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When Covid-19 first hit our shores in February of 2020 there was much confusion, concern and not much good information about how the virus was transmitted or how easily spread it might be.  Erring on the side of caution a number of states, including Michigan, imposed lockdowns and much of the hospitality industry closed.  Often it was not because they were forced to (hotels, hostels and B&Bs were exempt in Michigan as travelers had to have places to stay), but because they wanted to or had to.  Economically, demand had fallen below the breakeven point.

At Nuance Naturist B&B...which is the only nudist B&B in Michigan and one of the very few in the Midwest, I closed because of the former reason...I wanted to help contain the spread of Covid-19 while "staying safe".

Fast forward to June....much more awareness of the virus was available and "best practices" had been developed for how to keep guests safe while still allowing them to have an enjoyable time.  While many B&Bs stayed closed in Michigan, I decided to open Nuance Naturist B&B with some changes to the operation.

Once that decision was made and the opening date announced, the phone began to ring, online reservations came in and the season began with a bang.  Far from the pandemic hurting the Nuance B&B business, Nuance was slammed.  Occupancy more than doubled from the prior summer, and guests booked both weekends and stays during the week.  Couples that worked virtually could work anywhere, and a number of them decided being at a nudist B&B was a better alternative than home.

The boom lasted the entire summer...with guests continuing to book past Labor Day and have continued to make reservations up to and including the writing of this article.  While the volume has slowed, the reservations have not stopped.

While no one was more surprised at this summer's business boom than I and my partner Jan, the phenomena is perhaps not that surprising.  Factors influencing stays at Nuance include:

• Some nudist resorts in the Midwest stayed closed, and many others restricted admission to members only.  This motivated many nudists to look for other venues close to home.
• Restrictions in air travel encouraged many nudists to shift their vacation plans away from nudist resorts in Florida, Mexico or the Caribbean.  I found Google metrics analysis of visitors on the Nuance website used the search terms "nude beach" followed by "nudist resort" most often.
• Nuance B&B's small scale (I restricted the number of rooms to 3 plus the carriage house apartment) turned out to be a huge advantage.  As opposed to a big resort with lots and lots of people, guests booking at Nuance found the notion of being on a large 40 acre resort with only 3 other couples to be extremely attractive.
• Finally, and perhaps most inexplicable, but confirmed by observations internationally, almost 40% of guests this summer were first time nudists.  For some reason the pandemic has brought out an interest in exploring naturism for guests in all age brackets, not only from Michigan, but from Ohio, Indiana and Pennsylvania with one couple traveling six hours for their introduction to naturism.  (They loved it!)

I noted operational changes made to help keep guests safe.  Without getting into too much detail, policy/procedure changes included temperature checks and surveys of incoming guests, ongoing cleaning and sanitizing, serving breakfast at separate tables (outdoors whenever possible), triple sheeting beds, exclusively designated bathrooms per couple, refreshing towels and other changes all helped keep guests safe.  I Covid-19 tested weekly, and we strongly encouraged mask use by guests when in proximity to other guests.

Some lessons learned from talking with guests this summer include the notion that naturism, living nude, is not only pleasant...for many it is essential.  I knew I felt that way, and didn't realize how widespread that feeling is.  Guests needed to be nude.  They couldn't wait to take their clothes off and most never left the resort...or did so only for a quick dinner or shopping trip.  When a first time couple asked how long they thought it would take them to become comfortable being nude once they had checked in, I responded "About 20 minutes".  They laughed thinking I was kidding.  I wasn't, and they were right on the curve.

A second lesson was the sheer demand for a nudist venue in the Midwest.  There are nudist resorts in Michigan and the Midwest...but as guests began to look for and find an alternative to Florida...they came and came back.  Many of this summer's guests have discovered Michigan in the summer can be as or more enjoyable than Florida, Mexico or anywhere else.  And, while Michigan doesn't have year round tropical warmth...one can offer a warm, welcoming and nude environment all year here and people will come.

Finally, and most nudists already know this, nudists are genuinely friendly and nice people to be around.  Being an innkeeper at a nudist B&B is a pretty good job.  It is a lot of work...but nudists are among the most genuine, kind and thoughtful people on the planet and I've valued the experience and talking with and becoming friends with many of the guests this year and since opening the B&B.

"It is an ill wind that blows no good" and while the pandemic has been so hurtful and destructive to our economy and many of our countrymen and women, it has provided an opportunity for many in the Midwest to discover and enjoy living nude in a nearby place they perhaps least expected.  And, for that I am most appreciative.

[Editor's Note:  We still have boxes available!  Send your order in soon!]

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Voting Coverage Requirements for You and Your Ballot

Claude Richards, NAC and NEF Area Representitive

Four years ago Katy Perry made a video about her confusion over the required dress code for voting: (video link)

A number of years ago when Illinois started allowing anyone to vote by mail, they launched a Vote Naked campaign with a video ad that reached over 100,000 people.  They openly declared that there was no dress code for voting by mail, stating "Voting Law in Illinois has changed. For the first time ever, you may now vote by mail from home. No need to go to the polls, wait in line, or even put on pants": (video link)

With anxiety over the pandemic and rightful concern of crowded polling stations, the previously tighter absentee ballot restrictions in many states have become more relaxed this year.  This change has allowed more people than ever before to be able to vote in a safer manner by mail, AND it has greatly increased the number of people being able to VOTE NAKED from the comfort of their own homes.  This fall a new Vote Naked campaign was launched in Illinois: (video link)

However, with the changes, a new "problem" has developed in some states -- THE NAKED BALLOT!

This year with a considerable number of states requiring voters to return their completed ballot in a privacy envelope placed inside an outer envelope, Sarah Silverman, Chelsea Handler, Mark Ruffalo, Naomi Campbell, Amy Schumer, Chris Rock and a number of other celebrities got together to create a PSA about the dangers of inadvertently sending in a NAKED BALLOT (caused by a voter's ballot being inside only one sealed envelope rather than two) resulting in THE VOTE NOT BEING COUNTED: (video link)

Naked Ballots can have a substantial impact on election results.  For instance, based on estimates from previous elections and the massive increase in first-time absentee voters expected this year, Philadelphia officials estimate that in Pennsylvania with the rejection of all absentee ballots arriving without sleeves (internal envelopes), more than 100,000 ballots could likely be thrown out during the 2020 general election.

Of the 16 states that include sleeves/envelopes to be used in their absentee voting packages:

• Four states -- Florida, Georgia, Hawaii and Washington -- have declared that they will still count Naked Ballots statewide.
• Some large counties in five other states -- Alaska, Minnesota, North Dakota, Texas and West Virginia -- have also confirmed that Naked Ballots will be counted in their counties.
• The remaining seven states -- Kentucky, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Virginia -- have firmly indicated that all Naked Ballots will be rejected.

Therefore, voters in all of these states, but particularly the last seven, should closely follow ballot instructions and make sure their ballots are dressed, even if you aren't. So, rejoice in your American "Right to Bare Arms -- as well as Other Body Parts" while you vote this year.  And while voting au naturel, here's a jazzy PSA from Parlour Noir ("The Naked Ballot Song") for your listening pleasure.

Just be careful (if you are in one of the listed prudish anti-naked ballot states) and make sure to dress your ballots, since Naked Ballots have no rights.

And, if you're voting in person, don't make the same mistake Katy Perry did.  Remember, a mask is mandatory, but you probably need more than a mask if you don't want to get escorted away in a patrol car.

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Treasures of the Library

Doug Hickok, NEFRL Director

A perk of being a FREE registered library patron is that you can request Digital Loans.  Read about how it works by clicking here.

So far, our music collection is digitized and ready for loan, we have some celluloid films ready, and some other stuff.

One of my favorite findings so far, among the "other stuff", is a membership badge.  Trust me, this membership badge is way cooler than anything you get nowadays!  Request "other102" to see it for yourself.

This tri-fold membership badge was issued by the Deutscher Bund für Freikörperkultur (DFK) in 1953.  The DFK is still active as being the main German association for the Free Body Culture.  They have 9 regional associations with about 160 naturist clubs and total about 50,000 members.  Their logo appears on a few different FKK-related publication titles at NEFRL.

The membership badge was issued to a Berlin woman in her early 30's named Gerda on September 1st, 1953.  It includes her full name, signature, address, birthday, and even a B&W photo of her stapled on the designated space.  (Privacy was apparently different back then.  If you request to see this item, NEF does black out the private details.)  The membership number is 830, which considering the DFK was founded in 1949, might imply the organization didn't have their first 1,000 members yet.  To somehow make it more official, there are several stamps (like from a rubber stamp) and a signature.

Like a passport, this item features numerous travel stamps (like the lick and stick paper kind).  The first one, in green, is next to the word "Aufnahme" (Admission).  The BKE on the stamp matches the rubber-stamped-on name and address for "Bund für Körperkultur und Erziehung".  There are 14 paper stamps, each has "B.f.K.u.E" and "DM 1.-", some with months written on them, but they don't seem to be consecutive like it would be a membership renewal.  My best guess is that she got a stamp each time she visited a club.  Perhaps the 1 Deutschmark per stamp was an entry fee?  The last ones are in late 1954, or 1956.  It's hard to read.

I would love to have a membership "passport" like this, with a stamp from every club I've been to proudly displayed within it.

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NEFRL's Updated Magazine List

Doug Hickok, NEFRL Director

Our giant list of naturist magazines has grown to nearly 16,000 after we've been hard at work merging in the new magazine donations.  Our backlog consisted of nearly 30 boxes (medium-sized flat-rate shipping boxes) from one donor, 6 various-sized boxes from another donor, a box from our "big trade" with ANRL, and a few other smaller donations.

Some of these donations have been waiting almost two years to get merged in.  Before we could do that, we needed a clean "baseline" of what was already on the shelf.  The last version of that baseline was in February of this year.

From February 2020, we had 15,322 unique magazines among 1,027 different titles.

As of October 2020, we have 15,992 unique magazines among 1,130 different titles.

Note:  That doesn't include any duplicates.  We have an entire wall of those too.

As the saying goes...  Size doesn't matter, it's how you use it.  That's why we offer a Research Request form, so that anyone can get access to the articles they seek from our collection.

Now that so many donations have been merged in to the main collection, our "incoming donation" shelves are looking pretty bare!

#SendNoods