AFFILIATED NATIONALLY WITH

JUNE 2012 SERVING THE NATURIST COMMINUTY FOR OVER TEN YEARS VOL. 11 NO 6 NUDIST GROUPS TO SUPPORT NUDE BIKE RIDE THROUGH L.A. ON JUNE 16 SCNA EVENTS IN JUNE 2012 SCNA is joining forces with the local YNA (Youth Naturists of Saturday, June 9 America) club and also with ANFA (American Naturist Families Pool Party, Brentwood Association, based in Long Beach) to support and help organize Friday-Sunday, June 8-10 the World Naked Bike Ride event schedule for downtown Los Angeles on June 16. AANR Summer Festival Glen Eden, Corona Saturday, June 16 Last year, the event was hosted by couple of non-nudists who Nude Bike Ride thru LA wanted to promote bike safety. They decided not to be the organizers this year, so our 3 groups have stepped in. Saturday-Sunday, June 23-24 Deep Creek Hike San Bernardino Mtns (3-club event) The police permit is for a bike Saturday June 30 ride starting in Silverlake, Independence Day Parade/ $2 Bill Day Carpinteria snaking through downtown Los Angeles and back again. Monthly Meet-up Dinner Meetings Tuesday, June 12, 6:45 – 8:30 PM, Van Nuys Last year, over 250 riders Thursday, June 21, 6:45 – 8:30 PM, West LA participated in the event on the same route. Because it was a Friday, June 8, 6:45 – 8:30 PM, Ventura “freedom of speech protest” Monday, June 18, 6:45 – 8:30 PM, Pasadena against the U.S. dependency Wednesday, June 27, 6:45 – 8:30 PM, Torrance on oil and also to promote Naked Yoga bicycle safety, LAPD allowed Indefinitely postponed, Culver City the riders to be nude and, in SCNA EVENTS IN JULY 2012 fact, they gave the riders an Saturday, July 7, Noon-8pm escort through downtown! SCNA joins Olympian Club at GE for picnic If you do not want to go nude Saturday , July 14, Noon – whenever or top-free, another idea is to Deer Park Olympics, Body Painting Contest, Toga! apply body paint before the Sunday July 22, Noon – 7pm race to cover "private" areas. Others may choose to hang signs Pool Party and annual SCNA elections, Northridge over their bodies so their skin can only be seen in profile. You can do this at the staging area during the hour before the ride Saturday, July 28, 2:30pm – 5:30 pm begins. Nude Bowling, Montrose (3-club event) Monthly Meet-up Dinner Meetings The whole point is to have fun doing something you normally Tuesday, July 10, 6:45 – 8:30 PM, Van Nuys cannot do in public! The other goal is to get our message out in a fun way that will bring minimum discomfort to un-prepared Friday, July 13, 6:45 – 8:30 PM, Ventura onlookers as the riders streak by. Thursday, July 19, 6:45 – 8:30 PM, West LA Monday July 16, 6:45 – 8:30 PM, Pasadena Bring your own bicycle, as none will be provided. There will be Wednesday, July 25, 6:45 – 8:30 PM, Torrance a couple of pickup trucks following in case you break down (or get too tired) along the way. Naked Yoga Indefinitely postponed, Culver City To help keep all the names in one place, please sign up on the event’s Facebook page (use the Facebook search feature for: © COPYRIGHT 2012, SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA NATURIST ASSOCIATION, A NON-PROFIT “Naked Bike Ride Los Angeles 2012”). Those who sign up will 501(C)(7) CORPORATION, CALABASAS, CALIFORNIA, USA. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. be sent the address of the assembly point and nearby parking lots IMAGES AND TEXT ARE THE PROPERTY OF SCNA AND CANNOT BE REPRODUCED about 48 hours beforehand. WITHOUT ADVANCED WRITTEN PERMISSION.

SCNA Newsletter for June 2012 Page 1 of 10 NUDE BOWLING EVENT SET FOR JULY 28 You asked for it (for years!), so you got it! SCNA is hosting a Nude Bowling event at the Montrose Bowl (near the Rose Bowl, if you don't know where Montrose is) from 2:30 to 5:30 pm on Saturday, July 28. We have rented out the entire alley for the event, and it has complete privacy from the street. There will be nobody there but us for these 3 hours. Cost will be $20/person. We need 25 people to “break even,” so we have opened up this event to all our local clubs such as YNA, AANFA, NitOC, and the Olympian club to be sure we can get enough to cover our deposit. The cost includes shoes. This will be a pot luck event, with the bowling alley providing water, soft drinks, and beer and wine for a nominal sum. They have no kitchen or refrigerator available, so all food you bring must be prepared in advance (bring a cooler if your food must be kept chilled). We will have prizes for best scores. More information and Tim and Ricc celebrate with a birthday cake at the Westchester party. directions next month. Please RSVP to SCNA at (818) 225-2273 or via email to [email protected]. We will have our PayPal SCNA CLUB EVENTS link operational for this event by July 1 so you can pay in advance YEA! PLENTY OF SUN AT SCNA online. WESTCHESTER PARTY No “May Gray” this year! The sun was out and the 30 members and guests who attended had an excellent day to start working on their tans, enjoy a good soak, and eat some terrific food. The party theme was “Viva Fiesta,” and we had a wide variety of Mexican food to choose from including some delicious homemade chili rienos, fideo noodles, and chilaquiles, plus a wonderful guacamole dip for the chips! Also, Akila baked a birthday cake for Tim and Ricc, both of whom celebrated their 60th birthdays a week apart this month. As is a tradition at this party, Michael brought out his “Catch Phrase” game, and many members joined in the fun. Thanks again to Michael for being such a gracious host, as always. Bare to Breakers – SCNA members ran in this annual 5k run through the streets of San Francisco on May 20. There are no laws against public nudity here and an estimated 700 persons (out of the 50,000 who did the run) did it without clothes. SCNA’S ONE ACT PLAY PERFORMANCES POSTPONED We are informed our lead actress has a schedule conflict and has withdrawn from our one act play, Love the Body Positive. We have had no choice but to cancel the scheduled performances for June 9 (at our Brentwood party) and June 10 (Glen Eden). We are have posted an ad on Craig’s List for the lead female role and we are also interviewing some local nudist park members for the part. We will notify you when the show is rescheduled.

Members and guests pose for traditional group photo in Westchester .

SCNA Newsletter for June 2012 Page 2 of 10 COOL SATURDAY BUT WARM SUNDAY AT OLIVE DELL FOR ANNUAL PIRATE WEEKEND We had a nice club turnout at Olive Dell over the Memorial Day Weekend to celebrate their annual Pirates of the Caribbean Festival. It was too bad the weather was unseasonably cool (cloudy and 68 degrees!) on Saturday, as this was the first time we ever saw so many clothed nudists on the patio there! However the Jacuzzi was great, and we shared many fun conversations there with the other guests, OD members, and even a few friends who were visiting from Deer Park up the road. Park volunteers gamely put on a very energetic vaudeville-type MOVIE “HIT AND RUN” IS SET review for us in mid-afternoon. Bobby’s dinner of BBQ ribs with FOR AUGUST 24 RELEASE all the trimmings is always the best bargain of the day! A summer romantic/comedy/chase movie, which includes Sunday and Monday, the sun came out early, and many more SCNA members as extras, is set for an August 24 release. people arrived to celebrate. The Review was repeated Saturday, “Paki,” Gloria, and Bob spent about six hours as movie extras accompanied by music this time, to the delight of all. last June filming a nude scene in a motel which may last all of ten seconds on the big screen; however, the scene is prominently included in the movie’s trailer, now out in theaters and on You Tube. In the trailer, those in the motel room are dressed in bras and panties, but in the real movie they are full-frontal naked. The film, originally titled “Outrun,” stars Kristen Bell (Forgetting Sarah Marshall), Tom Arnold (True Lies), Dax Shepard (Parenthood). The trailer indicates Shepard is in the witness protection program after driving the getaway car in a bank heist some years before. The other robbers are now out of prison and discover where Shepard is living. They want their money, which Shepard has hidden. To see the trailer, go to: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jsaxzTw8qvg

SCNA Newsletter for June 2012 Page 3 of 10 ON-GOING ACTIVITIES: SCNA MONTHLY MEET-UPS NOW AVAILABLE MONDAYS THROUGH FRIDAYS! Open to members, non-members, and first-timers! Topics range from personal experiences to current club info and news events affecting local beaches, nudist parks, or the naturist movement in general. Find us on-line at: http://www.meetup.com/nature-519/ This meeting is a great first- step for non-nudists who are WEDNESDAYS: SOUTH BAY/TORRANCE curious and have questions Always the fourth Wednesday of each month. about naturism, and it is a required orientation before June 27 and July 25, 6:45PM to 8:30PM non-members are invited Location: Coco's Restaurant (left-rear section of restaurant) (on a space-available basis) 18120 Hawthorne Blvd., Torrance, 90504 to attend one of our regular monthly pool parties. Meals are “Dutch treat” at a local Directions: Northeast corner of Hawthorne and 182nd St. We'll restaurant, so obviously this is a clothed event. We have be in the semi-private Banquet room to the right of the front reserved rooms or separate areas at all locations. Your RSVP is entrance. (Ask for “SCNA Meetup” at the front counter if you not necessary, but appreciated: call (818) 225-2273. can’t find us.)

MONDAYS: PASADENA-GLENDALE THURSDAYS: WEST LA/SANTA MONICA Always the third Monday of each month. Always the third Thursday of each month. June 18 and July 16, 6:45PM - 8:30PM June 21 and July 19, 6:45PM - 8:30PM Location: Coco's Restaurant, 77 N Lake Ave Pasadena, CA Location: Dolores Restaurant (in rear section of restaurant) 91105 11407 Santa Monica Blvd, West Los Angeles, CA 90025 Directions: Take the Lake Ave off-ramp from the 210 freeway Directions: Take the San Diego (405) Freeway to Santa Monica and go south about a block. Restaurant is on the right (west) Blvd. Exit West. Restaurant is 2 blocks down on the right (north) side of the street. We are usually in the semi-private banquet side of the street. (Ask for “SCNA Meetup” at the front counter room in the back of the restaurant. (Ask for “SCNA” at the if you can’t find us.) front counter in case the meeting room has been changed.)

TUESDAYS: SAN FERNANDO VALLEY FRIDAYS: VENTURA/SANTA BARBARA Always the second Tuesday of each month. Always the second Friday of each month, April through September only. June 12 and July 10, 6:45pm – 8:30 PM June 8 and July 13, 6:45PM - 8:30PM Location: Denny's (rear section on left side of restaurant) Location: Main Street Restaurant & Steak House, 3159 East 16575 Sherman Way, Van Nuys, CA, 91406 Main Street Ventura, CA 93003 Directions: In the San Fernando Valley, take 405 freeway to Directions: 1 block west of the Pacific View Mall shopping Sherman Way off ramp. Go West on Sherman Way approx. 2 center, north side of street just NW of the 126 Fwy and 101 Fwy miles thru the airport tunnel to just past Havenhurst Ave. interchange (take the Main St off ramp). (“Coffee shop” food.) Restaurant is on the north side of the street. SCREENING POLICY FOR SCNA PARTIES AND ACTIVITIES Non-members may be invited to the party only by SCNA members, who are responsible for the actions of their guests. Card-carrying members of either AANR or The Naturist Society may also attend (on a space-available basis). We request that all potential party guests first attend one our Meet-up dinners (above) so we might get to know them better before they attend their first SCNA party. Because we provide a safe, family-friendly environment at our activities, SCNA reserves the right to screen any or all non- member guests through the Megan's Law national database Note: The June and July classes have been postponed by the before the event. instructor. Call her at (310) 600-6903, and she will let you know when it is rescheduled. SCNA Newsletter for June 2012 Page 4 of 10 SCNA ACTIVITIES FOR JUNE 2012

Saturday, June 9 2PM to 8PM MEMBERS APPRECIATION POT LUCK AND POOL PARTY $10 SCNA MEMBERS/ $20 NON-MEMBERS, CHILDREN UNDER 18: NO CHARGE This is a new party location at a beautiful Brentwood home above San Vincente Blvd. SCNA will provide the main dish, as well as water and soft drinks. Bring a pot luck item and a folding chair. There is a swimming pool, Jacuzzi, and plenty of backyard sun to enjoy! Some Special Raffle Prizes! Bring a few extra bucks if you want to participate! We expect a large crowd for this one so RSVP early at (818) 225-2273. Friday - Sunday, June 8-10 AANR-WEST “SURFIN’ SAFARI” SUMMER FESTIVAL Glen Eden Sun Club, Corona AANR members can get in for the reduced gate fee of $15/person by showing their card at the front gate. You will get the chance to meet members from AANR-affiliated clubs elsewhere in California and Arizona. Glen Eden has a full schedule of events planned, from a Men's & Women's Doubles Tennis Tournament, to an 8-Ball Tournament, plus the usual Water Volleyball and poolside music all day. Sunday afternoon there will be an excellent Beach Boys Tribute Band and Dance from noon to 4pm in Piper Hall.

Saturday June 16 WORLD NAKED BIKE RIDE DAY GLOBAL PROTEST AGAINST FOSSIL FUELS & TO PROMOTE BIKE SAFETY IN LOS ANGELES No Charge for this event. This ride is to protest the lack of safety for bicycle riders on our local streets. SCNA members may want to participate in a bike ride through downtown Los Angeles – In other cities, the theme is to protest completely nude! Last year 250 riders participated in the LA event, joining thousands of our nation’s dependence on fossil bicycle riders in over 200 cities worldwide. fuels. If you do not want to go nude, another idea is to apply body paint before the race to cover "private" areas. Others may choose to hang signs over their bodies so their skin can only be seen in profile. Our goal is to get our message out in a fun way that will bring minimum discomfort to un-prepared onlookers as the riders streak by. Bring your own bicycle, naturally. For security reasons, the time and assembly point will be emailed to those who have signed up about 48 hours before the start. To help keep all the names in one place, please sign up on the event’s Facebook page (use From 2011: Los Angeles Nude Bike Riders the Facebook search feature for: “Naked Bike Ride Los Angeles 2012”). Those who sign up pose near city hall, downtown. will be sent the address of the assembly point and nearby parking lots about 48 hours beforehand. For information about the worldwide event, go to http://www.worldnakedbikeride.org/

SCNA Newsletter for June 2012 Page 5 of 10 Saturday, June 23-24, Meet at 10:30 AM NUDE HIKE/CAMPING TRIP TO DEEP CREEK Location: Bowen Ranch, San Bernardino Mountains $5/person for daytime parking, plus $10/person for optional overnight camping. SCNA in joining the Camping Bares and Orange County nudist clubs in a joint event at Deep Creek hot springs. You are responsible for your own camping equipment, food and SCNA in joining the Camping drink to pack in (and to pack out all trash and any leftovers!). Bares and the Nudists in the OC We expect perhaps 20 other nudists to join us. clubs for this joint event at the We hike in shortly after 10:30AM, so if you are late, just follow the signs down the 2-mile Deep Creek hot spring, trail, and we will meet you at the springs. You may stay for the Saturday hike only, or you may choose to stay overnight in the parking lot area. (There is no tenting allowed near the springs.) Fees are collected at the Bowen Ranch entrance, exact change is required in the envelope along with your car license number. RSVP early to (818) 225-2273 so we can get a head count and arrange for car-pooling. Directions to Deep Creek will be mailed to all who RSVP several days before the event. Saturday, June 30, Noon-7PM, Parade: 5PM CARPINTERIA INDEPENDENCE DAY CELEBRATION AND PARADE Location: Downtown Carpinteria, CA We will meet at The Spot, a hamburger joint on Linden Avenue at noon located just south of the railroad tracks. SCNA and Friends of Bates Beach have been invited to participate in the annual car parade down Linden Avenue in the heart of Carpinteria. We have a classic car ready and members selected to sit inside and wave to the crowd. This is a big moment for us as it is the first time a nude advocacy group has been allowed in the parade, thanks to our many years of participation as members of the Chamber of Commerce there. This is a full-day event. Free Admission with show hours 10AM to 3:30PM. There will be displays of classic cars, plus many vendors selling the usual craft stuff - and don’t forget the food booths! There will also be several raffles and other awards presented. THIS IS A $2 BILL SCNA members will be using $2 bills to make purchases so we can demonstrate the “FLASH MOB” EVENT! buying power of the nudist community to the merchants. Come enjoy the craft booths, vendor displays, food stands, and other festive events during the day, then cheer us on as you watch the parade from the sidewalk on Linden Avenue. RSVP early to (818) 225-2273 so we can get a head count and arrange for car-pooling. HOW MEMBERS CAN PAY FOR EVENTS ON-LINE Members can now pay for club events and their annual membership renewals on line at the Member’s Section of the SCNA website, though our on-line PayPal area. But there is a catch: you have to use the designated user name and password that we distribute to the membership at the beginning of each month via email in the announcement that the newsletter for that month is available for viewing. For security reasons, this name and password changes each month. You don’t have to have your own Pay Pal account to use our system! The SCNA account accepts MasterCard, VISA, Discover Card, and American Express. Non-members (and members also) may pay for events by check or cash. SCNA no longer accepts credit cards directly other than through Pay Pal. To encourage payment in advance, we have instituted a $5 surcharge for people who reserve during the last 48 hours or who pay at the door because in the past too many people RSVP without paying and then just don’t show up after we buy the party supplies. Payments by cash or check are accepted up to 5 days before the event, after that we only accept credit cards through PayPal. Party cancellations are also accepted no later than 48 hours before the start of the event because that is when we buy the party supplies and food. No Refunds are given after that deadline. Thank you for understanding

SCNA Newsletter for June 2012 Page 6 of 10 SCNA ACTIVITIES JULY 2012 Saturday, July 7, NOON - 7 PM GLEN EDEN PICNIC WITH THE OLYMPIAN CLUB! Gate Fee: $15 if on advanced list, plus $5 to Olympians Location: Lucas lawn (above pool), Glen Eden Sun Club, Corona The Olympian Club has invited SCNA to join them for a day at Glen Eden and a pot luck dinner later in the afternoon. They have also issued to SCNA a Bean Bag Baseball Challenge we can't resist. Bean Bag Baseball 4PM If you are good at throwing bean bags at a target 30 feet away, that is all the skill you need. SCNA pride is at stake here! We lost badly two years ago but redeemed ourselves last year. Anyone up for the challenge of defending our club honor?? Deadline to RSVP Picnic Dinner 5PM is July 1st The picnic will be in on the patch of lawn above the Jacuzzi called the Lucas Lawn. The Olympian group will provide hot dogs, hamburgers, potato salad, slaw, and ice tea. There is a separate $5.00 per person payable to the Olympian Club for this. All participants are asked to provide a pot luck side dish to share. Call us at (818) 225-2273 or RSVP to [email protected]. no later than July 1 as the Olympians need a head count so they know how much food to buy. We are also coordinating the pot luck items to avoid duplicates. Single men are okay as long as they are on the advanced list. When you check in at the Glen Eden office, tell them your name is on the list for the SCNA-Olympian Picnic, and then you can pay the special gate fee of $15/person.

Saturday-Sunday, July 14-15, Noon - 9PM CELEBRATE NUDE REC WEEKEND AT DEER PARK! MEMBERS AND GUESTS: $10/PERSON/DAY (Those with joint memberships in SCNA and Deer Park: No Gate Fee!) LOCATION: DEVORE (NEAR GLEN HELEN REGIONAL PARK) Our local winner will This Weekend is going to be lots of fun! If you can only come for one day, Saturday is the best day. win a free weekend at We will meet at noon at the upper pool pavilion, which is the center of park activity during the Deer Park—gate fees summer months. Lunch is available there 10am-2pm, Dinner starts serving at 6pm. and overnight stays. (a You may spend the afternoon relaxing by the pool and soaking in some sun, or enjoying the Jacuzzi, $230 value) or you may choose to participate in one or more of these Saturday events:  1PM: Participate in ANNR's "Amazing Canvas Nudist Face and Body Painting Event" AANR National Winners will win $500  2PM-4PM: Annual Nude Olympics Games including tug-of-war, relay races, etc. (1st Place)  5PM: Slave auction and Toga party (best costume contest) $250 (2nd place)  6PM: Dinner at the Pavilion (approx. $6-9/person). $100 (3rd place)  7PM: Evening music provided by Mike Mazalic and Friends for Best Body Painting There is a discount for SCNA members staying overnight in a cabin, RV spot, or tent. Call them at 909-880-0803 or Email: office@dpnrresort to reserve overnight. Please RSVP to us at (818) 225-2273 before 7/12 so we can give Deer Park a list for their office and send you directions. SCNA Newsletter for June 2012 Page 7 of 10 Sunday, July 22, Noon - 7PM MID-SUMMER POOL PARTY and ELECTIONS MEMBERS: $10, NON-MEMBERS: $20 YOUNG ADULTS 18-25: $5, CHILDREN UNDER 18: NO CHARGE LOCATION: Northridge It is time for our annual election of new officers and Board members to serve for the next 12 months. We encourage everyone to participate. This is a volunteer organization, and we are only as Best Salad good as those who help out! The Annual Members Meeting will be from approximately 1PM to Contest! 2PM. For the party that follows, SCNA will provide soft drinks and water. If you are not bringing a salad 50-50 Raffle! for the contest, please bring a potluck side dish to share. Lost & Found Lost and Found Silent Auction! We will auction off all items left behind at our parties during the Silent Auction previous year. This means towels, folding chairs, and some clothing. There will also be a 50-50 cash raffle. Saturday, July 28, 2:30PM -5:30PM NUDE BOWLING! MEMBERS and NON-MEMBERS: $20/person (whether bowling or not) CHILDREN UNDER 18: No Charge LOCATION: Montrose Bowl (5 miles north of the Rose Bowl on the 210 Fwy). SCNA is hosting a Nude Bowling event at the Montrose Bowl (5 miles north of the Rose Bowl). We have rented out the entire 8-lane alley for the event, and it has complete privacy from the street. There will be nobody there but us for these 3 hours. We have opened up this event to all our local clubs such as YNA, AANFA, NitOC, and the Olympian club to be sure we can get enough to cover our deposit. Incidentally, the per-person fee is cheaper than if you went to a clothed bowling event and rented shoes, ordered food, etc. The cost includes bowling shoes – no bare feet on the lanes so bring your own socks! This will be a pot luck event, with the bowling alley charging a nominal sum for all water, soft drinks, and beer and wine. They have no kitchen or refrigerator available so all food you bring must be prepared in advance (bring a cooler if your food must be kept chilled). We will have prizes for best scores. More information and directions next month. Important! We need a head count so please RSVP to SCNA at (818) 225-2273 or email us at [email protected]. We will have our PayPal link operational for this event by July 1 and you must pay in advance online or by check/cash.

July 26-29, 2010 AANR-WEST ANNUAL CONVENTION LAGUNA DEL SOL, 15 mi south of Sacramento off Hwy 99 This is the annual gathering of west coast AANR club delegates (mostly representing the parks and resorts). SCNA is sending delegates and will participate in several of the meetings (Marketing, Government Affairs, etc). We are also carrying the proxies for several local clubs who cannot attend. LSD still has trailers for rent for the event, and there are also camping and RV sites. Give us a call by July 15 if you are interested in attending. COMPLIMENTARY BONKERZ COMEDY CLUB TICKETS AVAILABLE FOR JULY SHOWS The Box Office Manager for Bonkerz Comedy Club has offered SCNA members complimentary tickets to attend one of their comedy shows during July at their new location inside Café Club Fais Do-Do (normal admission $5-$8, adults only). Showtime is 8pm every Fri and Sat in July. Doors open at 7pm. Full menu available.

Cafe Club Fais Do-Do On July 6, they will present Carly Mcmenomam and the Naughty But Nice Show. This show is a 5257 West Adams Blvd just very alternative, open minded and gay friendly event. Please contact Heather for reservations or east of La Cienega) more information at 407-629-2665. This is not an SCNA event but is listed as a courtesy to some www.bonkerzcomedy.com of our Westside members who may be interested. SCNA Newsletter for June 2012 Page 8 of 10 THE MOVIE BUFF REVIEW OUR RATING : (OUT OF FIVE STARS) WHAT HAPPENS WHEN TWO SISTERS INHERIT A NUDIST PARK? Film Name: Act Naturally Year Released: 2011 Studio: Letter Blue Productions (Independent) Director: J.P. Riley Awards: 2011 Audience Choice Award, United Film Festival (both the Los Angeles and London competitions) Principal Actors: Katie L. Hall, Liz Lytle and Susan May Pratt Other: 90 minutes, Comedy-Drama , MPAA Rating: R, Available On DVD

This low-budget independent film went straight to DVD after several years of not finding a studio willing to distribute it. This is a shame, because this little film, despite its flaws, deserves a larger audience than just those lucky enough to discover it on Amazon. It is one of those few movies that tries to accurately portray the nudist lifestyle, and for that alone the film deserves our support. The story starts with a phone call between two grown daughters who didn’t know the other existed. The birth daughter, Charlie (Liz Lytle), tells Leah the adopted daughter (played by Katie L. Hall, who also co-produced and co-wrote the movie), that their father has just died at a place called Bare Lake in Arizona, and they both need to drive there to pick up his ashes and receive their inheritance. The two women couldn’t be more different. Struggling artist Charlie is bitter that her father abandoned her and her mother many years before. Leah, a financial analyst, grew up with fond memories of her father and his second wife. Both women are shocked to discover their inheritance is the Bare Lakes resort itself – a nudist park! While there are abundant cliché moments (i.e. over-staring) as the two women adapt to seeing so much skin around them, the script follows their own journey from repulsion at the very idea that their father had a secret life, to tentative acceptance of both the lifestyle and also of each other’s existence. Unfortunately the script is uneven and may have suffered from too many writers and too much editing and re- editing because the plot at times seems to jump without showing us why certain events occur. The natural tension that should exist between the two women is there, and then it isn’t, and then it is again. Also, Leah appears to embrace her skin in one scene, then returns to clothes in the next scene (and for several thereafter) without explanation. It would have been far better had one sister assimilated faster than the other to add more tension and provide a better foundation for the scene where the two discuss their body flaws. Two other scenes where Bear Valley members disclose the girls’ father had an affair with Lauren, the lifeguard, could have been more effective had the two discovered a personal note to them from their father when going through his personal things describing the open relationship he had with Leah’s mother, and also his hopes and plans for Bare Valley once the girls took it over. The “my dad has a business plan, and we can make this work” cliché at the end of the movie comes out of nowhere and seems odd, since the park is obviously not doing well – why didn’t he implement the business plan himself earlier? Many nudists have also pointed out a few behavioral faux pauxs, such as not having the nude actors sitting on towels, and seeing people drinking from glass beer bottles in the pool/hot tub area. (The director insists the bottles were plastic, but they sure clinked like glass in the movie!) The major behavioral faux paux is having the Bear Lakes staff constantly badgering the two sisters to remove their clothing. In most parks today, staff would not be so rude, especially when the newcomers are the park’s new owners! Despite these annoyances, the nudist community has come to embrace the film. The amenities of Olive Dell Ranch in Colton, where it was filmed, is depicted quite nicely with its quaint birdhouse cabins and rolling green hills. The “river” scenes were filmed at Deep Creek, a popular nudist hot springs about an hour north of Olive Dell. The actors seem just fine appearing comfortably nude for most of the film, despite some visible tan lines. The director obviously went to great length to not film their pubic areas by using clever camera angles and strategically placed plants, computers, and towels. To

SCNA Newsletter for June 2012 Page 9 of 10 his credit, he didn’t use pixilation or blurring, which are anathema to nudists. That said, there are plenty of breasts and butt shots to adequately convey the fact we are visiting a nudist park. The film is well-supported by three veteran character actors, who give the script some gravitas: Susan May Pratt (Open Water 2, 10 Things I Hate About You) plays Kristi, the perky general manager; Rob Roy Fitzgerald, a fine character actor (Thelma & Louise, Saving Grace) plays the lawyer with just the right amount of ham; Another well-known face, Alan Cox (Young Sherlock Holmes, Frost/Nixon) plays the gay cook with just the right comic touch without going “over the top.” Rounding out the supporting characters are Josh McVaney as Trevor (Leah’s love interest), Sandi Alexandru (who is also co- producer) as Natalie, the housekeeper, and Courtney Abbott as Lauren, the lifeguard (who had the affair with the sisters’ father.) Some of the film’s serious moments explore these characters and their individual reasons for choosing to live in a nudist environment. As such, the script succeeds in an honest depiction of what typical nudists really are like, while avoiding the defensive preachy-ness found in earlier nudist movies such as Educating Julie. A number of real-life Olive Dell nudists fill in the background: David Cheek shows us his butt walking past the sisters in several scenes, Becki Kilborn is seen enthusiastically twirling a hula hoop, and Bobby Kilborn, Olive Dell’s owner, is seen cheerfully mowing his lawn alongside Bare Creek’s restaurant, named “Fudists” (is that bad pun the best the script writers could come up with?). I may be nit-picking here, but I found the sound track choices quite inconsistent. There is an abundance of lighter instrumentals that fit the Bare Creek lifestyle well early in the film (and should have been continued throughout), but it gives way to darker vocal tracks later by Laura Threk and Sahah Hotsschlog later that seem out of place. I am sure the soundtrack will appeal to the younger viewers. But this is essentially a comedy, and the heavier music tracks are poorly chosen for the on-screen moment. The DVD also contains a commentary track for the cast and the director, but it comes across more like a reunion party, rather than containing much useful information about how the film was made and the struggles the team encountered getting it filmed over an 18- month period with numerous re-takes and production challenges. This was an opportunity lost to educate other independent filmmakers about the nuts and bolts of putting together a film with little money and a cast that hung in there out of loyalty. For its predictable script and other annoyances cited above, the film should receive 3 (out of 5) stars from us. However, because it takes a realistic look at the nudist community without pixilation or pretense, we are bumping this rating up an extra star to four.

Footnotes: In 2011, after the final edits were made, the producers found they could not get any studios interested in distributing the film. So they embarked on a nationwide series of premier showings at rented local theaters to drum up local enthusiasm. Despite winning the Audience Choice award at the 6th Annual United Film Festival in Los Angeles in 2011 and winning the same award in London a few months later, Riley and the others still could not find a buyer. As a result, the film has gone straight to DVD. An excellent article about how small independent filmmakers are distributing via the website at www.prescreen.com appeared in the Los Angeles Times in the Business Section on May 22, 2012. A front page photo shows Katie Hall and J.P. Riley in their film studio. Much of the article focuses on Act Naturally and how they have used the Internet to market their film to the nudist community and others interested in this movie who otherwise would never have known about it. The article claims Riley has raked in enough rental fees that he is well on his way to seeing a profit for his labors. The film can be rented there for a 48 hours period for $8. Nice publicity, J.P.! Again, we encourage everyone to either rent the movie or else go to the Act Naturally Facebook Page at https://www.facebook.com/actnaturallymovie to purchase a copy so these courageous producers and actors can make their money back. Hopefully their success may encourage other film producers to address the subject matter again in the future.

Reviewed by Gary Mussell, SCNA self-appointed entertainment critic. The opinions here reflect the opinions of the author only. For more television, movie and book reviews, visit our Moviebuff web site at www.socalnaturist.org/moviebuff.html.

SCNA Newsletter for June 2012 Page 10 of 10