by Willoughby Mariano, Orlando Sentinel, November 25, 2001
KISSIMMEE -- In a windowless office beside a framed law degree, a photograph of Erich Schuttauf`s smiling brood is a gleaming, fleshy example of family values.
Schuttauf sprawls on his belly in the sand, his wife lounges behind him, and their flaxen-haired children crawl around them. That they're all naked, said Schuttauf, is perfectly fine.
"Skinny-dipping is a wholesome part of Americana," he said. "Nudists are just like everybody else."
Schuttauf, an Eagle Scout, father of four and Duke University Law School graduate, is executive director of the American Association for Nude Recreation in Kissimmee, which bills itself as one of the oldest and most respected nudist organizations.
At an ordinary strip shopping center, the 48,000-member association, which promotes the nudist lifestyle, defends beaches and clubs against anti-nudist laws and offers discounts at its 241 member resorts, has quietly doubled in size during the past decade.
This year it turned 70. After a lifetime of existence, the nudist experience that some consider immoral, rebellious or at least odd is celebrating the anniversary with middle-class respectability.
The association points out that its typical member is at least 35, has some college education and a yearly family income of at least $50,000.
Nudists say they see less resistance to their lifestyle and more opportunity for growth among wealthier and younger Americans.
Households with incomes over $40,000 have tried skinny-dipping more than any other income group, according to association surveys, and 34 percent of Americans age 18-34 said they are willing to try a nude resort.
As Schuttauf explains: "Nude recreation is more popular than ever."
And looking more mainstream.
Members organize fund-raisers for the Muscular Dystrophy Association and breast-cancer charities.
The nude association is an active member of the Kissimmee/Osceola Chamber of Commerce and hosts local candidate forums during elections.
Members support healthful living -- noting that bicycling is the No. 4 most popular nude sport, according to an association survey -- and preach the simple wisdom that clothes don't make the man.
Founded in 1964, Kissimmee's Cypress Cove nudist resort is one of the association's established members.
Jim Hadley, who opened the gated community of RVs, hotel rooms and permanent homes, was president of the association twice.
Now the resort is run by his son Dean Hadley, daughter-in-law Barbara and grandson Ted.
Because of its growing popularity, the rustic club has expanded from its original 80 acres to 260 and includes 224 permanent homes.
In acreage, it is one of the country's largest nude resorts, and through the years has added facilities typical of non-nudist vacation spots: two swimming pools, tennis courts and a weight room.
Today Cypress Cove caters to generations of nudists, from retirees to members of Generation Y, some of whom grew up with a nudist lifestyle.
At Cheeks, the resort's bar and grill, two young and fully clothed nudists munched on hamburgers and chicken wings. Around them, a group of well-tanned snowbirds frolicked in the midday sun. Naked.
A stout man with a thick beard sped down a nearby lane in a golf cart wearing a cap, mauve T-shirt, sandals -- and nothing else.
An older gentleman with a glistening belly pedaled a bicycle behind him. He was similarly attired, sans shirt.
Nearby, a wiry man caulked the window of his recreational vehicle in sandals.
Steve Vickers, 20, was reared by his grandmother inside the resort. His friend Eric Moser, also 20, knows Vickers from Osceola County's Poinciana High School, where they both played trumpet in the school band.
Now they're both nudists, association employees and graduates of Nude U., a series of workshops the group is offering for nudist leaders of the future.
Toastmasters public-speaking classes, public-relations courses and sessions on nudist legal issues give young nudists the know-how to carry on the lifestyle.
Vickers said his Cypress Cove upbringing was old-fashioned. His neighbors watched over him, homeowners kept their doors unlocked, and people trusted one another.
"If you need a cup of sugar, you can ask for one next door," Vickers said. "It's like growing up in a small town."
That's a small town with a nude hot tub, weight room, playground and an exercise room with nude aerobics and Tae-Bo classes.
The Cypress Cove restaurant advertises a Christmas pageant, performed clothed because it's hard to act without costumes, an employee explained.
It's not always fun, or easy, being nude. From the sunroom of their well-appointed manufactured home, retirees Walter and Eve Herms, formerly of St. Louis, said they lost friends over their nudism, and even now they don't raise the subject in mixed company.
There is an etiquette to being naked, the nudists said. When non-nudists, or "textiles," visit, they wear clothes so guests feel comfortable.
The couple, originally from Germany, joined the then-American Sunbathing Association in 1963 after visiting nude beaches in their native country.
They sought out a local club outside St. Louis and decided to continue the nude lifestyle when they retired in Florida.
Apart from the nudity, life in Cypress Cove is like anywhere else, they said, but friendlier and more relaxing.
Walter Herms, 71, tends the yard in the buff, and both join community members in pleasant games of nude tennis.
"You feel more free," Eve Herms said.
On a tennis court at the opposite end of the resort, four men played a set of nude doubles.
From a plastic chair along the sidelines, Jack Westover, 81, former director of what he called the world's only nude international tennis tournament, espoused the virtues of playing tennis without the discomfort of sweaty clothing.
Nudism is more popular because it feels right, the longtime nudist said, and the only thing stopping it is American prudery.
Even in religious European countries, Westover said, people lie topless on public beaches without shame. It may only be a matter of time before people in our country do the same.
"I don't say it will be universal; I won't say everyone will be nude all the time. But I do see more people doing it," Westover said. "I hope it will come to pass."