|
Is this your
first visit to Sunsport or to a nudist resort? If
so, click here
for some valuable information.
The Sunsport Vision
When Hugo
Forester founded Sunsport Gardens in 1965, he envisioned
a "Happy Place for All Living Things.' He chose to keep
the roads and trails unpaved. He allowed trees and large
bushes to be planted, but not removed. He built ponds
connected by canals to attract birds and provide for
boating and fishing. (The ponds also help with drainage
during the late summer rainy season.) He created a long
nature trail through the tropical jungle. Sunsport is
home to many animals including land and water birds,
frogs and toads, little lizards. iguanas butterflies,
and otters. There are a large variety of tropical fruit
trees (e.g. citrus, canistel, carambola, sapote, banana,
guava, mango, sapodilla, and avocado).
Hugo Forester, Sunsport Founder
(1924 - 2001)
Hugo wanted children as
well as adults to love Sunsport, so he encouraged them
to freely explore the natural surroundings as they would
the fields and woods near a country home. Hugo felt
strongly that Sunsport should be open to all who shared
his vision. As the sign at Sunsport's gate states:
"Naturists are welcome regardless of race, religion,
gender, marital status, sexual orientation or disabling
condition."
|
|
As Hugo developed
Sunsport from a tomato farm to the most naturally
tropical naturist resort in the United States, he
gradually put in a full range of amenities: volleyball,
tennis and petanque courts, a heated swimming pool,
sauna and spa, a full service restaurant, deluxe
cabins, and, for children, a playground and even a slide
into the pool.
When Hugo died in 2001, a
group of Sunsport members committed to preserving Hugo's
dream purchased the Sunsport Corporation. We expanded
the vision to incorporate traditional naturist values
from which many nudist resorts including Sunsport had
strayed. We chose to have a healthful, clean, and
ecologically sensitive environment. On our first day of
ownership, we became the first naturist resort in
Florida to eliminate smoking in all common buildings and
rental units. We also established a comprehensive
recycling program. Months were spent removing junk
accumulated over the years. (Hugo had never thrown
anything out.) Although bars are usually good sources of
income for resorts, we decided not to provide alcoholic
beverages, although people may bring their own. With the
reduction in alcohol consumption, the atmosphere around
the pool and at dances is considerably less rowdy and
raunchy. We lost some members as a result of the
restrictions on smoking and drinking, but are gaining
many others. The Sunsport restaurant now provides
vegetarian options at all meals and is sensitive to
people's preferences for low fat or low carb meals.
While we have no desire to require the smoke-free,
alcohol-free, meat-free rules and daily calisthenics of
some early nudist clubs, we encourage a healthy
lifestyle with opportunities for exercise and healthy
food.
Sunsport members pitch in
to help create a sense of fun and community. Recently
they helped renovate the kitchen, expand the dance
floor, and build a large deck outside the dining room
connected-to the pool. Members plant fruit trees and
beautiful gardens. They lead yoga and dance classes. The
community involvement at Sunsport is not new. In the
past, members funded and built a large pavilion for
dances and parties, maintained the nature trail and even
helped dig the hole for the swimming pool. When I first
visited Sunsport many years ago, there were volleyball
games on most days after work and lots of families with
children. A goal is to foster such an atmosphere again.
The shareholders of
Sunsport Gardens Inc., are interested solely in
maintained further developing Sunsport as a natural,
healthy and fun community and resort; there is no
interest in personal profit. All income is reinvested
into Sunsport. Recent projects include a new sewage
treatment plant, bringing in high quality water to
replace the poor quality well water, a top-of-the-line
resurfacing of the tennis courts, a bridge to an island
in a pond, and making all facilities handicapped
friendly. Shareholders pay the site rental fees as all
other members and have signed a "Buy-Sell Agreement"
requiring that any corporate Shares sold may be sold
only for the original purchase price plus inflation.
Sunsport Gardens is a unique resort with a clear set of
values, fully complementary to the values of the
Naturist Society. Each February Sunsport hosts the
Midwinter Naturists Festival
to benefit the Naturist Action
Committee. |
