Culture
The beach is almost always occupied during spring through fall, with a large cast of regulars. During the summer, the beach is usually occupied by dozens of people at a time who come from all walks of life. It is not unusual to see upper middle-class neighbors, for example, conversing with the homeless; or to see bike-gang punks conversing with Rastas. The beach is also a meeting point for many hippies and travelers, such as "non-members" of the Rainbow Family and frequenters of Harmony Park in southern Minnesota.
The atmosphere is typically very friendly. Artists and musicians are frequently seen practicing their talents. Many beach goers participate in the game of "Rock Golf"--made popular largely due to the efforts of Larry D., a long time Hidden Beach regular and self-proclaimed "Beach Commander". For years it had not been uncommon to see dogs running loose without a leash, open alcohol containers, and occasional nudity and toplessness.
Another attraction at Hidden Beach is the mud pit, located on the eastern side of the beach, where visitors often jump in the mud and later rinse off in the lake. One of the most famous beach regulars is the "Mud Man", who greets beach goers ("Good afternoon!"), informs them of the status of the mud pit ("It's ready!"), and also keeps a count of the number of mud pit bathers for every day, week, month, and year. The Mud Man also clears the mud pit of foreign objects such as litter and sticks.
Beach-goers, especially regulars, often don special tie-dye t-shirts, which are made and given away for free by a long time regular known as Kevin. These distinctive tie-dye shirts often feature a lion family-crest type symbol, with or without a black star placed on each shoulder. Over 12,000 of these shirts have been given away at Hidden Beach.
The trails surrounding the beach are also popular walking paths, and connect up with the nearby Kenilworth Trail, one section of the paved Cedar Lake Trails.
The beach has long been a concern to the surrounding neighborhood because of the level of noise, illegal activity, and high level of traffic that it attracts. The level of safety is particularly a concern at night after the park has closed.
Read more about this topic: Hidden Beach
Famous quotes containing the word culture:
“As the end of the century approaches, all our culture is like the culture of flies at the beginning of winter. Having lost their agility, dreamy and demented, they turn slowly about the window in the first icy mists of morning. They give themselves a last wash and brush-up, their ocellated eyes roll, and they fall down the curtains.”
—Jean Baudrillard (b. 1929)
“One of the oddest features of western Christianized culture is its ready acceptance of the myth of the stable family and the happy marriage. We have been taught to accept the myth not as an heroic ideal, something good, brave, and nearly impossible to fulfil, but as the very fibre of normal life. Given most families and most marriages, the belief seems admirable but foolhardy.”
—Jonathan Raban (b. 1942)
“To assault the total culture totally is to be free to use all the fruits of mankind’s wisdom and experience without the rotten structure in which these glories are encased and encrusted.”
—Judith Malina (b. 1926)