Return to First Time Page

West Penn Roving Reporter Interview with Virginia

WPN: Hi Virginia. I’d like to ask you some questions for our web page.

Virginia: Sure!

WPN: Where was your first nudist experience

Virginia: First time was at Avalon.

WPN: How long ago?

Virginia: That was almost six years ago now. Chuck, my husband, had found it on the internet. My first reaction was don’t ever bring this subject up to me ever again. A couple months later he showed me some pictures. There were families. I thought that was kind of nice, and I knew he wasn’t going to let up. So I thought, I trust this man. He’s my husband. I knew he wouldn’t put me in a situation that I was uncomfortable with. So I said just this once. And we went. Of coarse, everyone there was nude. You could tell I was the new comer. I had the towel wrapped up around my neck (laugh). But you can’t move and do things with this towel around you, it kept falling off. So I said forget it, and left it off. And it didn’t bother me. I was just another person there. You look around, and you think, hey, it’s not a sexual thing. I think a lot of women think that and we get very scared. And it Chuck’s first time too, so we were both scared.

WPN: I know how he felt. Our first time I told Cindy I might be the one to chicken out!

Virginia: (laugh) Right...but we had an agreement. If either of us was uncomfortable, we would leave.

WPN: Same with us. So how long did it take to get comfortable.

Virginia: Oh, about and hour. It was great after that.

WPN: Where else have you gone?

Virginia: The same year we went camping at Whitethorn Lodge (WTL), and fell in love with the place. We loved camping there, but as you know, we’re members now with a permanent site.

WPN: Yes, Cindy and I enjoyed you hospitality at this year’s Superbowl. You have a beautiful place there. We had a great time.

Virginia: We’ve also been to a couple resorts in Florida.

WPN: Are you nudist at home too?

Virginia: No.

WPN: No? Not at all?

Virginia: No, we never were. Basically, people are in and out of our house all the time. My mother lives with us. She’s eighty seven, so it’s not possible. We just restrict it to WTL and other resorts. And these swims of coarse. We’re fine with that. We get to our camp a lot up at WTL.

(Reporters note: At this point a group of four or five others approach and begin"inspecting" Virginia and I. Tonight is "temporary tattoo" night and they are judging. They study Virginia’s tattoo, then come around to check the heart my wife had put on my left arm. After some murmuring to each other and scribbling notes, they move on. The interview continues.)

WPN: Who knows about your being a nudist? Any family?

Virginia: I told my sister that we are nudists but she’s not interested in it. Other than that nobody knows.

WPN: How did you tell her?

Virginia: I just told her one day I had something to tell her that would really surprise her. She was shocked. But she handled it ok. Her and her husband like to camp. She’s admitted to me that they like camping nude when it’s just the two of them in private. We’ve invited them to come with us to WTL but so far they haven’t. Maybe someday.

WPN: Yeah, maybe in time they will be comfortable enough to give it a try.

Virginia: Yes, that will be nice. But really, right now I like it being just Chuck’s and my thing. This is something very special for the two of us and I like it that way. And it wouldn’t be good for my mother to find out. She has very good friend in Florida. He told her one day that he visits a nudist resort there and she didn’t take it well (laugh). She couldn’t believe it! So one day I was talking to him on the phone and he told me about it and how he feels better than he ever did in his life. I so much wanted to tell him that I knew exactly what he was talking about, but I thought no, what if one day he’d mention it to my mother. I didn’t want to take that risk. It’d be too hard on her. She would never understand.

WPN: So what else do you and Chuck do to relax. Are you into sports at all?

Virginia: Oh yeah! In fact, we’re going to the Steeler game tomorrow.

WPN: Wow! That ticket was is hard to come by!

Virginia: Yeah. Well, one of our friends at WTL has season tickets and he asked us to pick a game to go to and we could have the tickets. Of coarse that was before the season started, so who knew the Eagles would be coming to town undefeated? What we did know was that they’d be honoring the seventies Super Bowl teams. That’s why we picked tomorrow. So it’s going to be great!

WPN: Aren’t they playing great football? I thought if they could have won just one game, either against the Patriots of the Eagles, it would be great. If they can win both...wow!

Virginia: Yeah, we’re starting to hum that little Super Bowl jingle.

WPN: Well, I don’t want to get too excited yet. It’s a long season. But they are playing some great football. How about Benny? They’re a different team with him. Everyone has stepped it up a notch.

Virginia: You can see it work They’re playing as a team. How about Jerome? Him and Duce working like that together. That’s all teamwork.

WPN: What about other sports?

Virginia: I follow the Penguins. I’m not a huge hockey fan. And I love the pirates. I’m a big baseball fan. We take the grand kids to see them. We love taking them to games when the Big players are in town. Like Bonds, Sammy, McGuire. That’s their heroes and I think we owe them to see them play. It’s history for them.

WPN: I know what you mean. We are big hockey fans. We made sure our daughters got to see Mario play. They’ll always remember that.

Virginia: Right. Our parents gave us history. They took us to Forbes Field and Three Rivers. And now we got the most beautiful ball park there is. Isn’t PNC park great? I love that ball field.

WPN: Yeah, I’ve been there a few times. It’s a great place to watch a game. Ok, enough about sports. Nudism. Tell me your philosophy, what’s so great about it to you?

Virginia: I think it’s absolutely a spiritual part of life. I’ve seen people at camp and other places transformed by it. I seen a man with an artificial limb. A man with a colostomy bag. Women with a breast removed. And I think if they can do this, wow, it’s something special. It’s therapy for them. And women with eating disorders, if you bring them to something like this to get another image of their bodies, oh my goodness, they’d understand that there’s more to a person than their bodies. It’s what’s inside.

WPN: Right. I always say it should be a requirement in life that everyone go to a resort or a swim like this and see it through our eyes. They’d understand that there’s more to a person that what we see on the outside.

Virginia: Right, just the way God made us. We’re all different and yet so much the same. I can spend a beautiful morning at a nudist camp, some time alone, or I can be dressed and be at my church. Both are spiritual to me. And that’s why it’s special for Chuck and I. It’s something we share. I don’t need to tell the kids or mom or anyone. It’s something we share and love to do.

WPN: Thanks for talking with me. Sounds like there’s a heck of a volleyball game going on in the pool. We’re missing all the fun.

Virginia: You’re welcome

(Later in the evening Virginia was voted as having the nicest temporary tattoo! She won a very nice prize and applause. Congratulations Virginia).

 

Return to First Time Page