MORAVIA - In his shorts and T-shirt, doo-rag and sneakers, Bruce LePage is a bit out of place at his summer job. It's not that he's underdressed or even overdressed for his position as a cook - it's the fact that he's dressed at all.

Being an employee of Empire Haven Nudist Resort and Campground in Moravia means LePage, who came to Cayuga County by way of Connecticut, is somewhat in the minority when it comes to wearing clothing. Even his boss, Marleen Robinson goes topless during the summer months.

It's not that the 33-year-old wouldn't like to sport his birthday suit on the job. During his long lunch breaks, the former bodybuilder heads back to his trailer, disrobes and heads out to the volleyball court for a midday game in the nude. Then it's back to the kitchen where clothing is not optional.

Due to New York state public health codes, LePage won't be frying burgers in the buff any time soon. Not only would it be unsanitary, but it would be more than a little dangerous.

From May to September every year since 1959, Empire Haven has welcomed vacationers who like to travel light. They come in dribs and drabs, some staying the whole season and others just come for a week or two. The campground also plays host to the annual Northeast Naturist Festival, which concluded Sunday.

During the season, the Robinson family - Marleen and her husband, Al - employ about 10 people to tend to the day-to-day operations of the campground. There is a cook, an office assistant, some handymen and others who work amongst the non-clothed.

Most of the employees chose to wear clothes, but some, like Tommy Clemeno, go half and half.

Clemeno, 45, has been working as a maintenance man at Empire Haven for seven years. If anything breaks - the pool, hot tubs, saunas - Clemeno's the man to fix it.

He landed the job purely by accident when accompanying a friend to the resort years ago.

"I just came out one year and I just happened to take it," he said, sitting shirtless after a day of work. "I like working outside."

The Syracuse resident says it took him relatively little time to get over the fact that the majority of the people he was dealing with were nude. Now he hardly notices that naked people stroll by him.

"You're more odd without clothing. You just get used to it," he said.

Clemeno wouldn't go nude even if his job permitted it. He goes shirtless during the summer, hence his nickname "Two-Tone Tommy" for his waist up only tan, but that's as much as he reveals.

As a member of the maintenance crew, he often has to deal with whirling weed whackers and hazardous pool chemicals and he admits it's probably better to wear clothes.

For Michele Keagle, an Auburn mother of seven, who is working her second summer as Marleen Robinson's assistant, clothing is entirely optional.

But for someone who has worked in the professional clothed world for many years, going without threads wasn't really Keagle's style.

Keagle came to Empire Haven through her mother-in-law, who is friends with Robinson. She had never heard of the resort before, but the extra money sounded good.

"I said I'd interview, but I didn't know if I had to be nude. I said, 'You don't expect me to be nude, do you?'" she said.

Much to her relief, Robinson told Keagle she could do the office work with her clothes on and she said she'd give it a shot. It took a while to get used to the scarcity of clothing throughout the resort, but after a month she was fine.

"It seemed weird to me at first, but you're working 10 hours a day and the nudists themselves make you desensitized," Keagle said.

For all the employees at Empire Haven, the fact that naked people are milling around the grounds, playing tennis, reading a book or eating a cheese sandwich, ceases to be an issue very quickly.

At first, they don't know where to look, but the uneasiness soon wears off. Very quickly employees at Empire Haven learn that this nudist camp is not at all about sex.

For LePage, who in college served as a nude model for a life drawing class, working at Empire Haven is simply an extension of his live and let live attitude.

Bodies, in his opinion, are meant to be revered, and are not something to feel ashamed of. And even if he gets some sand in some uncomfortable spots while playing nude volleyball, it's all worth it.

"I was hungry for this type of community," he said. "There are great people here. I'm having a really good summer."

Staff writer Lauren Ober can be reached at 253-5311 ext 245 or lauren.ober@lee.net