Fund-Raiser Aims For Full Exposure -- Nudist Club's Event Will Be A Clothes Call Even For Celebrities

Even the entertainers - band members and skydivers - have to abide by the two rules of the National Nude Weekend celebration near Issaquah. No alcohol and no clothes.

The musicians and daredevils agreed to try their hobbies in the buff at Fraternity Snoqualmie Nudist Club's open house Saturday in Park Forestia, which borders Tiger Mountain State Park.

So seven people will jump from an airplane wearing nothing but parachutes, and when the divers land five bands will take turns playing their music in the nude for the first time.

"I'm still scared," said Alexandra Michele, lead singer of the group Aurora. "Ever since we agreed to do this, I've been practicing by wandering around the house naked, picking up my guitar."

In this case, the nudist club, which is celebrating its 60th anniversary, is collecting clothing and donations for the Issaquah Clothing Bank to help the homeless. Local celebrities were cajoled into donating clothes for an auction. A tie from Seattle Mayor Norm Rice, a SuperSonics jersey and boxer shorts from Burien car dealer Glen Grant, among other items, will be auctioned off during Nudestock.

Michele hopes the nude weekend will become a tradition across the country and a vehicle for raising money for charity. A Canadian company will be at Park Forestia Saturday to record the bands. They plan to sell a Nudestock '91 album to raise money for the homeless.

"I'm doing it for the exposure," Michele said.

When publicity about Aurora's upcoming nude performance began to circulate, she said she met "so many people that are nudists that I never would have known before. You'd be shocked."

The goal of the open house is to get people to try the club and meet people with similar attitudes. "We want to bring out the closet nudists and let them see if that might be their lifestyle," said Chuck Hutchins, a board member of Fraternity Snoqualmie.

The nudist club worked with KISW radio to organize the event and sent invitations to 1,000 interested couples.

One of the 1,000 listeners who requested tickets to Nudestock '91 is Sharon, a nurse in Puyallup. "I thought about it a while," she said, "and I thought that'd be something kind of crazy and fun to do."

The Hutchins family joined the nudist club 14 years ago. Chuck, 42, owns a janitorial service. Pat, 44, owns a potpourri and dried-flowers business and is active in animal-rights issues. Karlen, 20, is studying to become a physical or occupational therapist, and Jennifer, 17, just graduated from Sammamish High School and plans to attend Bellevue Community College.

Karlen says being a nudist better prepared her to face sexual pressure from schoolmates because she wasn't curious about naked bodies.

Fraternity Snoqualmie Nudist Club has had no problems at the park since it was formed in 1931. It is a family park and the club is affiliated with the American Sunbathing Association. About 400 families belong to Fraternity Snoqualmie and visit the park in the summer.

Members must be interviewed by the board and have no criminal records. Restrictions have eased from the days when members were not allowed to put sunscreen on the opposite sex, but sexual contact is forbidden.

Some of this weekend's entertainers don't worry about public perception; they worry about chickening out.

"We're amateurs," said Downtown Joe Bryant, who is one of the three disc jockeys who will broadcast nude from the park Saturday. "I've only done this once last year and 20 minutes in the shower every morning."

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BARE FACTS

Fraternity Snoqualmie is holding a clothing-optional open house for the public Sunday. To get to Park Forestia, take exit 17 off Interstate 90. Turn right and drive 4.2 miles on the Issaquah-Hobart Road. Turn left on Southeast 127th Street, and the park is at the top of the hill. For more information, call 392-NUDE.