The calendar girls of Port Aransas

Nothing like a naked calendar to raise money for the arts.

"The flesh may sag," said calendar cover girl Judith Greer, "but skin still sells."

Greer's wisdom draws laughter loud enough to drown out the sea gulls floating over the marina of this coastal resort town. Her audience, mainly senior Port Aransas women, know exactly what she's talking about.

Skin does sell, and sometimes a little sagging here and there even helps, not that Greer, statuesque and sleek at 65, shows much sign of it. To prove it, 14 Port Aransas women — including the newly elected mayor, Georgia Neblett — posed for a pinup calendar that has rocked the local boat and made these Port A beauties delightedly notorious.

"I'm not used to people saying 'I didn't recognize you with your clothes on,' " said Fran Hail, 53, a retired nanny and teacher who moved to Port Aransas from the Houston area. "I'll be standing in line at the grocery story in town and get people looking at me. I just want to say, 'Yeah, I'm Miss April.' "

All but three of the calendar girls are past 50. All 14 can be seen, not quite bare but barely covered, in the Treasures of South Texas 2005 calendar.

Yes, they were inspired by the movie Calendar Girls. You can buy their calendar here. Hey, it's for a good cause.

Posted by Charles Kuffner on January 14, 2005 to The great state of Texas | TrackBack