The Steering Committee has approved a new Member ID card for those who have paid their dues and passed a background check. The card can be used as a form of quick identification at future events away from the beach.
Meanwhile, the SCNA club has invited all FOBB members with Membership cards to come to its 20th Anniversary party in Simi Valley on May 14.
We have once again secured Denny’s restaurant at 4095 Telegraph Rd in Ventura for our monthly dinner meetings, on the second Friday of every month. The meetings start around 6:45 pm and last until about 8:30 pm, These dinner meetings will continue from May through next November. Our meeting room is to the right and rear of where you walk in. See the online calendar for dates and other information.
The online meetup continues every third Tuesday at 7 pm. See the online Calendar for dates and other information. The link for both is https://global.gotomeeting.com/join/724415629. You can also dial in using your phone at: (571) 317-3122, Access Code: 724-415-629
Last January, Gary Mussell, past president of AANR-West was interviewed by videographer Jamie Cawelti in his capacity as Director of Friends of Bates Beach near Santa Barbara, California.
This interview is now available on YouTube at: https://youtu.be/vxZlO3qPhFs.
The 55-minute discussion covers a wide range of topics related to social nudity in general, the free beach movement, and issues related to maintaining positive relationships between beachgoers, law enforcement and local politicians who are loathed to make nude beaches officially legal.
Mussell discusses the group’s fifteen-year effort to reach a verbal agreement with officials to set aside a clothing-optional section of the beach. The interview covers the group’s $2 bill marketing campaign that gave them visibility with local businesses, their participation in the local chamber of commerce and beach cleanup days and having an information booth at community events and festivals.
Eventually, the interview will be part of a longer documentary Jamie is putting together about nude beaches and body acceptance.
Due to rising administrative costs, Friends of Bates Beach will begin charging nominal membership dues as of January 1, 2022. These dues will be $10 annually, the cost of one takeout meal per year. We have to buy some new beach equipment, produce our newsletter, participate in the annual Independence Day parade through Carpinteria, and cover the anticipated costs of an information booth at the Avocado Festival. If we all pitch in, we can make this nominal dues rate work!
For the past ten years, these costs have been subsidized by other naturist groups in Southern California, but they are cutting back. A lot goes on in the background to allow us to sit on the beach on a towel. It isn't really free.
These dues are separate from any dues you may be already paying to SCNA, NitOC or other local nudist clubs.
You can pay at either www.friendsofbatesbeach.org or at https://www.meetup.com/Friends-of-Bates-Beach/.
Current members of our Meetup group initially will have 90 days to pay their dues before the system automatically deletes their names. You can pay via credit/debit card online.
Thank you for understanding and for your continued support
Gary Mussell, Director, Friends of Bates Beach
Aaron tells me he is still looking for volunteers who will come down to Bates Beach (and/or several other nearby beaches) to help the USGS survey of sand erosion and sea rising along the Santa Barbara and Ventura coastline. If you wish to volunteer, contact him at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. This is an important project for us as it allows us to work with college-age beachgoers.