For a long-time naturist, who has spent countless hours being social with like-minded types, as I prepared for attending my first TNSF Gathering I was surprisingly a little nervous.
Not because I was going to spend the next few days naked. Primarily because as a board member of The Naturist Society Foundation, this would be my first time meeting other board members, and TNSF staff. The online version of me was about to get real!
Just like that first experience of being at a naturist social for the first time, or attending your first club or resort, or just getting to enjoy a nude beach somewhere in the world, my nervousness quickly faded when I arrived at Oaklake Trails, in Depew, OK (about a 3½ hour drive from my home).
The resort is located on more than 400 acres of beautiful hickory and oak covered hills halfway between Tulsa and Oklahoma City, and was established as a community in the Summer of 1992. One of the amazing features of this resort is how the owners and members have documented the growth of the resort in the over 30 years they have operated. If you ever get to visit Oaklake Trails Resort, be sure to spend some time flipping through their history!
The staff at Oaklake Trails could not have been more welcoming. They quickly provided me with a fairly extensive program of events and activities, explained the resort rules and expectations, gave me a “newbie” wrist band (given this was my first time at the resort), and set me off on my way. And so I headed to the Clubhouse for my first event, a meet and greet with the TNSF Board.
At the Clubhouse as the session was getting started, I met Cynthia (TNSF President), Kath (Board Member), Nicky (TNSF Editor) and Carmen (TNSF Staff), along with about 10-15 other TNSF members, including 2-3 Lifetime Members. Sitting in this circle, listening to each person’s introductions confirmed that I was in for an amazing couple of days, and was excited to participate in some incredible discussions, learning from seasoned naturists who have a lot to share.
After the meet and greet, and a brief catch up with my fellow board members, we enjoyed a meal over at the canteen, where Kathy (Board Member) and Mark (Co-Editor) joined us. As I was not staying on property for this Gathering (book early folks!), I headed off as attendees were getting ready to watch a movie.
Over the next few days, I enjoyed learning learning about the history of naturism, the legal implications of being a naturist today, how to start and run a non-landed naturist club, how to write for “N” Magazine (which seems to have paid off) and how our naturist libraries are growing across the nation.
In the “OKLA-by-golly-HOMA” session that I attended with Bob Morton, who was joining us virtually, we got a current state of the union understanding of how Oklahoma, along with its neighboring states, were bringing challenges to the naturist lifestyle, and how many of these had been able to be deflected out of the legislative process. Be warned though, as the legislatures start to prepare for their next sessions, these attempts will be made again, and our affiliation with aanr’s Government Affairs Committee has been critical in helping TNSF help educate our members on the impacts that our politicians sometimes bring to us.
The “World Na-Tourism” presentation kept my note taking skills up to par, as I scribbled all of the places that our presenters had been, and the stories relating to their visits. I’ve added many of these places to my “hope-to-visit’ one day list.
As with the articles in N Magazine, a gathering with Mark Storey in attendance, leads to a number of sessions led by him. As a long-time reader of the TNSF Magazine, I have grown accustomed to the many writings from Mark, and to participate in his “U.S. Nudist Books of the 30’s” and “Writing for N magazine” sessions gave a small glimpse into the very broad knowledge of and talent that exists in this one person. I am hopeful that the writing workshop will become a staple session at all future Gatherings.
Now let’s talk about the elephant in the room about this Gathering. The weather! For those that live in “Tornado Alley” the excitement of spring weather is something one can get used to, but to people who are not familiar with the four-seasons and a tornado in a day routine, Oklahoma did not disappoint. Saturday, April 27 in the evening, as the weather was starting to turn, there was some concern among attendees about the potential for a tornado in the area. And it did turn. As I was staying offsite, I witnessed the storm from my hotel room, but my thoughts were with those in those 400 acres of countryside. Thankfully, the weather, while bad, did not bring with it any tornadic activity within the grounds of the resort. On that Saturday, there were 35 tornadoes across Oklahoma, including one (an EF-3) that destroyed a large part of the City of Sulphur, some 106 miles away.
Needless to say, back at the resort, Sunday morning was all about the chatter of surviving the storms, including getting to spend some time in the resort’s tornado shelters. From the stories I heard, folks waited through the evening in good spirits (with good spirits).
Sunday was the closing day for the Gathering, and the last session was a roundtable talking about anything and everything related to living a naturist lifestyle. So many thoughts, ideas, improvements, criticisms and appreciation were shared during this session, and I came away from that session with a greater understanding of how TNSF could improve what we do – as a non-profit organization – and how we could do more for our members and the naturist community in general. I had a list of ideas, tasks and people that would form part of my agenda for future TNSF Board meetings, and I was energized.
During my time at the Gathering, I was able to reacquaint myself with naturist friends I’ve met over time, along with meeting (and making) some new naturist friends from all over the USA. Most importantly, I was able to spend some time with my fellow TNSF board members and staff and talk about our future beyond this Gathering. And at the end of the this Gathering, there was no residue of the nervousness that I experienced that first day, and I’m looking forward to attending many future Gatherings.
In 2025, TNSF is already working on our Gatherings for the year, with the newly-named “Central Gathering” (formerly the Midwest Gathering) being scheduled once again at Oaklake Trails Resort in September 2025. We promise a full program of activities, sessions and events for your future enjoyment, and more information will be available early in 2025. I hope to see you there.
James Nunn
(submitted to TNSF N Magazine)