Country Communities Are Not All Peaches & Cream! Let’s Add A Few Nuts To This Dish! (Part Five)

Well here we are, we have just put the special event weekend to bed in 2017.

Time to move on with our peaceful day to day activities!

Or do we?

Shortly after the event in question has concluded, we are contacted by the local municipality questioning our zoning for the camp ground that we have now been running successfully for the past five years.

This came as a complete surprise to us, given that we had had the top dog of the Township (the Reeve at the time of opening) present at our ranch many times throughout the course of our existence.

We were always delighted at the acceptance, respect and acknowledgement for what we bring to this small rural community.

You see when we endeavoured to open our little oasis here for the nudist community, we knew the importance of being transparent about our visions and goals here. So, having the community leader show interest and understanding to our business was especially important for us. We openly shared our plans and goals with the Reeve at that time and walked him through everything that we were working towards and took extra time to share the meanings of what a nudist lifestyle encompassed.

What we did not know, is that in December of 2012 after we had officially opened our doors for business, was that the (MMAH) The Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing was amending an Ontario Regulation that mandated  that all municipalities and counties adopt want would become their Official Plans regulated under the Provincial Planning Act.

Therefore, in 2014 the first Official Plan was created for this township.

Now I am sure most have heard the terminology of “Grandfathering”, something that was already there prior to any new laws, bylaws and the such being put in place. Well, one would think that would have and should have been the case with our campground in the country.

You see, when this new Official Plan came into effect, there were three other campgrounds in the area that were granted that right and were automatically transferred onto the new maps as Commercial C3 zoning, the very thing that we were now being asked by this township to apply for.

So why now? Why us?

Giving that most average citizens of this country do not know the first thing about these things, we were not immune to a lack of knowledge in such matters either and therefore the fight for our survival starts.

We immediately meet with the township official to get a better understanding as to what we need to do and are instructed that a simple rezoning application along with the applicable fees needs to submitted for approval and processing.

Well, without hesitation we bring the process to a local attorney for assistance in getting the application completed properly.

The attorney in question had suggested that we complete as much of the tedious task as possible to keep the legal costs down and our thoughts are, how admirable that someone would suggest this cost saving measure to us. In all honesty we really thought and think to this day this attorney had our best interests at heart.

However, as time drew on and after questioning several times about bringing in a retainer, there just never seemed to be an interest in getting that established. Could there have been a conflict of interest that we were not aware of?

Anyway, we work to get everything prepared and on September 24^th, 2017 everything is submitted, at which point we are left with the impression that this now becomes a 120-day process from this point forward.

WRONG!!!!!!

Ok so now that we are on a 120-day hold here, let’s look at a few things that transpired over the course of the spring and summer up until our application goes in.

We have already established that we have a farming family that is completely unapproachable and, in all reality, not the kind of people you can easily deal with. So, you do your best to just keep your distance and ignore them as much as possible. Well sometimes that is easier said than done.

We vividly remember the day that the infamous red pickup truck that is spotted and found surrounding our property frequently, comes roaring up our driveway and stops sideways in the driveway so that people that were leaving , cannot now leave the property.

We come face to face with three undesirables in the neighbourhood whom belligerently and aggressively assaulted us verbally and accuse us of shooting guns at them. One got out of the truck and very quickly approach my husband, leaving everyone here feeling threatened and afraid that he was about to get physically assaulted. Thankfully, that did not happen, instead he was very verbal about being shot at and got right in my husband face screaming.  As for the other two occupants in the truck, the reek of alcohol that came off them as I stood beside the vehicle demanding that they leave was nauseating at best.

The verbal assault that I endured during that confrontation was deplorable, I was called a whore, a dirty skank, a slut and all this coming from a man whom I have pictures of enjoying himself dancing naked at one of our very own functions.

As for these allegations of shooting guns at people, anyone in their right minds that knows my husband and myself,  know full well including these monsters that were present at the time, that we are probably the only residents on the roadway that do not own, process or shoot guns.

Here we stand, late in the day in total disbelief, what is unfolding in front of us?

We had just spent a wonderful day helping some organizer of the previous event discussed, clear areas and helping to get them prepare for their festival.

Earlier, this day, I had followed this red pickup occupied by the very people now assailing me. I only followed them a part way down an unmaintained county road that runs along the north side of our property before I  turned off into our laneway that leads into our campground.

That being said, no one ever saw this vehicle come back up the roadway and throughout the day they were never spotted further back anywhere near our property, where everyone was working peacefully going about their business.

You see this road allowance goes all the way around another two properties and can easily be navigated to come out at one of these individual’s residence. So, for us it seemed they had done just that and gone home.

So, it became a known after the fact that at the end of the day when everyone was done what they had been doing that day. We all came back up to the front end of the property, unfortunately and unknown to us, an individual that was part of this special event organization had just purchased a new hunting rifle. This fellow was  licensed to carry this gun and without asking anyone’s permission, he had taken it upon himself to set up some cans  and target practice being that there was no one around.

OK, so now my question is, where were these people hiding and furthermore, what are they doing on our land without permission. Let’s face it if they had of indicated a reason to be there that would never have happened.

Now back to my driveway, after many requests of me asking for these people to leave, the driver shuts the truck off indicating it wont start again. This allows them the opportunity to further their verbal assaults towards us. It is not until I tell them I am calling the authorities that lo and behold the vehicle finally jumps to life and they do not drive down the driveway like normal individuals, they instead drive across our front lawn to the roadway.

This occurrence was subsequently reported in person by myself and my husband to the local detachment. Our members that were present also took the time when they got home to write us letters of concern for our well being and the fear that they felt that day.

How would feel?

Just a sprinkle of nuts for a topping today.

Country Communities Are Not All Peaches & Cream (Part Four)

This “Red Herring Event” is now days away!

We are contacted by the local municipality notifying us of the event permit process and between ourselves and the event organizers we submit all the proper documentations and fees requested. We are visited by all departments including but not limited to, the heads of the roads department, building inspectors, Fire Chief and both deputy clerk and clerk of the township. All was now in order and a permit was issued to continue with the event. I will say that this process was done very quickly and at that time we felt them very accommodating to the process. This would become the first and last time that this would happen.

What we were unaware of, was these so-called complaints that had gone into the Township by this time, as no one had shared this information with us.

So, I suppose that given that these complaining individuals did not get what they wanted, they took matters into there own hands.

The first night of the event and being that we were the closest house to the event taking place, you can only imagine our surprise upon waking and having numerous people approach us with concerns and experiences that they had encountered that evening.

You see we could not hear any music from within our home coming from the event and in all honesty,  we were pleasantly relieved that the neighbours would likely have not heard anything as well.

What we all found alarming was the antics that a few neighbours were up to during the evening hours and into the wee hours of the Saturday morning.

The people that were attending this event had travelled many miles from throughout Ontario and Quebec, had purchased tickets for this event only to have approximately 40 vehicles stopped and instructed that the event had been cancelled due to us not having had obtained the proper event approvals. Our own members here at the Ranch were even stopped.

Can you imagine!

We were also informed that one angry individual whom was a local resident was stopped at the gate and was not permitted access into the event because they had not purchased a ticket for the event itself. They had to deal with the fact he became verbally abusive and threatening towards the event organizers.

Subsequently, we found that morning that all the directional signs to the Event have been kicked over and or smashed.

Therefore, I spent the better part of Saturday conversing with our local Ontario Provincial Police. We were informed that a noise complaint had been filed by a neighbour, however, when the time came, I had filed official requests for this Occurrence and to our surprise this complaint came from a resident 5.5km away from our location.

Throughout the day and while the officer was still onsite a couple from the area came down the roadway that led into the event area. I had suggested to the officer that he ask them about the sound levels as they were probably one of the closer neighbours to us in distance. It became clear and was noted that they also could not hear the sound from within their home. But they claimed they could hear it from their front porch when they stepped outside. These same people later get involved and tell a whole different story in the months to follow.

We would have also suggested talking perhaps with another neighbour but due to fact he is away for most of the year and was not home this event weekend, that it would only have been a waste of this officer’s valuable time.

So, continuing onwards with our weekend.

The event itself out back and our nudist ranch guests  enjoying some sunshine in peace.

Sunday evening, we all find ourselves in the typical misty evening, which has always been known for on the ever-non-predictable May two-four long weekends.  There were certainly not any torrential downpours to deal with and nothing to hamper any festivities in anyway.

Therefore, on the Monday when all participants of this event were all packed up and leaving the premises a gushing rush of water came flooding across the exit road. As luck would have it and conveniently, I might add, a beaver dam broke on property that is adjacent to our land and flooded the roadway stranding some participants well into the afternoon.

Once again, no proof as to whether this beaver dam had been pulled intentionally or not, but the Police writing it off to the down pour the previous evening was not sitting well with us. The fact remains we have been dealing with enough of this harassment already to know differently.

And unbeknownst to us was about to get a whole lot worse!

“Isn’t that Just Peachy”

Country Communities Are Not All Peaches & Cream (Part Three)

In today’s day and age, one would think that due to the vast diversification throughout Canada, that people in this country would be more accepting of others. In all honesty I would hope that most would want to experience life to the fullest.

So, let us look at an event that created a great deal of hostility, misunderstandings and exposed a country community in Canada for its bias and bigotry towards the unknown and the misunderstood.

Here we have a nudist ranch, horses, farming and a small little camp ground with a membership of devout nudists in a community far away from any urban areas, that on the surface pretends to promote agri tourism.

Perhaps that is only on the surface do to the fact that it is a mandate of their County to do so.

Now let us keep in mind we are talking about 100 acres of land, where the campground and the all Adult Nudists Venue is located at the front end of the property. (Yes, I said that) and I will get back to that momentarily.

Our nudist friends, family and membership have all been able to enjoy an area of the land that has become a part of their lives for over five years. There is also several hay fields and a large forested area in the back of the property.

Well as fate would have it for us, we were approached by an organization that was looking for some land to rent for an annual event with the hopes of creating a home base location for them. Perhaps moving forward and on an annual basis that would award them the opportunity to express their artistic and creative abilities with this all-inclusive festival. (which included their families young and old).

We, therefore, in 2017 signed a land rental agreement with the organization to accommodate 350 people in the back area of the 100 acres.

Now for anyone who had taken the time to look at our website, it was made crystal clear as to the reasoning our beloved ranch had become an adult only venue. We had only had the safety of children in mind when that decision was made. You see horses can be very unpredictable and at no time did we wish to have a child’s life endangered by livestock. Over time, it became apparent that adults need there down time as well and welcomed a venue that accommodated just that, a space free from children.

As nudists, we also appreciate that many families have raised their children within the nudist culture and have had them become more confident, accepting and well rounded through this life experience.

Unfortunately for nudists, not everyone understands this, nor do they take the time to understand.

Given that this organization was welcoming of all participants, you can appreciate that there was a degree of reluctance for us as it was going against our Adult Only Policies. Therefore, it was agreed that the organization could utilize a portion of the properties hay fields that were set very far back in the property and away from our nudist clientele and business.

What we were unaware of was that a Special Event permit was required of us for holding any event over 250 individuals.

So, if you recall in Part One and Two of this series, we had issues with livestock at large throughout the years and this event was to have no exception to the rule. During preparations the organizers experienced many cattle roaming our back fields from several farms away. I am sure you can appreciate that setting up tents and art exhibits in a field of cow patties would not be very welcoming to the participants of this event.

Once again, we found ourselves trying to deal with a farming family that was not interested in dealing with the issue at hand and caring properly for their livestock. This led to the subsequent fines and harassment that has been persistent from that day forward.

I do wish to take this time, to apologize up front for any anger that you may be reading in my writings, but in all honesty as this nightmare unfolds you will understand the frustration and yes anger that has been created and why?

Some days we feel like we are living and breathing episode after episode of something like the mini series of “Into the Badlands” or perhaps “How My Stomach Turns”.

Anyway, just before the event was to unfold a few neighbours heard or read about the event and started on a mission of nothing more than a vindictive assault on our very beings here. Hence the look and feel of a lynch mob to us, one that has assailed us continually from that day forward as you will come to see.

Complaints into the municipal office such as:

Delegations to local county council regarding land use compliance surrounding our proposed event.

Letters to Council and our event organizers calling us arrogant and claiming we were pulling a stunt/ money grab from the organizers themselves.

Complaining that we had put 2000.00 worth of gravel on an unmaintained road that these people did nothing more than to tear it up every time we endeavoured to fix it up and make it an enjoyable passage for all.

Complained about permits and anything else they could imagine and of course at the root of it all, our family values and nudity became the “Pit of their Peach”.

Country Communities Are Not All Peaches & Cream (Part Two)

As this is an ongoing affair, so should this blog!

We find ourselves living amongst generations of families that have lived and farmed the area and I suppose though their very own stories shared with us, it became apparent that this use to be an old mining area of sorts.

It was made crystal clear to us that we now had the privilege of owning the original homestead in this part of the township and hence the name of the road we live on, came to be.

So, let us look at the behaviour of a few country neighbours:

The first year we were here, we met most property owners that lived along the road that we now reside on. In every circumstance, the people we met were welcoming and appeared to be extremely supportive of us. The fact that as we explained our plans and dreams for our little nudist retreat, these neighbours of ours claimed and chimed in the same response time and time again.

“What you do on your own land is your business and not ours”.

So, what Happened?

Let’s look at some history here first!

One farming family was helped when a cow was found dead and needed a hand with our tractor to pull it out. This same farming family was assisted by us to help vaccinate, tag and neuter the cattle.

Another farming couple, new to the area after our existence was well known, was assisted for weeks with a lame horse that required attention. Every morning we were there to offer our assistance in cleaning and bandaging the wound. This same farming couple asked for us to pick this very animal up by utilizing our horse trailer and vehicle. In the spirit of being neighbourly we assisted without any hesitation.  We drove miles out of our way to help a fellow neighbour.

Yet another neighbour when he was experiencing a plumbing emergency came calling and asking for help, who was there to help? My husband! Was it done for money? No! he did it just because that was the neighbourly thing to do.

And how about the lady with all the ponies, goats and horses that could never seem to get the fencing under control and her animals were a constant on our land. We offered to help on many occasions to fix the problem with her, but she chooses not to have us assist her.

What about the time we were approached by a resident’s family member and was in destress about losing their home back to the bank because their house was in arrears of mortgage payments? Out of the kindness of our naked hearts we loaned them $3000,00 to stop that from happening.

I could go on, but the point I suppose I am trying to make here is that you cannot met two more giving people, but there does come a time when people need to understand that our privacy needs to be respected as well.

So again, what happened?

All that we can assume at this time is that perhaps a few individuals couldn’t handle the fact that when they were coming up our driveway unannounced it was not appreciated and for good reasons. They were subsequently asked not to do so, as them sitting there and staring at our guests and company was unnerving and inappropriate, not to mention some of the inappropriate comments that were being made to our guests as well.

So, out of respect for our company, friends and family, it became necessary to instruct them that this was not acceptable and instructed them that if they wished to be a part of our nudist community then nudity was a requirement and welcomed.

Naturally that is a choice for everyone.

Or perhaps, all the times that they had been welcomed in the past to join in the odd event or special occasion, such as our Elvis Impersonation evening or our neighbour pot luck appreciation night was no longer an option for them.

Again, this is a nudist retreat and unless that was something, they wished to participate in then we would request that they do not attend.

So instead, they have for the duration, sat in shadows of our property and to date continually try and intimidate and unnerve our members.

Or could it just be jealousy?

We clearly recall several of them saying we wouldn’t last a year here.

They figured the horse flies being the size they are, could carry us out of here and being nudists, we were prime pickings for a food source.

The very thought that “hey they are doing very well, and we don’t like it”  comes to mind with the behaviour that has followed in the past two years.

Now after me sharing a few of these circumstances as to our good nature and helpful hands, you can imagine the horror and outrage when we reached out to a local MP at the behest of our MPP in our area.

We receive a letter that berated us about complaints that he has had numerous of, but let us be clear, although we asked for these complaints in order to address these concerns, not one was forthcoming in response.  Instead this Country MP went on an attack about how we should be more neighbourly. This of course coming from an elected official whom we have never met or talked to.

Instead, he further goes onto to make inappropriate comments on Facebook about our beloved ranch. All the while knowing nothing about us.

One just cannot imagine, what goes through the mind of people when it comes to nudity?

This is a choice for some, not all, but the very imaginations and the thought process that comes along with it, is challenging at best.

So how would you like that cream for your peaches?

Country Communities Are Not All Peaches & Cream (Part One)

Can you imagine wanting so desperately to live your dream by moving out to the country where you can be free of the turmoil of everyday living within urban areas, only to find you have moved to a biased and bigoted community?

Now let me add, your born and raised within the country of Canada, where the perception of the world is “my those Canadians are so polite and pleasant people”.

How about the fact that you have no obvious religious beliefs, no appearance of a certain ethnicity, unless off course a tan counts and someone thinks differently.

The only reason you are different is because you have a passion and belief system that surrounds social nudity and being a nudist. Now I know my European friends out there will say, well no big deal, we have them everywhere over here and it is completely acceptable. We raise our families this way and have been enjoying the sunshine au natural for many years. So what is the issue? What is the problem?

Well it is apparent that within Canada we have come to find out that small rural communities within some parts will go to no lengths to harass and publicly try to humiliate people because of their way of life.

I personally thought the days of lynch mobs were behind us.

I also thought the very meaning of being Canadian was how diverse our cultures and beliefs were. I pride myself on acceptance of a person’s choice and beliefs. Here I thought we lived in a country of live and let live. Apparently not as we are finding out.

You see our dream was to create a sanctuary within the country for our fellow nudist community. Having been a nudist myself for well over 25 years now and also having our beloved resort turn textile through an acquisition approximately 10 years ago and lastly given that we had a passion for our horses that we boarded at the time. It was an obvious next step for us to purchase a hobby farm, well away from any urban center and create a wonderful rustic retreat so to speak, for friends, family and our fellow nudist community.

Well in 2011 our dream started to transpire into a reality. We purchased a 100 acres in Eastern Ontario. For many years now we have invested a large amount of money, time and effort in to our small argi-tourism business with a five-year plan in mind.

Things certainly appeared to be heading in the right direction, we had our clients coming now on a regular basis, We had had visits from local township officials on start-up and there was never an issue except the a very large problem with some local farmers not being able to maintain and have the proper care and control of their livestock.

For the most part we tried very hard to be understanding in the beginnings, but after years of horses, ponies, goats and cows getting loose and damaging our hay fields, getting into our barn and eating feed and tearing up our groomed and maintained lawns and gardens, this became tiresome, annoying and expensive for us to maintain and repair. Unfortunately, no amount of discussion with these farmers seemed to resolve the issue and some eventually became belligerent and ignorant about doing anything about the problem at hand. Ultimately, this problem resulted in Do Not Trespass orders being issued , with subsequent fines due to ignoring the orders and animal at large fines issued by the bylaw authority. All of which was recommended and suggested by our local township office and the Ontario Provincial Police.

And so it begins.

One would have hoped that it was apparent that there was a small group of vindictive people who had emerged at the behest of these irresponsible farmers that took it upon themselves and made it well-known that they were going to get us shut down. Through ignorance, gossip and moral outrage about nudity, the community became more and more aggressive towards us as people. This all happened without anyone ever taking the time to get to know anything about us, who we are, what we are all about , what we ourselves have had to endure from the harassing behaviour of a few undesirables that live locally to our ranch, or what we have done for the community in supporting economic growth and charitable donations and support. In all reality there was a big fat zero when it came to effort by anyone and “oh my we cannot have that” became crystal clear to us.

So this is where we begin this story why Country Communities Are Not All Peaches & Cream.