Sunday, November 30, 2008

Are Nude Beaches the Answer to Economic Woes?


via USAnudist.com by USAnudist on 11/28/08

Richard Mason, President of the Florida Naturist Association, is well known in nudist circles as one of the founding fathers of Haulover Beach and South Florida Free Beaches.

In the following article from the Palm Beach Post, he presents a compelling argument for the creation of nude or clothing-optional beaches as a way to generate money for the State of Florida to offset the pending budget shortfall facing Florida State Parks.

Nude beaches seen as cover for cash gaps

By Frank Cerabino

Palm Beach Post staff writer

Friday, November 28, 2008

Times are tough, maybe even tough enough to start paying more attention to one of the state's leading nudists.

"It's time for the state of Florida to grow up," said Richard Mason, the president of the Florida Naturist Association.

Mason, who lives in Miami-Dade County, was in Boca Raton this week to urge Palm Beach County's legislative delegation to take a less-is-more approach to plugging holes in the state budget.

Mason's idea is simple: More nude beaches equals more state revenue.

"If you can build golf courses for golfers, why can't you designate beaches for naturists?" Mason asked.

He uses Haulover Beach Park in Miami-Dade as Exhibit A.

For the past 18 years, that beach has been designated as a sanctioned clothing-optional beach — the only one in the state.

"It's drawing more visitors than the Florida Marlins and the Miami Dolphins combined," Mason said.

And the county is reaping the benefits of the $5 parking fee, which brings in about $1.4 million a year, he said.

"Every year the parking money keeps going up and up," he said. "Nothing stops it from growing."

Mason estimated that 60 percent of Haulover's visitors travel from other parts of the state, elsewhere in America or abroad to sunbathe in the raw.

"It's a destination beach all because it's a naturist beach," he said.

Mason's pitch for more nude beaches is especially well timed because Gov. Charlie Crist is looking to make significant cuts in state spending, including from the Division of Recreation and Parks. That division has been asked to come up with a 10 percent cut in its operating costs.

To do that, the division has come up with a plan to close 19 parks across the state until the economy rebounds. None of the parks is in Palm Beach, Martin or St. Lucie counties.

But instead of closing the parks, Mason has argued, the state can more than compensate for its revenue shortfalls by keeping all the parks open and changing the designation of a few beachfront parks into clothing-optional spots.

"Naturists like to be around the ocean," he said. "You put one of those beaches in Palm Beach County and it will draw a lot of people."

The John D. MacArthur Beach State Park in northern Palm Beach County had been an unofficial clothing-optional beach until the state took it over in the 1980s and began arresting nude sunbathers there.

A state appellate court decision ruled that being nude alone does not constitute indecent exposure, and that there must be some lewd and lascivious behavior with it.

"So you can have a naturist beach as long as it is in a designated area," Mason said.

Public officials, however, have been reluctant to make accommodations for nudists.

In 1989, Palm Beach County's Tourist Development Council turned down a request by the Eastern Sunbathing Association to officially make a portion of MacArthur Beach State Park clothing-optional.

Like Mason's request this week, the sunbathing group made an economic argument to the tourism board, saying that a nude beach would bring in dollars to the county.

But that was during more comfortable economic times, days when it was easier to dismiss nudists dangling dollars.

In today's budget climate, its harder to scoff at Mason's pitch without mulling over the pros and cons.

"It's been a successful formula at Haulover for 18 years," he said. "Why not give it a try?"

Or to put it another way, what's worse?

A bare-bones budget or some bare-bones bathers.


 
 

NAC Advisory - Death of Lee Baxandall

 

via Diary of a Nudist by noreply@blogger.com (Nudiarist) on 11/28/08


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NATURIST ACTION COMMITTEE ADVISORY
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http://www.naturistaction.org
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Copyright 2008 by the Naturist Action Committee, which is responsible for its content. Permission is granted for the posting, forwarding or redistribution of this message, provided that it is reproduced in its entirety and without alteration.

DATE: November 28, 2008
SUBJECT: Lee Baxandall (1935-2008)
TO: All naturists

Dear Naturist,

The Naturist Society has announced with profound sadness that its founder, Lee Baxandall, has died in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. Baxandall, who had suffered from Parkinson's Disease, was 73 years old at the time of his death on November 27, 2008.

Baxandall began his work as a naturist activist more than 30 years ago. With a background in writing and publishing, Lee's naturist passion led him in 1976 to form the Free Beaches Documentation Center, which he located in his hometown of Oshkosh. By 1980, Lee had founded The Naturist Society (TNS), and TNS had presented its first Gathering for naturists. 'Clothed with the Sun,' the flagship publication of TNS in its early years, was renamed 'Nude & Natural,' or more simply, 'N' magazine in 1989. Today, the magazine has a staff of professional and volunteer writers, but in the early days, much of the content of the magazine was pure Baxandall.

Lee was also the initiating force behind other familiar naturist organizations. In 1983, it was a Baxandall idea (and $70 in seed money that Lee pulled from his own pocket and gave to Murray Kaufman) that led to the TNS special interest group that would become Gay Naturists International. In 1990, Baxandall jump-started the Naturist Action Committee as an adjunct to TNS. The Naturist Education Foundation followed in 1993.

For the decades of the 1980s and 1990s, 'Lee Baxandall's World Guide to Nude Beaches and Resorts' was the standard companion for those seeking information on naturist destinations throughout the world. Each edition of the World Guide reflected Lee's naturist philosophy, not only for growing numbers of naturists, but also for the benefit of an expanding mainstream audience. Baxandall's World Guide is the inspiration for 'The World's Best Nude Beaches and Resorts,' a recent TNS publication that carries on the tradition.

In 2002, recognizing the inevitable effect of his declining health, Baxandall transferred ownership of The Naturist Society to a carefully selected handful of longtime associates. TNS is necessarily a dynamic organization that responds to the changing needs of its members. Nevertheless, owners Nicky Hoffman Lee and Margaret Thornton have remained remarkably faithful to the vision of Lee Baxandall.

DETAILS AND ARRANGMENTS
Arrangements are pending. Lee's family has not yet announced details. More complete obituaries will, of course, appear in N magazine and in The Newsletter. The Naturist Action Committee will distribute further information in the form of NAC Updates, as details become available.

The directors of the Naturist Action Committee and the Naturist Education Foundation join with the ownership and staff of The Naturist Society in marking, with respect and appreciation, the passing of an exceptional individual.

"Body acceptance is the idea. Nude recreation is the way."
- Lee R. Baxandall (1935-2008)


Naturally,

Bob Morton
Executive Director
Naturist Action Committee

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Naturist Action Committee (NAC) - PO Box 132, Oshkosh, WI 54903
Executive Director Bob Morton - execdir@naturistaction.org
Naturist Society:
Nicky Hoffman Lee – nickyh@naturistsociety.com
Online Representative Dennis Kirkpatrick - naturist@sunclad.com
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Thursday, November 13, 2008

Give Your Opinion!

The Naturist Society is conducting a poll about the best nude beaches and resorts. Pop on over and give your 2 cents... http://www.polldaddy.com/survey.aspx?id=6c1cac030936b759