Men Bare All for Their Local Schools
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'Mr. April'
Larry Engels, 65, holds his calendar photo.
All proceeds from calendar sales go to the Junction City school district, which has had to give up at least three classroom teachers, art, music, gym class and field trips after recent severe state cutbacks in education budgets. The calendar, which is being sold online for $17, is the latest gambit to raise money for local schools in a state where teachers already have lined up to sell their blood plasma and ranchers have auctioned off the rights to hunt for buffalo and antelope on their property.
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Mr. November, aka 53-year-old mushroom hunter Al Hasselblad, acknowledged he also felt "unnatural" stripping down in front of the male photographer for his shoot, in which he is shown crouching to cut down some especially delectable fungus. There was some jockeying among Grange men for month position too -- centerfold Mr. June, for example, scored that prime spot because he was set to pose hoisting a bag of golf clubs, and June is lovely weather for a round of golf. Chris Shown, Mr. September, laid claim to his month because that's when the grapes ripen at his Junction City vineyard; he is pictured artfully draped in grape leaves, holding up a glass of Oregon pinot noir.
The calendar is big news in Junction City, where Pfeiffer plans to hold calendar signings and rallies. The project has drawn a few angry letters in the local weekly, accusing the men of moral indecency, especially after the picture of a local school board member ran on the front page -- Mr. August in all his glory, naked but for a pair of backless chaps and a lasso slung over his shoulder. Still, there's been far more enthusiasm than complaints; Pfeiffer already has 500 pre-orders from locals. "This one 80-year-old lady said to me, 'When is that calendar going to be actually published? Because I am a snowbird, and I want four copies before I leave for Arizona,"' Shown said.
The wives, meanwhile, are thoroughly enjoying themselves. Ellie Dumdi is mulling using her husband's nude portrait as their yearly Christmas card. She said her only regret is that the men insisted on covering up their behinds with caps and cowboy hats when shooting a from-the-rear group portrait for the back of the calendar.
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