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AANR Update - March 5, 2010
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Brian

Posted: Mar 5, 2010

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 ERICH SCHUTTAUF, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
?Friends, Members, and Country Men/Country Women: Lend Me Your Ears??
?And consider lending your talents to the Association as a future officer or member of AANR?s Board of Trustees. This June, members will elect a new slate of officers and board, but the deadline for submitting validated petitions to run falls on March 15, just 10 days away. Positions are open for both Member Trustees, who represent all members of a geographical area, and Club Trustees who come from the management/ownership ranks of our clubs and represent each of the varying sizes of those clubs. Put another way, a leader or owner of a mid-size club would submit a validated nomination to run as a trustee representing mid-sized clubs (usually labeled with such numbers as ?3? or ?4.?)

Club Tiers and Forms Available
For those seeking Club Trustee positions, a chart of the various tiers of clubs (based on the 2009 Year-End Membership Count) is available on www.aanr.com in both the Member Benefits and Club Services sections. Log in to either section and view the ?Club Voting Tiers? document under Ruling Documents. You?ll also find the applicable forms and further information.

Candidate Profiles
Candidate profiles are due to Linda Berry by March 22 for publication in the Voter?s Guide that will be inserted into the May issue of The Bulletin along with the voting ballot. Contact Linda at editor@aanr.com if you have submitted your nomination form but haven?t received the Candidate Profile guidelines.

Minutes of January 2010 Midwinter Board Meeting
Thanks to Tina Barnott?s efficiency, the minutes have been distributed to the board and are also available on www.aanr.com in the Ruling Documents, Download Zones of both Member Benefits and Club Services sections.

Thanks for Keeping the Voice of Nude Recreation Credible
Last week we distributed a memo to you, our leaders and clubs, regarding a pilot television program called The Marriage Ref. Said ?referee? apparently will jump in between spouses appearing in the program to break up ?fights? over a variety of topics. We deeply appreciate so many of you who have considered the recommendations of the experts of AANR?s public relations firm as expressed in the memo, and for letting us know of your decisions to decline ?invitations? from show producers who plan to feature a couple fighting over the nudity topic. Doing so?at least until a point in the future after other episodes of the show have aired and it is possible to gauge how subjects are treated?will thwart what could be veiled attempts to reinforce stereotypes about nudism, or worse, in a cheap play for laughs and ratings.

We also recognize that venues and outlets not affiliated with AANR have significant potential to adversely impact the general public?s perception of nude recreation (and, especially, whether it should be regulated or outlawed) by their participation in such shows. For this reason, we are in the process of actively communicating with many to share what our experts have shared with us.

AANR Helping Members and Clubs
Over the past two weeks we have responded to the following urgent situations:

(1) We worked with a West Coast club that has been grappling with a frivolous?but expensive and time consuming?lawsuit by two people claiming they were unlawfully denied entry.

(2) Similarly, we worked with an East Coast club which is facing legal challenges from two unhappy former members who were asked to leave.

(3) We provided a kit of legal precedents and held a telephone conference with the attorney representing a member in Canada facing government interference related to practicing family nudity within the home.

(4) A husband and wife couple, members in the Midwest, has been suspended from their jobs as consultants with a non-profit firm after their involvement in nude recreation and leadership positions with a club were made known. We have provided guidance on options available and some legal basics.

(5) A divorced member in the Midwest is finding custody of his 10-year-old son challenged on the basis that he is a nudist, although mom had participated for years.

E-Bulletin Helps AANR Obtain Valuable Feedback on Website
Thanks to hard work by Director of Electronic Communications Lynn Von Hagel, an electronic survey was distributed to over 20,000 readers of AANR?s E-Bulletin newsletter. The survey gauges opinions of the aanr.com website in preparation for a substantial overhaul of the site we?ll be making this spring. To date, OVER 3,000 people have responded! We deeply, deeply appreciate their taking the time to do this and will report on results in the near future.

Promoting Nude Recreation
Yesterday I had an interview with a reporter from The Boston Phoenix in preparation for her upcoming article about Nude Recreation in New England. During the conversation I discussed Berkshire Vista (and its proximity to historic Stockbridge, MA, and the famed Tanglewood Music centre), the prime opportunities on Cape Cod available at Sandy Terraces, and the dedicated work of volunteers who work each summer on the beaches of the Cape Cod National Seashore with restoration of the former nude beach there in mind.

We also talked about the chance to experience a genuine country inn while in your birthday suit at Abbott?s Glen or at the Maple Glen club, and the skinny-dipping tradition in the Green Mountain state memorialized in (now) Sen. Patrick Leahy?s legal memorandum. I expounded on the large number of AANR members and the participants in last summer?s World Record Skinny-Dip at Solair club, plus Connecticut?s Sun Ridge Resort, nudist opportunities in Foster, Rhode Island, and much more. I concluded the call on what I trust will be a great story. Watch for it to appear soon.

In the News?
White Tail Park in Ivor, Virginia, has been noted in articles as far as Chicago, Illinois, and beyond in coverage of the nude Sunday morning services offered in the chapel on the club?s grounds: http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?section=news/bizarre&id=7295837.

Also this week, Bare Necessities Tour & Travel received some GREAT publicity from several Scandinavian media about its business and the upcoming Hawaii cruise. The link below will take you to a rough Google translation of an article appearing in Finland.
http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=no&u=http://www.vg.no/reise/artikkel.php%3Fartid%3D593751&ei=i86PS-6mCY-Ytgfr2NygCw&sa=X&oi=translate&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CAcQ7gEwAA&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dhttp://www.vg.no/reise/artikkel.php%253Fartid%253D593751%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DG

The Abominable Snow (wo)Man
And, finally, speaking of newsworthy events, I want to thank the many of you who forwarded links to us regarding a story coming from the Northeast about a family that built a nude snow sculpture re-creating the Venus di Milo?nude, sans arms, and all.

While their work drew appreciative looks from most who passed by, it generated at least one anonymous tip to police who appeared at the family?s home to apologetically request that they ?put some clothes on it? or take it down. You can watch the video and read more here: http://www.myfoxny.com/dpp/news/offbeat/nude-snow-woman-100303-apx

As long as there are people throughout North America that would actually call law enforcement over a rendering of one of history?s most famous and treasured art pieces in crystals destined to melt in days, there will be an American Association for Nude Recreation providing a voice for common sense treatment of nudity and the human body.

CAROLYN HAWKINS, PUBLIC RELATIONS COORDINATOR
Earth Day, April 22, 2010
Next week, AANR will be sending out a template Earth Day release for clubs to insert their information to attract media.

PR Conference Call
The team had its second PR conference call this week. The calls have been changed to the first Wednesday of each month. These calls have proven to be very productive as the team shares their own ideas.

Cruise to Hawaii
The Bare Necessities Aloha cruise is set to sail next week. If you plan to be on board the ship, bring your club brochures with you and look for the AANR table on the sea days.

LINDA BERRY, DIRECTOR OF PUBLICATIONS
The Bulletin
The April issue is in production.

TERRY JUSTICE, CLUB/MEMBER LIAISON
Here are the directory changes for this week:

Bay Bares in Florida has a new website which is www.baybares.com

I also have a new address for Sno-Birds in Minnesota which is:
177 91st Ave NE
Blaine, MN 55434

Have a good weekend everybody.

DEBRA SUE STEVENS AND NANETTE WICKERSHAM, GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS
REQUEST: Print the following in your Club Newsletter or send to your members in your E-News, when timely and appropriate. We want the members to know what GAT does for them!

AANR Legislative Tracking


Statistics for 2010:

In Session: There are 38 states, DC and Puerto Rico in Regular Session. There are 3 states in Special Session.
States in Regular Session: AK, AL, AR, AZ, CA, CO, CT, DC, FL, HI, IA, ID, IL, IN, KS, KY, MA, MD, ME, MI, MN, MO, MS, NE, NH, NJ, NY, OH, OK, RI, SC, SD, TN, US, UT, VA, WA, WI, WV, WY
AANR Statistics:
o 1300 bills have been reviewed personally by AANR in 2010.
o 113 bills have been reviewed in full text by AANR in 2010.
o 193 bills are being monitored for movement/amendments. This figure includes some carryovers from 2009.
o 16 bills have been moved to the ?Archived 2009 List?

AANR encourages our membership and like-minded nudists and naturists to assist in the process of tracking bills and news impacting nude recreation. Always contact the AANR office before taking action. This ensures that your actions are aligned with the strategy underway for any particular bill or advocacy effort. Remember, AANR GAT works for you!



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