This new piece of erotica, a 2004 wall calendar, begins with a sepia-toned shot of nine local chaps wearing substantially less than chaps - they're clad in boots and firefighters' helmets, and they're carrying a strategically placed fire hose. The tenth man modestly poses with a big spotted dog in his lap.
The calendar is a heroic effort - or plea - by firefighters and Queen Anne's County celebrities to raise money for a new firehouse for the Kent Island Volunteer Fire Department.
Commissioners Benjamin Cassell, R-Stevensville, and Nemo Niedomanski, R-Grasonville - the men of November - bared an awful lot for the cause, and Mr. December, anchor-tossing champ Butterball Thompson, is fetching in his Santa hat.
If you're embarrassed at buying the beefcake photos, you can always say you're buying it for the valuable information it contains: Jan. 1 is New Year's Day, Dec. 25 is Christmas and April 22 to 25 is the Bay Bridge Boat Show.
Nicole Ramos of Dover, Del., 16, was traveling through Kent Narrows with her parents when she saw the calendar at a restaurant.
"Are they putting their names to this? I'm so sorry for them," said the teenager, who laughed with her mother as they studied all 12 pages and discussed how flesh starts sag- ging after age 30.
Chris Grupenhoff, Queen Anne's County "Character Counts" program coordinator, bought an ad in the calendar, for which she had nothing but tongue-in-cheek praise.
"I've never seen such wonderful hunks. Ooh-la-la," she said.
Ms. Grupenhoff's tone changed when she turned to July and saw three broad-shouldered, trim-waisted baseball, football and lacrosse coaches with muscular arms.
"Now I'm getting really interested," she said, her eyes bulging.
Among other reactions, at the Love Point Cafe in Stevensville, Lacie Whitten said, "I don't know what to think."
Farther down the Island, Kent Island Depot employee Vanessa McCowan. said, "It could have been really bad, but it's really funny."
Kent Island menfolk no doubt will love this art piece, too, as it will provide an abundance of material for ribbing and ridicule at crab feasts for years to come.
"This is why there are rules about (having to wear) uniforms," said Robert Cope, who also works at the Kent Island Depot.
This calendar definitely will give you a lot to think about.
For example, the next time you're out for dinner at Fisherman's Inn, ponder 70-year-old owner Sonny Schulz, who posed with four other hefty restaurant owners for April, all of them wearing nothing but chefs' hats and short aprons.
"These things are selling like hotcakes. I've been asked to autograph (a bunch)," Mr. Schulz said with a grin.
On the cover, two of his sons, Fire Chief Tracy Schulz and Firefighter Jody Schulz, pose with the fire hose.
As a reminder that the frivolity is for a serious purpose, the calendar's back cover bears a photo of KIVFD Assistant Chief Doug Thomas, who died last month from injuries sustained two hears ago while responding to a fire.
"These are all real people," said Kent Island photographer Stan Ruddie, who shot the pictures. "They went the extra mile for the fire department."
