BARE AND FREE

In this Issue

·         Open House July 10-11

·         Sinkhole Rules Relax

·         Alligator Policy Emphasized

·         Old News: We Re-elected the Board--Plus One

·         TCC Reporter Breaks FSU Winning Streak

·         Full-Moon Swims Attract a Good Crowd

·         Young Naturists Enjoyed Naked Spring Bash

·         We Got a Lot Done on World Naked Gardening Day

·         Wish List

·         Announcements

June

• 12 Sinkhole tour
• 13 Board meeting
• 24-27 AANR-FL convention, place TBA
• 25 Full-Moon Skinny-Dip
• 27 Picnic

Other Calendar Events

Tallahassee Naturally is a non-profit organization dedicated to the advancement of naturist recreation in north Florida and nearby areas. The club is an affiliate member of both the Naturist Society and the American Association for Nude Recreation. Bare and Free is the official Newsletter of the Tallahassee Naturally Club. Articles appearing in Bare and Free may be reprinted by other naturist publications, provided that credit is given. Photos, however, may only be reprinted with written permission. Club members are encouraged to submit , articles news items, and photos for publication. Please address all submission to: Tallahassee Naturally, P.O. Box 6866, Tallahassee FL, 32314 or To the Editor, 502 Airport Drive, Tallahassee, FL, 32304 or smithj7@embarqmail.com.

Open House July 10-11

Again, we are sponsoring a two-day Open House.  Last year, the 56 people in our lake helped to establish the Guinness world record of over 13,000 people skinny-dipping at the same time across North America.  This year, the national people hope to break that record.  You must be in the water 3:00 Saturday to be counted.

Requirements this year are much more relaxed.  You don’t have to sign your name.  We don’t have to send a picture to anybody.  (But we would like to take a picture again for our scrapbook.  You can turn your back like a few people did last year.  Nobody--not even participants--can get a copy of that picture.)  If you want a souvenir, AANR is again selling T-shirts for $8.00 plus shipping.  You can probably order one at the event.

And since this is an election year, we have again invited political candidates from the governor on down to come and meet (clothed) with our members.  Come and talk with them one-on-one.  That happens 10:00 Sunday morning.

Dress code for the weekend is:

Either day would be a fine time to invite those shy friends of yours.  They can slide into the activities gradually.  We will have snack food available.

Several people are talking about camping over.  Both days are free, though donations to the Legal Fund and the Land Fund are always appreciated.

Sinkhole Rules Relax

Seven people--mostly young--showed up for our annual sinkhole tour, and had a great time.  A few days later, an article in the Tallahassee Democrat spelled out what the Wakulla Springs people had told us all along: Hiking their sinkhole properties (such as Gator, Sunspot, and Malloy) is OK.  The article went on to explain that--for fear of liability--they don’t officially endorse swimming, but are turning a blind eye to use of the sinkholes.  Still, the State Parks do have an anti-nudity ordinance they could pull out whenever they choose.

The national forest has no such rule (except in developed areas).  The Democrat article mentioned a new parking lot on C. J. Spears Road, leading to Woods, Fern, Promise, and Go-Between sinks.  We didn’t see it, because we went in by a slightly shorter route.

Alligator Policy Emphasized

The board has reaffirmed our alligator policy, and placed it in the Procedure Manual:

1.  Alligators are a natural part of nature too.  So long as they keep their distance and do not pose a danger, we can live with them.

2.  The decision to remove an alligator must go through the board, in consultation with the land owners.  No member is to make that decision.

3.  Under no circumstances should a recently dead alligator be left in the water to pollute the lake.

Our Bylaws have, from the beginning, made it an expellable offence to remove a firearm from a vehicle without the unanimous approval of every board member present.

Old News: We Re-elected the Board--Plus One

Our Annual Business Meeting in March turned out windier and cooler than predicted.  Rob was the only person present who even attempted to go nude.  After the picnic, reports assured us that, despite a recession, 2009 was a successful year for our club--with our second-highest attendance ever, and sound finances.  Membership is slowly growing.

We re-elected all of our board members, and added Rick.  We have two women and two young people serving on the board.  Our officers are:

• President--Grant

• Recording Secretary--Wendy

• Corresponding Secretary--Bruce

• Treasurer--Paul

• Board Members at Large--Kiki, Bob, Rick

• Grant re-appointed these committee members:

• Grounds Committee--Bob (chair)

• Land Search Committee--Richard (chair), Paul

• Social Committee--Wendy (chair), Shauna

• Political Committee--Paul (chair), Rob

If you are interested in serving on a committee, let the chairman or Grant know.

The bylaw proposal recognizing Naturally FSU passed unanimously.

At its organizational meeting afterward, the board re-elected Bruce as President Pro-tem to take over when the President is unavailable.  The board also re-appointed Jamie as newsletter editor and web page co-ordinator.

Kiki has since resigned, leaving a vacancy on the board.

TCC Reporter Breaks FSU Winning Streak

The weather turned cloudy and even sprinkled for a few minutes on the day of our fifteenth College Greek Athletic Meet.  We still got a good turn-out.  And by late afternoon, it was warm and sunny.

When Matt, the reporter from Tallahassee Community College, took off his shirt and we saw his muscles, everybody insisted that he compete.  Against strong competition, he won the male athlete victory crown.  A. J. from FSU (not the same A. J. as last year) won in the male non-athlete division.  Bad weather kept the young women home, though plenty of other women came as spectators.  Several of our young competitors brought food for a Greek meal afterward.

For the last two years, students from FSU took all of the victory crowns.  That sweep was broken this year.  Matt wrote a couple of great articles (with lots of pictures) for the TCC newspaper, but neglected to mention that he won.  Bruce used his new camera to get some fine pictures for our scrapbook and future magazine articles.

Full-Moon Swims Attract a Good Crowd

Twenty-seven people of all ages gathered for the May Full-Moon Skinny-Dip.  Several camped over.  That is especially convenient, as most of the full moons fall on picnic weekends this year.  Dates for the rest of the summer are:

• June 25

• July 23

• August 20

• September 24

Young Naturists Enjoyed Naked Spring Bash

The Florida Young Naturists’ Naked Spring Bash at Sunsport Gardens was amazing.  Trevor and I went down to South Florida for the event, and not only did we meet young naturists from all over Florida, but other states as well.  Final numbers for the bash were 153 young adults checked in from Friday through Saturday, and over 300 attended the Friday Night Drum Circle and festivities.

Two bands played; there was body painting, hoops demonstrations, a tarot workshop, palm reading, and yoga in the Butterfly Garden.  The Vita Nuda crew was silk screening shirts, and the hot tub was full the whole time.  Those people who had never experienced naturism before had no problem feeling comfortable in record time.

Sadly, our beach trip to Haulover was rained out; however we still made the best of our end of Naked Spring Bash with Kava in downtown West Palm Beach, followed by Naked Sushi.

I think we all had the time of our lives, everyone made great friends and can't wait for the next event: Naked End of Summer Bash August 13-15.  We all agreed this weekend was over too soon, and groan at the prospect of having to go back to a world where the impracticality of clothes in comfortable weather is required.  You can find more info at http://www.floridayoungnaturists.com.

We Got a Lot Done on World Naked Gardening Day

For World Naked Gardening Day, we cleaned up a lot of fallen branches east of the small pond.  Reese, Dan, Grant, John, and Paul all lent a hand.  Afterward, we enjoyed tacos.  It had rained the night before, and the brush was too wet to burn.  So Paul and Bob took care of that the next day.  Bob was able to mow some of the newly cleared area.

Wish List

Thanks to Gus for books and magazines on Christian nudity.  We could still use:

• lawn mower

• gardening
• tools--fork, hoe, grass sling
• broom and dustpan
• a few more kitchen utensils
• a few more good books
• swing set
• canoe--Anybody know where we could borrow one for three weekends of kids’ camp?

Announcements

Everybody’s membership expired at the end of March.  If you still haven’t renewed, send it in, or see Paul.

The lake is filled to overflowing.  Because of soggy ground, we had to add gravel to the driveway.  It was a late spring, but the water temperature is great now.

You don’t have to be a board member to host a picnic.  The list of duties are in the Picnic drawer of the blue file cabinet in the storage shed.  Speak to Grant or Paul about volunteering.

Bruce M. and Kristy have married.  They spent their honeymoon in the Greek islands.  This is the fourth known marriage between club members--the second between people who first met at the club.

The July picnic will include a brief seminar on Special Interest Groups in The Naturist Society.

Single men especially: Remember the club in your will.

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