September 2019 Editor's Message: by Seth Paronick Take Hurricane Dorian seriously!

Dear Charles:

South Florida Free Beaches has new mailing address Reminder: Please note our new mailing address. Our old PO box will be closed soon. South Florida Free Beaches (or SFFB/FNA, Inc.)

PO Box 601683

North Miami Beach FL 33160-1683

At press time, Category 5 Hurricane Dorian was battering The Bahamas and approaching Florida. While the eye of the storm was expected to remain at sea, likely sparing the United States from the full, catastrophic power of the storm's maximum winds, at this writing, portions of Florida's East Coast were under tropical storm or hurricane watches or warnings and, for the lattermost, mandatory evacuation orders. Depending on the eye's proximity to the U.S. coast as the storm would make its expected turn to the north, Florida, Georgia, and the Carolinas were facing the possible impact of lower-category, hurricane-force winds.

Perhaps even more dangerous than such winds are the potential, wind-driven surges of sea water onto land, which confront coastal, estuarine, and canal-bordering communities with life-threatening inundation. At this writing, portions of Florida's East Coast were also under storm surge watches or warnings, with estimates of depths on land ranging from 2 to 7 feet (0.6 – 2.1 meters). At the same time, there was a further threat of inland flooding from heavy rainfall in Florida and other coastal, southeastern states.

Bottom line: If you are in any area declared by emergency authorities to be threatened by Hurricane Dorian, no matter how pleasant the current weather may appear, please take their recommendations with the utmost seriousness and rush your storm preparations to completion.

The islands of The Bahamas have taken a devastating hit. If you can help with donations of money and/or in kind, please follow the Bahamian Government's requests for hurricane relief, which may be updated over time.

Listed below are a few of my favorite resources in Florida for tropical cyclone information without the breathless hype of television news.

National Hurricane Center (NHC) — Just the facts, ma’am, along with sober assessments, with major updates every six hours and minor ones every three hours between those.

(NHC) — Just the facts, ma’am, along with sober assessments, with major updates every six hours and minor ones every three hours between those. Florida Division of Emergency Management — For statewide and localized emergency information, e.g., evacuations, shelters, closures, distribution points for sandbags, bottled water, and ice, etc., start here and follow links to your own county's (or city's, if available), emergency management agency. (For other states or U.S. territories, refer to the Federal Emergency Management Administation (FEMA)'s directory of emergency management agencies .)

— For statewide and localized emergency information, e.g., evacuations, shelters, closures, distribution points for sandbags, bottled water, and ice, etc., start here and follow links to your own county's (or city's, if available), emergency management agency. (For other states or U.S. territories, refer to the Federal Emergency Management Administation (FEMA)'s .) ALERT Florida – Statewide Notification Initiative — Sign up to get customized text messages, e-mails, and/or phone calls about the kinds of updates you select. This is a great way to stay informed of urgent, local situations in real time.

— Sign up to get customized text messages, e-mails, and/or phone calls about the kinds of updates you select. This is a great way to stay informed of urgent, local situations in real time. Bryan Norcross' official Facebook page — "Like" or follow the legendary meteorologist and hero of Hurricane Andrew, who interprets and comments on NHC storm updates as they occur.

Because of the urgency of this message for Florida, this issue of the newsletter is being distributed not only to regular subscribers and newsletter exchange entities, but also to naturist organizations, businesses, and other entities in Florida that are part of an extended, Naturist Unity distribution that B.E.A.C.H.E.S. Foundation Institute maintains. If you don't normally receive the South Florida Free Beaches newsletter but would like to get on its monthly distribution as a regular subscriber, just reply to that effect, and I'll add your organization.

At press time, given its location vis-à-vis the forecast storm track and on the basis of the effects of previous hurricanes, clothing-optional Blind Creek Beach in Fort Pierce, FL was expected to suffer severe erosion from high and turbulent surf, regardless of the eventual path of Hurricane Dorian. Please support Treasure Coast Naturists, who work closely with St. Lucie County for the protection of the beach. (See related article below.) Florida's other clothing-optional beaches were probably facing less damage, but I will try to provide a report on the post-storm condition of all of them in the next issue.

Best of luck, and stay safe!

Meanwhile, if you are not a current member of South Florida Free Beaches, please consider becoming one — numbers matter. At $35 per year for your household, it costs just 67¢ per week. A key benefit is the continued, clothing-optional use of Haulover Beach. How much is that worth to you? Join or renew at sffb.com.



SFFB also has a separate Legal Defense & Political Action Fund that supports its government affairs efforts and assists individuals cited for nude sunbathing. Even if you're not ready to (re)join just yet, please consider donating to this fund (not tax-deductible) to help with current challenges. Donations by bank check should be mailed to the address below (in e-mail version of newsletter). Thanks!

In memoriam: Tom Chittenden, co-founder of South Florida Free Beaches by David Baum, SFFB Recording Secretary, with additional information from Richard Mason, SFFB President, and Bruce Frendahl Tom Chittenden, co-founder of South Florida Free Beaches, passed away of a heart attack on March 12, 2019 at age 80. Tom was the naturist's naturist. The six-foot-tall Somerville, MA native was a teacher, MENSA member, and Dale Carnegie grad who knew how to make a speech (brief video clip, 1:17). Tom was active during the 1970s in Boston and on Cape Cod with his club, "Nood Group," which held house parties and nude swims for five years. In 1975, Tom (at left in the adjacent photo) went to a large, nude beach event on a section of Cape Cod National Seashore. Even then, he had no problem being interviewed or being photographed nude. The organizer of that event was Lee Baxandall (center in the adjacent photo), who would soon form The Naturist Society. Tom became a friend and Lee asked for his help with the growing "free beach movement" in Florida after Tom moved there in 1977. Tom used the name, "The South Florida Free Beaches" as the contact for clothing-optional beach information in this area. He gathered names of "free beach nudists" who used Virginia Key Beach, which was the unofficial clothing-optional beach in the Miami area at that time. In 1980, Tom met Barbara Kahn (now, Petersen), who had her own social group of nudists. Consolidating the names on their respective lists, they created a group called South Florida Free Beaches (SFFB). After Virginia Key Beach was closed to nude use, Tom continued doing interviews on radio and television and fought to open more nude areas. While protesting in favor of clothing-optional recreation, he was arrested four times (once on live TV), but never convicted. During the 1980s, Tom took members of SFFB to visit nudist camps and other clothing-optional beaches or sites that would be good candidates for nude use, including an isolated area of Haulover Beach. He stepped away from SFFB for a few years, but then returned after Haulover had become the long-desired clothing-optional beach. He later adopted the nickname, "Portside Tom" and lived on a houseboat in the Florida Keys, and then found a life and a wife in Guatemala. His house had a rooftop sun deck for nude sunbathing. In later years, Tom became part of a living history group of pirate reënactors (as seen at right). With his full beard and tall, lanky form, Tom made an impressive Blackbeard. Tom Chittenden was highly respected in naturist circles. His life work, personality, and perseverance will be fondly remembered. For details and more photos of Tom's history with SFFB, read my previous articles on him. If you have any reminiscences of Tom that you would like to share with readers in a future issue, please reply to this e-mail.

Florida free beach roundup Tampa Bay Free Beaches Tampa Bay Free Beaches (TBFB), a naturist club that formed a few months ago to pursue a clothing-optional beach in the Tampa Bay Area, held its second open meeting on August 31 at Eden RV Resort in Hudson, FL. Despite concern about Hurricane Dorian swirling to the east of Florida (see related article above), more than two dozen people turned out to meet with TBFB's team of six directors. They discussed ideas for fundraising and membership development, including assigning each Board member to a nudist resort in the area to post club news and promote the club there. There was talk of obtaining banners and items to sell, such as towels, shirts, hats, etc., printed with the club's logo. Another suggestion was for TBFB to have an information table in the exhibitors' hall on the next Bare Necessities The Big Nude Boat cruise. Someone mentioned possible collaboration with a radio station and a sailing company in the area. The TBFB Board approved a $250 donation to B.E.A.C.H.E.S. Foundation Institute to support the latter's efforts on TBFB's behalf. (See related article below.) TBFB encourages individuals to join Friends of the Island Parks and businesses to join the Dunedin Chamber of Commerce. The Friends group is a citizen support organization that helps protect, promote, and provide educational services in Honeymoon and Caladesi Island State Parks, both located near Dunedin, FL (north of Clearwater). Membership in the group includes 12 free admissions to Honeymoon Island per year among other perks. TBFB is a member of the Chamber and is establishing friendly relationships there with business supporters. TBFB's Board of Directors plans to hold monthly executive meetings and open public meetings every other month, along with social gatherings from time to time. As we have previously reported, TBFB enjoys the formal support of other Florida and national naturist organizations. You can also support TBFB's efforts by joining and/or donating to the club and "liking" its Facebook page at facebook.com/TampaBayFreeBeaches. Treasure Coast Naturists Treasure Coast Naturists (TCN), the group that mentors clothing-optional Blind Creek Beach on Hutchinson Island in Fort Pierce, FL (see related article above), is looking at having another nude bowling and billiards night, probably in November. Once a date is set, we'll report it. Keep an eye out. South Florida Free Beaches South Florida Free Beaches noted with concern a no-swim advisory issued by Miami-Dade County on August 12 for certain locations in the northeastern part of the county, due to leakage from a cracked sewage pipe. The advisory included only the first 500 feet (152 meters) of Haulover Beach to the north of Haulover Inlet, but many avoided the waters farther north on Haulover Beach in an abundance of caution. At press time, we had not seen any announcement of the completion of pipe repairs, but the most recent test of Haulover Beach waters, dated August 26, indicated that they met quality standards. If you go there, check at the nearest lifeguard tower for the current status of water quality. Warning: While Hurricane Dorian is in the region, surf conditions will be very rough and may include strong, rip currents. (See related article above.) Avoid swimming if warning flags are posted.

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