ADVOCATE – When you’re snowmobiling, you should wear proper gear - suit, mitts, boots; and helmets are mandatory.
When you’re raising funds for the local snowmobile club, however, you don’t need to wear anything at all.
Members of the Chignecto Glooscap Snowmobile Association can be found showing plenty of skin in their latest project, a 2018 calendar, now available at several locations.
It all started when Amanda Hanham of Advocate saw a similar calendar done in Pugwash for its Communities in Bloom project.
“I made the comment that we should do it as a fundraiser for the snowmobile association,” she recalled. “We had a little laugh about it, then stopped and said yes, that would be a good idea.”
Hanham agreed to spearhead the project, and her father, Mike Fraser, said he would help her with anything she needed. He soon became Mr. September.
All of the models came from the club membership, but not everyone was eager to take part. How did they manage to find them all?
“With great difficulty,” said Fraser. “It came down to the crunch at our last meeting in October. We didn’t have enough guys, and then finally three more stepped up… we got it done, but with no spares.”
The photos were taken throughout the course of the year, featuring the men in such poses as with the club’s groomer, with signs and bridges along the trails, and in the woods.
Fraser was one of the first models to be photographed, and was not afraid to bare it all for the cause.
“It didn’t bother me too much,” he said. “But it’s not something I’m going to do everyday.”
Hanham had plenty of fun at the photo shoots, helping the photographer set up the shots, and trying to get the most out of the models. She was impressed by their willingness to be good sports.
“A couple of those guys were out there when there was snow on the ground, and one of them even had pneumonia,” she said. “These guys knew what it was for, and they stepped up. It was really fun.”
Since the men stepped up for 2018, Hanham said next it would be the women’s turn. If the calendar is successful as a fundraiser, it will return next year, featuring the club’s female membership.
Proceeds from the calendars will be split, with half going to the local club to help with such expenses as fuel and maintenance for the groomer. The other half will go to Ride for Dad, a fundraiser for prostate cancer research put on by the Snowmobile Association of Nova Scotia every March in Cape Breton.
The calendars are available for $20 in Parrsboro at Harrison’s Home Hardware and Amber Lee’s Beautiful Me, in Advocate at the Rite Stop and Hanham’s Home Slice, and in Port Greville at Dad’s Country Market.
