We just wrapped up the annual meeting and convention at Shangri-La Ranch in New River, Arizona. As always, the Faber family went out of their way to provide a welcoming, friendly environment for all attendees. This time was no different. AANR-West President Cyndi Tendick and AANR Vice President Patty Faber were both very active in the Regional and AANR Conventions. This commitment to service is key to AANR’s success. I want to add my personal thank you to them for all the help and kindness they provided to me and my wife Debra Mullins during our ten-day stay at “The Ranch”.
Government Affairs discussions were lively at the meetings and membership sessions. Executive Director Erich Schuttauf had just wrapped up our involvement at the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) in Louisville, Kentucky before he arrived on the last day of the AANR-West Convention and provided updates to both conventions on the efforts we made there to boost AANR’s image to the lawmakers.
Last year GAT was active in many regions and the efforts by all the regional teams were responsible for our successes in blocking legislation, stopping a planned change to a nude use area of a beach front park, and a new recognition of AANR membership as proof of the legitimacy of family-friendly nudism.
In Wisconsin, through the actions of our lobbyist there, we blocked the effort to limit children’s attendance at events where nudists might be present in response to the participation by children in a city’s World Naked Bike Ride. A Madison legislator was appalled the police found no law was broken by the attendance, and the legislator wanted to change that. We will see this legislation come back next year and we are preparing to fight this effort when needed.
In Hawaii we were successful with our lobbyist there in stalling legislation that would have limited public nudity in areas of that state. This is another bit of legislation we will be watching to pop up again in the future. We are also trying to make inroads in the administrative efforts by the Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) to shut down access and nude use of beaches through administrative means.
In Florida we saw a law that codified the recognition of AANR affiliated clubs to allow nude massage. While that is a great outcome, we were not looking for a carve out for AANR, but rather fighting a larger issue concerning exploitation of children. Florida continues to provide opportunities for us to try and get nudist recognition for use of public areas, mostly beaches.
Washington state is where the GAT team really rose to the challenge. When an anonymous donor offered to pay for a children’s play area to be built at Denny Blaine Beach on the shores of Lake Washington, AANR-Northwest sprang into action. The offer did not include ongoing costs or any provisions for a lifeguard.
Denny Blaine is a nude use area and the testimony by members of the AANR-Northwest GAT Team helped sway the vote to not accept the donor’s offer. Further developments in the case ultimately resulted not only in the play area not being built, but the beach gaining an official designation as a nude use area.
The AANR-Northwest GAT team is to be commended for their effort and that is why they are the winner of this year’s AANR Government Affairs Memorial Award for Service.