Spring thaw brings out Vermont raw

updated 4:41 a.m. ET May 17, 2007

BRATTLEBORO, Vt. - Spring has arrived in this southeastern Vermont shire town. The trees are less bare, and some local residents are more so. Brattleboro has no ordinance, and Vermont no law, against public nudity. Some of the people who caused a stir last year when they began appearing downtown as nature made them are back.

Not everyone is happy.

Resident Theresa Toney said she was dining at a downtown restaurant when she spotted her first naked person of the spring. She looked out the window "and saw a man in his 60s walking up and down Main Street totally nude," she said. "This is indecent exposure where it doesn't belong."

Toney was one of the most vocal critics of public nudity when young people first started congregating without clothing in a downtown parking lot last year.

This week she was back before the Select Board, demanding to know what the town was going to do "about this behavior."

Audrey Garfield, chairwoman of the board, said she had spoken with the town manager, and that a log of complaints would be compiled.

Some are worried about the town's image.

"How do you want to be viewed as Brattleboro?" asked the Rev. Kevin Horion. "We want to welcome families with small children." Nudists could pop up anywhere, he said. "I am concerned we don't know where they are going to strike."

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