Pages of History

The newsletter of the Naturist Education Foundation and the Naturist Action Committee.

Volume 1, Number 2.  February 2020.


Digital Lending has Begun!

Doug Hickok, NEFRL Director
After much coding, a library website re-design, and lots of effort from multiple people, membership registration is open and the digital lending system is operational.  Read more about it here:  http://www.naturisteducation.org/library/digital_lending.html

We're also very early in the digitization effort, only listing CD's and one Edison record so far.  It's a long process with limited staff hours available.  Please cherish what's available, as there's lots of interesting music available already, and please be patient while we work on the rest.




Treasures of the Library

Doug Hickok, NEFRL Director
Our first digitized item also happens to be our oldest audio recording.  Billy Jones and Ernst Hare's "Down at the Old Swimming Hole" is a charming Edison record from the Spring of 1921.  While the duet is singing about how relaxing the Old Swimming Hole is, they make it clear that "bathing suits are out of style", and you'll be wearing a tan and a "great big smile".

Edison records require Edison players, and normal record players will damage them.  Luckily, I have a friend with several Edison players and plenty of recording equipment who was willing to digitize it for us.  Thanks to his efforts, we can all enjoy this wonderful tune from nearly a century ago.

If you're a library member, you can listen to this Edison record by requesting item "audio167".



NEFRL History

Doug Hickok, NEFRL Director
Do you ever walk into the middle of a conversation and start asking questions to catch up?  That's about how this newsletter feels.  One of my goals is to document our own NEF Research Library history, and I'm starting about five years into it.  If you've seen the newsletter archive page, this February newsletter isn't the first item.  I plan to back-fill some history to cover the gap, and will announce when that is available.

Although this is the first newsletter to be announced and published, look for a Volume 1 Issue 1 covering January and a Volume 0 Special Edition covering 2015-2019.



NACAR & NEFAR Seminar

Susan Shopiro, NAC Chair

NACAR & NEFAR Seminar

The Naturist Action Committee(NAC) was well represented at the Midwinter Naturist Festival(MWNF) at Sunsport Gardens in February. On Saturday of the festival we had a quorum of board members in attendance. As a team we gave four seminars on NAC activities.

The NAC and NEF Area Representative seminar is a seminar that is always on the schedule. The purpose of area representatives is ground game. NAC can track legislative activities at the national and state level but we need our eyes and ears on the ground to get the county and local activities. You are the fastest, most effective way for us to get local information. We need for you: if you see something, say something.

This year’s seminar was quite special as it turn into a working session. Our local naturists brought us concerns and ideas and as a team all of the attendants went to work on them.

Lake Willoughby in Vermont has been on the radar for many naturists who use it as an area of concern because of the state’s intention to improve the facilities and make it easier to access. This is a known technique for authorities wishing to decrease nude use, make the facility more attractive to increase textile use. The question we asked was is there a Friends of Willoughby group? The answer was ‘yes’ and ‘no’. The individual who was the leading force was recently deceased. The naturist who brought us the issue stepped up to reinvigorate the Friends of Group and then the group went to work on how to get access to the email or voicemail and replace them. We identified a team of local people to help organize people to create a presence on the Lake and ensure its continued use. We made sure the local nudists knew who their NAC board member was.

One of our naturist attendees was a policeman who announced ‘I’m a cop and I can’t be affronted’. He then proceeded demonstrate various scenarios for interacting with law enforcement. Vermont is unique in that there are no state laws outlawing nudity. Some local jurisdiction do have laws. The rule in Vermont is first come, first served. If you are sunbathing naked and you were there first, (it helps if you have witnesses), then the offended textile citizen has to move on, and vice versa. Never argue with law enforcement, cover-up, don’t give them an excuse to arrest you for ‘disorderly’. The short story is know the law in the jurisdiction you are in (VT is different than most other states), be polite and cover-up or move along when asked. It is important to know that unless the officer sees the illegal behavior himself, he cannot enforce on hearsay. You can demand that the affronted person who reported you be presented if you are being threatened with arrest.

A new clothing-optional beach on the Indiana National Lakeshore is the goal of another of our attendees! There is federal land abutting Dunes State Park in Indiana. It’s difficult to get to, no services and not getting much use. Ideal grounds for naturists use. We worked with our adventurous naturist friend on how to develop a clothing-optional beach by just starting to use it. An understanding of the nudity laws in Indiana and whether the state park management were going to uphold the state laws on federal land was critical. We also identified this projects NAC board member as well.

Several people filled out the NAC/NEF area representative form and others shared their contact information. We look forward to working with this group of naturists during the year.




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