NUDIST CLUB FORMED

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LXV, Issue 19550, 4 February 1938, Page 5

NUDIST CLUB FORMED

THIRD DUNEDIN ATTEMPT

ORGANISER SANGUINE

OVER 50 APPLICATIONS

(Special to the Herald.) DUNEDIN, this day.

For the third time in recent years, an attempt is being made to establish a nudist cult in Dunedin, and this latent venture is a very determined one indeed.

In the past, the weather and public ridicule .have caused the early abandonment of schemes, but the organiser of the (jurrent attempt told a reporter that his club was going to become a permanent affair ,if he had his way, and he hoped that support would be as strong in the winter as in the summer.

The club has apparently attracted more .attention than any other, and over 50 applications for membership have been received, mostly from men. Several other applications have also been received, but “as these obviously were not genuine they were ruled out.”

The organiser stated that the club, which at present at any rate is to be known only as a nudist club and does not intend to hide behind any such high-sounding names as “hymnosophist,” is expected to be in full swing this month. Already a property has been secured —the locality was discreetly hidden from the interested reporter—and all that remains in the meantime is the fencing of this in in such a manner as to restrain any “Peeping Tom." Fencing, however, may be a problem, as the club’s finances are not Strong yet, but the organiser said that only a few more members would be required and the fence was as good as erected. No Recess in Winter Considering the weather we have had this summer, nudism may possibly have a strong appeal to some people, but it is the organiser’s intention that the club shall not go into recess during the winter. Whether the appeal that the heat of summer lends to the idea will be in existence when the bitter southerlies rage and gently snow falls remains to be seen, but the organiser is iquite certain that those who are really interested will not be deterred when the heat departs.

It is, (he assured a reporter, the club’s intention to erect a hall on the site already obtained and when conditions are too .bad in the open exercises and gymnastics will be carried out under shelter.

“The health-giving properties of the sun and open air are not fully realised by everybody,” the organiser stated, “and it is our intention to make our club a health camp. It will be ,run on very strict lines and if any little thing occurs that meets with my disapproval those responsible will be ordered to put on .their clothes and get out.” .