Nudists reach out to younger crowd

LOXAHATCHEE, Fla., Aug. 11 (UPI) -- The End of Summer Naked Bash, which has become an annual ritual for some Florida nudists, is aimed at drawing a younger crowd to the practice.

This year's event, the fourth annual one, is being held this weekend at Sunsport Gardens, a 40-acre nudist resort in Loxahatchee, the South Florida Sun Sentinel reported. The event's target audience is people 18 to 30 who like to bare it all.

"Young people don't want to go to bingo night or play shuffleboard," in the nude, said Robbe White, founder of the Florida Young Naturist organization. "There's a lot of desire for resorts to attract young people, but they don't do anything to attract them."

Morley Schloss, the biggest shareholder in Sunsport Gardens, may be 71 now, but he was only 28 when he discovered the joys of taking it all off. That was at the Woodstock Festival, the legendary rock gathering in upstate New York in 1969.

"It was kind of scary at first," Schloss said. "Then, I felt the sun all over my skin and I said, 'Wow, this is fantastic.'"

Schloss's efforts to attract the young people of today include discounts for those new to naturism, 24-hour access to the hot tub and swimming pool and drum circles and rock bands, the newspaper said.