Post by Glenn_Smithanyone know of a safe clothing optional retreat in Charleston or
Huntington WV area?
And what would be an unsafe clothing-optional retreat? One with lots of
big dogs with cold noses, big briar patches next to the volleyball
courts, and barbed-wire instead of plastic chains along the pathways?
Or is this person looking for another place to gather when the next
convention of salesmen of steel-toe boots, heavy coveralls, hard hats,
and welding gauntlets gets together?
Bruce in Blacksburg
BTW, there is a family nudist camp over near Richmond that ran afoul of
folks who feel the need to control everyone else's life. After a camp
for juveniles was exposed last summer, a bill was offered up at (and
passed by) the Virginia General Assembly to restrict such activities.
Here is the report on Gov. Warner's signing of the bill into law.
Punslinging governor amends teen nude camp bill
By BOB LEWIS
Associated Press Writer
Apr 15, 2004
RICHMOND, Va. - Gov. Mark R. Warner liked a bill that cracks down on
summer camps for nude juveniles so much that he offered only a
clarifying amendment to it Thursday, then announced what he'd done
without sparing a pun.
"I support the bottom line intent of this bill," the Democratic governor
wrote in a brief, tongue-in-cheek commentary full of double entendre.
Midnight was his deadline to veto, sign or amend legislation passed
during the 2004 regular General Assembly session.
"This bill has been the butt of many jokes, so with naked admiration for
its patron, I am offering this amendment," his missive concluded.
The patron, Del. John S. "Jack" Reid, introduced the bill after a
weeklong summer camp was held last June for nude children ages 11 to 18
at Southampton County's White Tail Park nudist community. It was the
first such camp in Virginia and only the third in the nation.
"Stripped to its bare essence," as Warner wrote, the bill bars the state
Department of Health from licensing any hotel, summer camp or campground
that holds activities for nude minors whose parents or guardians are not
"registered for or otherwise accompanying the juvenile."
Warner's amendment, offered at Reid's request to make its intent "more
transparent," requires that "for a camp to obtain a license, a parent,
grandparent or legal guardian must actually be revealed at the camp, not
simply register."
Lawmakers will reconvene on Wednesday to consider whether to accept or
reject Warner's amendments and override any vetoes.
White Tail's owner and manager, Bob Roche, found no humor in Warner's
wordsmithing and said the amendment would hurt his business.
"It's the most disgusting thing I've ever seen a governor do," Roche
said in a telephone interview from White Tail, home to 35 families
year-round and 140 part-time.
He said Warner's amendment is unconstitutional and he intends to sue to
overturn it. Roche said White Tail is holding another au naturel camp
for youths in July, but he had not yet determined whether parental
presence will be compulsory.
--
Bruce Harper
Virginia Tech, Blacksburg Virginia
bharper at vt.edu