One late September day, my brother Tom and cousin David, having nothing urgent to accomplish, started brainstorming about how funny they thought nudist camps must be......WHEN a bolt of inspirational lightening struck and the two decided to create a fictitious nudist camp and call it the "Frosty Fanny Nudist Camp" to be "opened" on Bald Mountain which lies above and West North West of our ranch.
And, the two of them didn't do it halfway....they had business cards printed with one listed as "Sports Director" and the other as "Chief Nature Boy." Business Stationary was created with the pertinent staff information as well as a silhouette of a shapely young woman balancing a beach ball. The prototype was sent to the printer and, voila, the Frosty Fanny Nudist Camp was officially 'born.' The business cards and stationary were left conspicuously all over Western Colorado wherever one or the other of the pranksters happened to be.
They needed more publicity and found a great flat-faced boulder in Plateau Canyon that was perfect for painting a promotional sign reading "Frosty Fanny Nudist Camp" and the number of miles to..yes...our family ranch gate!! Of course, the business cards and stationary had to have a phone number for potential "nudist campers" to call, and the two geniuses used my Dad's phone number at the ranch for that bit of information!!! He didn't know about it until he began receiving odd calls for reservations to a nudist camp.
The saga unfolded with fly-overs by various law enforcement agencies to FIND THAT NUDIST CAMP as well as a visit by the local sheriff to discover just what was going on up on the Currier Ranch! The Grand Junction newspaper, The Daily Sentinel, had an article (I believe on September 24 or 25, 1964) with a photo of the big rock "bill board," and a reporter traveled to the Ranch to tease out more details. They interviewed my Dad, whose only comment was "I don't know anything about any nudist camp, but I do know that people around here who haven't smiled in years, are smiling now!"
The Frosty Fanny was "famous" for a very long time and anyone who lived in Plateau Valley and Collbran, Colorado during those years, still remembers and has another reminiscent chuckle.
I do have a copy of the newspaper article, stationary and one of the business cards, however, they have gone into the twilight zone of attic/basement storage and yet to be unearthed. Pics will be posted when I finally find them....
Two teenage boys with spare time can come up with the strangest projects, indeed!!
I have a copy of the article, letterhead, and business card. Contact me if you would like one.
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