complete litter patrols, work on invasive plant removal, transplant trees and complete train maintenance.

AANR volunteers traveled great distances to participate and fulfill the AANR adoption commitments. The expense of gasoline makes this a huge contribution that volunteers contribute along with their time and energy. A huge thanks you to you all.

Volunteers In The Gorge (VIG) ( www.volunteerinthegorge.org) who has a history of working with AANR-NW at Rooster Rock showed up in numbers to lend their efforts. VIG volunteer Jim barbecued over sixty hotdogs at the end of the workday. AANR-NW dues paying members paid for the hotdogs, buns, condiments, cookies and paper products. AANR promoting and supporting nude recreation on public lands in Oregon has contributed to our gain in membership. Promoting AANR on public lands has shown a positive increase to club membership in AANR-NW. AANR-NW Government Affairs Team values the time, energy and commitment from our AANR and AANR-NW dues paying members.

If you would like to keep informed of activities in AANR-NW please go to http://www.aanr-nw.org and subscribe to the AANR-NW enews. All beach events are posted on this venue.