THE NATURIST LEGACY FILES

Our Year In Review

Whew! What a year it's been for all of us! No one could have imagined this time last year that we would be faced with so much adversity in 2010, or that we would accomplish so much in the face of that adversity. Naturist Legacy's board of directors thought it would be good to close out the year by offering a brief review of the highlights (and "lowlights") of 2010.

JANUARY TO APRIL: Crocus Grove Sun Club's executive board works tirelessly together with Ray and Sue to promote Sandhill Pines, and to prepare for another clothing-optional year at camp. We create two new Web sites for them, help with their mail campaign, organize and man a booth at the Winnipeg Wellness Expo, prepare promotional material for the RV Show and help man that booth, and help Ray with the physical work necessary to finish his seasonal RV site upgrades. The campground is poised for its best year ever under their ownership.

APRIL 13: Disastrous news! With absolutely no warning, Sue and Ray inform Crocus Grove members that Sandhill Pines is going textile, and that their decision is final.

APRIL: A negative press release by Sue initiates a flurry of public news coverage. Both sides offer their point of view concerning what happened and why. The CGSC executive board holds an emergency meeting to discuss the future of the club, and of social nudism in Manitoba. A unique and promising new concept emerges from that meeting tentatively called "The Legacy Project." It's a plan to preserve nudism in Manitoba through the acquisition of new land to be held in trust and permanently designated for nude use.

MAY 2: A full CGSC membership meeting is held on May 2nd in which the broad outlines of The Legacy Project are presented to members. They are informed that a substantial amount of money has already been pledged towards the purchase of new land. Pledges from those in attendance are subsequently invited. The meeting closes with a nearly unanimous show of support for The Legacy Project.

MAY TO SEPTEMBER: The first of what would be 21 e-mail news updates is sent to members on May 8th. A land search begins immediately. More than a hundred properties are considered. Approximately sixty are selected for further review. Sixteen are personally visited. Ten are physically walked and inspected.

The process of creating a new non-profit corporation to own and hold nudist land is started. By-laws are carefully crafted and legally vetted. Naturist Legacy Inc. is finally born from this long and meticulous process on August 11th. Our first offer to purchase land is made the very next day.

SEPTEMBER 11: An important general membership meeting is held. Members vote to accept Naturist Legacy's by-laws and first directors, to transfer the AANR charter from Crocus Grove Sun Club to Naturist Legacy Inc., and to wrap up CGSC's business affairs including its involvement in financial and membership matters. A tentative 80-acre land purchase is announced. Cheques are written to match the pledges made four months earlier at the May 2nd meeting.

OCTOBER TO NOVEMBER: Naturist Legacy Inc. officially takes possession of our new land on October 1st! Work begins immediately to widen roads, move trailers and buildings from the old camp, transport garbage to the dump, demolish derelict buildings, install gates, take down old barbed wire fencing, cut a 40' x 800' corridor for the new Hydro line and begin grooming the grounds. An enormous amount of work is accomplished before mid-November when the cold and snow finally arrives and work on the land is halted.

DECEMBER: Naturist Legacy's new Web site is launched. Fundraising continues. The first meeting of the member Advisory Council is held. A contract is signed with Manitoba Hydro for the spring installation of our new power line. Articles about Naturist Legacy and it's progress are written, submitted and accepted for publication by AANR's Bulletin and FCN's Going Natural magazine (look for them early in 2011). Routine submissions of AANR Club Happenings notices begin. The first is submitted for publication in The Bulletin and is also posted on AANR's Web site (see https://www.aanr.com/happenings/).

And so ends 2010! Naturist Legacy's board of directors would like to express our sincerest gratitude to all of the wonderful people who made the many accomplishments mentioned above possible. We'd especially like to thank the final CGSC executive board...for their hard work both before and after the loss of our old camp, and for having the vision to recognize the need for a whole new approach to protecting and preserving social nudism / naturism in Manitoba. The torch has now been passed to Naturist Legacy, and we humbly receive it.

Honour the past. Support the present. Build the future.

We'd also like to acknowledge all those who volunteered to work on our new land last fall.... Some of you worked a few hours on the land. Some worked a few days. Some worked a few weekends. And some of you worked a few weeks. Yes, weeks! No matter how much time you were able to devote to the beginnings of Naturist Legacy Park, we'd like you to know that we truly appreciate every single minute of your help! We hope to see a lot more of you next spring!

2010 has been an incredibly difficult and challenging year. Our biggest setback was the loss of our old camp. Our biggest triumph was the purchase of our new land. No mortgage. Ours forever! Naturist forever!

We look to 2011 with growing anticipation. While we fully expect more challenges (nothing has come easily in our rebuilding efforts so far), we also expect more accomplishments — lots of them, in fact — as Naturist Legacy Park continues to take shape. We hope that we can count on your physical, financial and moral support in the weeks, months and years ahead. We're going to need it!

Happy New Year, everyone!

SOURCE: This article (slightly abridged) was published in both the members and non-members editions of the December 30, 2010 Naturist Legacy News Update. Check out the 2010 Photo Galleries to see what was accomplished during the first months of development at Naturist Legacy Park.