Article Title: For Maple Corner Men, Taking It Off Took Off

Edition: March 2002
Category: General Interest
Author: Walter Carpenter
Article:

It worked. Whatever else, the thing worked. Its success exceeded all imagination and kept people who were involved on the brink of exhaustion.

From start to finish, from concept to production to distribution, from publicity to inventory, the people involved with the now well-known Men of Maple Corner Calendar for 2002 never imagined how far it would go.

From a rather obscure spot on the Vermont map, Maple Corner, Calais, the fundraising scheme found its way to the national and international arena, onto C.N.N., N.B.C.'s morning program, the "Today Show" and into U.S.A. Today.

The result of the publicity? Profits of $388,000, far exceeding the original goal of $30,000.

Thirteen local guys (there were two Mr. Novembers) from Maple Corner posed in the semi-nude for the calendar, private parts discreetly shielded by such daily implements of Vermont life as chain saws, canoes and tool belts, to raise money for the benefit of the Maple Corner Community Center. The community center, run by a non-profit board and used as a focal point of life in Maple Corner, needed some costly repairs and upkeep including a new state-mandated septic system.

Exceeding Expectations

"It began as a serious fund-raising effort," said Marialisa Calta, the project's media coordinator, "but we never dreamed we would sell more than 2,000 calendars. That was our wildest dream. We actually figured we'd sell 500."

Now the board and the community has to decide how to spend the unexpected overflow, but Calta said the group is limited.

"On the inside front and cover as well as on the back of the calendar" Calta said, "we said that all profits from the project would be used for the Maple Corner Community Center."

Calta said that people floated other ideas for the money from the calendar. "We live in a generous community," she said, "and lots of people wanted to give money away to good causes -- like the fire department. "But we (the board) decided that it wouldn't be right because we said at the time of sale that all the profits would be used by the center," Calta said. Some of the money will, of course, go into immediate repairs and renovation. A larger portion will most likely be slated for a trust fund for continual support of the Community Center.

Sold over the 'Net

The calendars sell for $15.00 a piece, $16.00 if ordered through the website, with the extra dollar covering shipping and handling. Many of the calendars were sold via the Internet.

The site, run on a volunteer basis by Steve Gallagher of Calais, features a link for customer comments. Customers have bought calendars from as far away as Auckland, New Zealand, and Auke Bay, Alaska.

That Alaskan customer wrote: "I thought you'd like to know that news of your indecent exposure had reached all the way to Alaska. Good luck with your fund-raising. It's a commendable, if embarrassing, thing you do."

Another customer, from Shelburne wrote that "It took the 'Men of Maple Corner' to make America laugh again" after the terrorist attacks of September 11.

The Center

The community center that is the beneficiary of the now-famous scheme, was built as a store in the late nineteenth century and in 1923 was moved to its present location and has been a gathering place for the community since then. It served as the local Grange Hall from the 1920's until 1949, when the Grange disbanded. Then, the Maple Corner Community Club was born and, over the years, community members have hosted numerous all sorts of events there, from potluck suppers to poetry readings and holiday bashes.

The Board of the Maple Corner Community Center had estimated that the numerous renovations and upgrades that the old building needed, including the septic-system would cost about $30,000. Today, the group has hiked the amount needed to $80,000 and is prepared -- with the newfound cash -- to spend it.

Ladies of Rylstone

The idea for the Men of Maple Corner calendar was modeled on a similar effort in Rylstone, England. A calendar, featuring twelve ladies from Rylstone also mostly nude but discreetly covered, was published in 1999. The women of different ages and different walks of life wore little other than pearls and white gloves on the pages of a calendar in an all-volunteer effort to raise money for treatment of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. Like the Men of Maple Corner, the calendar sold far more briskly than expected. In all, about 88,000 calendars went out.

The Men of Maple Corner's calendar has been almost entirely a volunteer and non-profit effort on behalf of the community center.

The male models volunteered back in September of 2001. "At our annual community corn roast in September," Calta said, "one of the main organizers walked around and asked all the guys she saw. She had thirteen signed up very quickly."

Except for the printers, and a mail order house and some paid help since the holidays, no one has been paid. "Everyone was volunteer," Calta said, "Hummingbird Graphics, in Montpelier, volunteered to do the design. Craig Line, the photographer, a professional that lives in Calais, also volunteered his time."

Calta said that a group of stewardesses and a men's gardening club have sought their advice on how to do a calendar. When asked if they had other projects in mind, Calta responded:

"I'm too exhausted to think about it."

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