MIDDLEBURG
by Musings of Pan
Author's note: I checked with the town leaders of Middleburg and found that all participants in this story are over 18 years of age.
A PLAN TO SAVE OUR TOWN
"I don't know how much longer any of us can keep going. There is no business........" Sally was saying and I was about to dose off. Sally is a wonderful person but she just doesn't know how to stop talking. Especially during our monthly Middleburg town meeting which I, as mayor, was chairing.
This promised to be a long night. Of course Sally was right. Middleburg was drying up. No one could disagree with that. Years ago Middleburg was a viable town when people would come to the healing springs. Of course that was before modern medicine when what doctors could do for many conditions was not much better than the springs. Middleburg is not close to a large city and not on an interstate highway so many people had to move away to find work. By now only a few of us remained and it definitely looked like Middleburg would be a ghost town in a couple of years. These town meetings were depressing.
"Excuse me Sally," Ted broke in and brought my attention back to the meeting, "What if we could change Middleburg in a way that would bring in tourists?"
"Why would anyone want to vacation in Middleburg?" asked Mark, "There is nothing here. We don't have a Grand Canyon and the worlds largest ball of string has been taken."
Ted went on to explain that we need to make the town unique and special to attract people. He said that he and his wife, Nora, have been kicking ideas around for months now and have come up with one that could work without having to convince a large investor to put in a theme park. He said, "We think we have found a way to put Middleburg on the map."
There was silence as we waited to hear this wonderful, town saving idea. Ted went on to explain that this could be started with cleaning up the town and adding a few small facilities but that the real transformation will require major changes for all of us personally.
Sally jumped in, "Well I am ready to do anything to get us going again......" She was winding up for another monologue when Ted gently stopped her.
"Perhaps you might want to hear the idea before committing to it." He said. Ted went on to explain that the only way he and Nora could think of to save Middleburg was to turn it into a nude town. He explained that this would not be a collection of strip joints, but a place where people could have safe and respected nude recreation.
Betty broke in, "You mean the town people stay clothed while we allow tourists to run around naked?"
"No," said Ted calmly, "I mean that everyone in town will be completely nude to set the example for the tourists who will be our guests. This is not to be people in clothes starring at naked people. It will be a community of friends who like a safe place where they can go without clothes."
Betty wanted to know what the tourists would do here. Ted explained that they would shop, swim in the pool, play tennis, eat in our restaurant, and do whatever else they want. Perhaps we could even reopen the golf course. Ted then asked everyone to spend some time on the Internet researching nude resorts and the naked lifestyle.
We were all shocked by what was proposed but agreed to check into nudist practices and meet again next week. This meeting turned out to be not as dull as I expected and I had to hand it to Ted and Nora for thinking outside of the box.
The town was buzzing all week. Ted's proposal was the only subject of conversation. Some were panicking, some confused, and some seemed to like the idea. I think most of us did look up nudism on the Internet. If nothing else this had made life in Middleburg more interesting.
It looked like the entire town showed up for our next meeting. We had to move from our usual council chambers to the fire station to have space for everyone. Once the crowd was settled I opened the meeting and asked Ted and Nora to explain their proposal. After they finished there were a lot of questions. My take was that the questions showed that most people were seriously considering this in a positive way but that there were a lot of details which needed to be worked out before a final decision could be made. I appointed a planning committee to work out the main points and report back in two months.
I looked into our state laws to see if there were any legal problems we might run into. There was nothing I found that would be a problem so long as we avoided prostitution and strip shows. Since these were not what we had in mind it looked like we could go ahead.
The planning committee worked hard. They talked with everyone in town who would stand still. They visited two nudist communities and came back with many ideas. They finally came up with a set of rules which they proposed in their report. These were:
1. Clothing, with the exception of hats, jewelry, and footwear, will not be worn by any person, resident or visitor within the city limits of Middleburg. However, when the temperature is below 70 degrees, coats will be allowed outside.
2. A changing house with parking lot will be built at the city limits of each end of the highway going through town for people to take off clothes when entering and dress when leaving. Vehicles not stopping in town must use the bypass.
3. Rules of conduct will be the same as for clothed communities. No uninvited touching, no public or non consensual sexual activity, no lewd activity, and no public bathroom activities. All people will be treated with respect.