Ilsley Visits Olive Dell Ranch This week Ilsley visits Olive Dell Ranch, an AANR club in Southern California situated on 140 acres at 2,000-feet elevation. Olive Dell has been offering an ideal year-round climate for hiking, volleyball, petanque, and more since 1952. Accommodations at the ranch include heated cabins, tent sites, and RV sites with electric and water hookups. A self-guided hiking/nature trail, a large whirlpool/spa, sauna, swimming pool, and children's playground are also available. Olive Dell Ranch is just one hour from Disneyland and Knott's Berry Farm to the west and Palm Springs to the east. A stay at Olive Dell can be as relaxing or as busy as you like! The Ilsley is a traveling trophy commissioned to commemorate AANR's 75th Anniversary as the credible voice of reason for nude recreation in North America. Ilsley is traveling to nearly 40 AANR clubs and resorts across the U.S. and Canada. Throughout his tour, special themed events and celebrations are planned at host clubs along the way. The award is named for the late Rev. Ilsley Boone, the founder and first Executive Director of AANR's predecessor, the American Sunbathing Association. Boone is perhaps best remembered as the flamboyant clergyman who served as plaintiff in the 1958 case of Sunshine and Health v. Summerfield. That case went all the way to the United States Supreme Court and established, once and for all, First Amendment protection for nudist publications. Ilsley ends his tour in August 2006 at the Association's 75th Anniversary Convention at Deanza Springs Resort outside San Diego, California. You can track Ilsley's weekly progress on his year-long tour right here on the AANR website. 
Film Shows Community Spirit of Nudism A recent film, released in time for Oscar consideration, centers on a theater troupe in 1930s London that creates a scandal by letting its actors bare all onstage. "Mrs. Henderson Presents" stars Academy Award-winning actors Bob Hoskins and Dame Judi Dench, whose character buys an old theater after her husband dies. Competition prompts Mrs. Henderson to explore new markets and throw nudity into the mix. When Van Damm (Hoskins) suggests that everyone at rehearsal strip down to make the performers feel more at ease, a temporary nudist community materializes at the formerly stuffy theater. Yet director Stephen Frears' film is not about voyeurism. The audience learns that Mrs. Henderson's unconventional ideas to incorporate nudity into her show isn't motivated by greed, but is the result of spending too many years in a passive , repressed stupor. The film takes place as German bombs fall and the theater becomes a haven for those frightened by war and suffering the loss of loved ones. Frears states that those who just want "to see a movie about naked people, here it is--now let's move on." His film is more ambitious than that with gorgeous choreography, a poignant character study, and a sense of community in a time of need. Read more at Mrs. Henderson Presents. Nude Talk Radio Calling all fitness buffs! A new radio talk show, "The Fitness Buff," is being broadcast on Friday afternoons from 4 to 5 pm. from Paradise Lakes Resort in Land O'Lakes, Florida, and features AANR staff writer Pete Williams and co-host Sabrina Vizzari, who broadcast nude poolside near the Key West Bar. Though the show is not strictly a nudist show, it has a nudist flavor. Williams, an avid sports enthusiast and sports writer, opens each show with a discussion of what's happening at Paradise Lakes and heavily promotes any club events with a fitness theme. The Fitness Buffs spend the bulk of the show talking to health experts and personal trainers. Williams says, "I'm hoping if listeners hear a mainstream radio program broadcast from a nudist resort, maybe they'll be more inclined to give nude recreation a try." In fact, Williams regularly invites listeners to stop by Paradise Lakes--even while the show is still on the air. The Fitness Buff can be heard on WTAN "Tan Talk" radio network, which consists of AM1340 out of Clearwater, AM1400 out of Zephyrhills, and AM1350 out of Dade City. It can be heard over the Internet at Tan Talk Radio. Mooning Ruled Legal in Maryland A Montgomery County Maryland Circuit Court judge ruled this week that mooning is not illegal in Maryland. The Washington Post reports that the defendant's attorneys argued that the harmless incident did not fall under the county's indecent exposure laws. After the bench trial, Judge John W. Debelius III said," If exposure of half of the buttock constituted indecent exposure, any woman wearing a thong at the beach would be guilty." In a live poll on MSNBC.com asking "Should mooning be legal?", the results were split between a majority of respondents who voted "Yes" and "Who cares? Lawmakers shouldn't waste their time on this."  |
