When Moravia resident Sue Smith took her lunch break Thursday, little did she think her drive to the bank would take her past several topless women and men mingling in the heart of the village.
"I had to take a double take; I didn't just see what I thought I had seen," said Smith, a cashier at Modern Market on Cayuga Street.
The group of about 10 - all sans upper garments - tried to enter Coffee 'N Cream at the intersection of Routes 38 and 38A to have a meal at lunchtime, said Chris Wittenmyer, the sole employee at the shop Thursday afternoon.
"None of them had tops on. No bras, no bathing suits, no nothing," Wittenmyer said.
The first of the group - three topless women - didn't make it far past the door before Wittenmyer stopped them. The rest of the group mingled just outside.
"I said, 'Excuse me, but I have a dress code here,'" Wittenmyer said. "And she said, 'You're going to lose 10 customers.' I said, 'We do have a dress code here: no shirt, no shoes, no service.'"
Michele Keagle, an office assistant at Moravia's Empire Haven Nudist Resort and Campground, said neither she nor the owners of the campground knew if the half-dressed people were staying at the resort, but an annual convention - the Northeast Naturist Festival - is being held there this weekend.
The group - in the 40- to 50-year age range - wasn't in the eatery longer than a few moments and left without protest, Wittenmyer said. The group snapped a picture of themselves on the stoop of the coffee shop.
At the intersection of Main and Cayuga streets, Wittenmyer said drivers rolled down their windows to tell the group they couldn't be topless in the middle of Moravia. Then Moravia village police and Cayuga County sheriff's deputies began arriving and arrested the group, she said.
The Moravia village police officer who booked the group did not return phone calls made to the station Thursday.
Staff writer Amaris Elliott-Engel can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 282 or amaris.elliot-engel@lee.net
The group of about 10 - all sans upper garments - tried to enter Coffee 'N Cream at the intersection of Routes 38 and 38A to have a meal at lunchtime, said Chris Wittenmyer, the sole employee at the shop Thursday afternoon.
"None of them had tops on. No bras, no bathing suits, no nothing," Wittenmyer said.
The first of the group - three topless women - didn't make it far past the door before Wittenmyer stopped them. The rest of the group mingled just outside.
"I said, 'Excuse me, but I have a dress code here,'" Wittenmyer said. "And she said, 'You're going to lose 10 customers.' I said, 'We do have a dress code here: no shirt, no shoes, no service.'"
Michele Keagle, an office assistant at Moravia's Empire Haven Nudist Resort and Campground, said neither she nor the owners of the campground knew if the half-dressed people were staying at the resort, but an annual convention - the Northeast Naturist Festival - is being held there this weekend.
The group - in the 40- to 50-year age range - wasn't in the eatery longer than a few moments and left without protest, Wittenmyer said. The group snapped a picture of themselves on the stoop of the coffee shop.
At the intersection of Main and Cayuga streets, Wittenmyer said drivers rolled down their windows to tell the group they couldn't be topless in the middle of Moravia. Then Moravia village police and Cayuga County sheriff's deputies began arriving and arrested the group, she said.
The Moravia village police officer who booked the group did not return phone calls made to the station Thursday.
Staff writer Amaris Elliott-Engel can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 282 or amaris.elliot-engel@lee.net
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