Half-nude in Portland?

Well, it's going to be an interesting weekend on Congress Street, according to an announcement that appeared in the latest issue of the West End News...

Topless March Planned for Congress Street
What is being billed as 'Portland's First Ever Female-Bodied and Allied Topless Adventure' is being planned for Congress Street on Saturday, April 3rd. The event will include both men and women marching topless from Longfellow Square to Tommy's Park.

The event is scheduled from 1:00pm - 3:00pm, and is meant to point out the inequality in the social acceptance of male toplessness as compared to female toplessness. Full topless nudity is strongly encouraged, but for the more modest, pretty electrical tape will be in supply.

[Source]

Personally, I can think of a number of more pressing issues that could use this kind of attention and effort, but maybe they just want to lighten things up a bit (not many things out there are lighter than skin after a Maine winter!!!). Or perhaps someone just wants an opportunity to see lots of happy skin out in the open? Who knows...

Illustration is from an edition of Lysistrata translated from the Greek of Aristophanes with illustrations by Norman Lindsay.

Maine nude launches may be banned

We've posted about Maine's enthusiastic-in-all-weather nudists before, but this neat little gimmick at the Black Frog Restaurant in the Moosehead Lake area escaped our attention until now. It would be sad if it was discontinued by one person's prudery just as we found out about it. Sounds like a good old fashioned North Woods dare to me!

'Naked Lunch' May Be Banned in Maine
Oct 6, 3:18 PM EDT

GREENVILLE, Maine (AP) -- [...] A sandwich called the Skinny Dip, featuring sliced prime rib in a baguette roll, has been offered free of charge anyone willing to plunge naked from The Black Frog Restaurant's dock into a lake.

Since the free sandwich offer was introduced three years ago, owner Leigh Turner has found plenty of takers. "We've had two or three a week," he said.

But now the promotion is running into trouble: A patron apparently suggested to selectmen that the activity be banned.
[...]
The skinny dip was typically done at night, no frontal nudity was exposed to customers and a towel was readily available, Turner said. "Most everybody applauded" after the plunge, Turner said.
[for full story, please click here: Source]

No mention was made of whether the dip is done in all weathers.

Photo from the Black Frog's website.

Naked as a Jay Bird... in JANUARY?!

Yep. Maine nudists don't let the cold weather stop them. Back several months ago, we posted about Maine nudist pursuits, but this group has had a great idea for winter fun.

'Bare Nekkid Mainers' enjoy bowling in the raw
January 30, 2007
Bangor Daily News, http://www.bangornews.com

OLD TOWN, Maine --When members of the Bare Nekkid Mainers rent the Old Town Bowling Center, all they really need are the shoes.

"Hey, you can't go skinny-dipping at this time of year," Hessa, who organizes the gatherings and wanted to be identified only by her first name, told the Bangor Daily News.

Self-described naturist nudists, the Bare Nekkid Mainers belong to an international organization and participate in nudist events throughout the year.

The group used to bowl in Albion, but their venue there closed.

During the three events held at the Old Town center since September, the one-story building was closed with its windows and doors covered. Signs announced that a private party was in progress.

"I have absolutely no problem with it, and I hope nobody else does," Charles "Chip" Carson, the center's owner, said Monday. "They just happen to like having a good time without their clothes on."

Still, on one occasion earlier this month, a man apparently ignored the signs and entered the center with his 8-year-old son.

"I tried to stop him," Hessa said Monday. "He walked through two doors that were covered in paper and had signs."

He apparently saw a nude male playing pool and went to police.

"One of our officers went over there to check," Old Town police Capt. Kyle Smart said Monday.

Police found no violations, and after checking with the city attorney and municipal officials, concluded there has been no wrongdoing.

"We're not doing anything sexually explicit, and we're not out there doing it on Main Street," Hessa said.

About 60 households belong to Bare Nekkid Mainers, and several dozen people have participated in each bowling event in Old Town, the newspaper said.

Carson turns the thermostat up to make his patrons more comfortable and says the events are handled like any private
party.

"Everybody's laughed at it, to be honest with you," he said.
[Source]

Maine nudists have had a devil of the time when they butt up against the general populace, particularly in Maine's larger towns.

BodyFreedom.org [WARNING: Do not click on link if you are offended by images of the nude human body] reports on a 2001 incident in which two Maine women were arrested and then acquitted:

Kathryn Mann and Debra Ballou were arrested in Orono, Maine on November 2, 2001 for merely going jogging. They were arrested and they went to the police station for the usual humiliating routine. They were acquitted in court on January 30, 2002. [source: Paul Rapoport]

"I think everyone should be able to run around naked. I don't think I did anything wrong". (quote from Deb Ballou appeared in Going Natural, Volume 17, Number 1)

Photo: Mike Ritcheson, a truck driver from Southern Maine, bowls at a Bare Nekkid Mainers event at the Old Town Bowling Center in September. (Photo courtesy of Bare Nekkid Mainers and Bangor Daily News)