‘Canudists’ Barefacedly Paddle the Wisconsin River

--More than 400 persons--many of them baring it all--gathered along the Wisconsin River to watch nude canoeists--known as canudists--tackle the currents. The canuding was part of National Nude Weekend festivities, Donald Deakin, executive director for North American Naturist, said in Mazomanie, Wis. “We will also have a group canuding with some folks taking a trip down the Wisconsin River. Essentially, they rent boats and stop at sand bars and islands and have a picnic or go for a swim. It’s a leisurely trip. There’s also a park for the less adventuresome--retired couples or younger couples with children.” Deakin said there were some risks. It is against state law to publicly and indecently expose oneself. But dispatcher Glen Dell of the Dane County Sheriff’s Department said sheriff’s officials will not bother the bathers as long as there are no complaints. “There are a number of nude beaches and they’re not going away,” he said. “It’s isolated where they do it. You really got to walk to get there.”

--More than a century after philosopher Henry David Thoreau settled on the shores of Walden Pond, near Concord, Mass., officials dedicated a replica of the simple shingled cabin near the grove where he drafted one of his most famous works. The 10-by-15-foot single-room house, dedicated on the 168th anniversary of Thoreau’s birth, is spare and modest, in keeping with the philosopher’s observation that “my greatest skill has been to want but little.” The replica cost $7,000 to build, a figure that likely would have shocked Thoreau, who noted in his 1854 book “Walden” that his cash outlay for the cabin came to $28.12 1/2.

--David Wolper, who produced the 1984 Summer Olympics opening and closing ceremonies in Los Angeles, will stage the 1986 extravaganza marking the Statue of Liberty’s restoration. Lee A. Iacocca, chairman of the Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation, said he signed up Wolper to produce the activities, including unveiling the statue and lighting its new torch on July 3, 1986. Promising a “50-goosebump event,” Wolper said he was pleased to have “the opportunity for the second time in my life to participate in a major event on a worldwide scale.” Liberty Weekend ’86 will last four days, beginning July 3. Fourth of July ceremonies will include a flotilla of tall ships and a fireworks display in New York Harbor.