County Calendar Girls

Ladies bare all in Alternatives for Women fundraiser

Twenty-one women from Wellington on the Lake took inspiration from the movie Calendar Girls and ventured well outside their comfort zone to pose in the nude at various County locations in a fundraising project for Alternatives for Women. The idea started as a twinkle in the eyes of Catherine Trulsen at the annual yard sale in Wellington on the Lake (WotL) in May 2018. She had picked up a DVD of the movie at the yard sale and asked fellow resident Brenda Little if she would be interested in making a similar calendar. They invited other WotL ladies to a special evening screening of the movie and received an enthusiastic response. There was near-unanimous choice for Alternatives for Women as the beneficiary of the fundraiser. “We wanted a local, female- driven charity,” said Little. “And the timing was good because Alternatives for Women had just purchased a building in Picton and was renovating it into apartments.”

Some of the Ladies on the Rocks, (L-R): Barb Mendham, Karen Chapman, Cathy Ness, Lesley Bridger and Maryse Migué.

Finding a suitable photographer was just as easy. Resident Mary Robinet’s husband, Dave, was a professional sports and glamour photographer, and the two of them had collaborated on countless photo assignments. A small group of women took care of the logistics, approaching a number of County businesses as suitable locations for photography, as well as looking after the financing and eventual marketing. Each individual shoot was meticulously organized. The Robinets carefully posed the fullyclothed ladies in each scene, and then Dave left so that the women could take off their clothes and get back into position. He then returned to take the photographs. “The idea was that the ladies enjoyed what they were doing,” said Dave. “There was some shyness, but the other ladies encouraged them to come along. It all worked out very well, and I’m happy with the results.” There were a few challenges along the way. The first session at Prince Edward County Lavender had to be done very quickly because they were harvesting the lavender. Bad weather forced some shots to be moved inside. The final shot for December 2020 proved the hardest since it included all 21 ladies in the WotL recreation centre hall.

The final photographs were ready in late November 2018, and then a core group of five ladies— Christine Thurmond, Cindy Newson, Cathy Ness, Maureen Mc- Neil and Pam Smith—worked diligently over the winter months to ready the calendar for its mid-April launch. Last Saturday the residents of WotL were invited to have their first look at the completed calendar. Also on hand for the launch at the WotL Recreation Centre were Caroline Granger, chair of Alternatives for Women, MP Neil Ellis, MPP Todd Smith, Mayor Steve Ferguson and Councillor Mike Harper. Granger expressed her thanks to the ladies of WotL for their fundraising effort and spoke about the support that Alternatives for Women provides to women in crisis situations.

Catherine Trulsen and Brenda Little hold the completed calendar at the launch at Wellington on the Lake.

The organization has an emergency crisis hotline for women in immediate need, and will provide transportation, counselling and transitional support. They also have six apartment units that are available to women and their children for up to one year. Alternatives for Women is in the process of renovating a house in Picton—known as Vi’s Place—to provide an additional six studio apartments plus an emergency shelter, which will be the first of its kind in the County. “We know for a fact that a minimum of 18 women each year do not go to a shelter and choose to remain where they are because they don’t want to leave their community,” said Granger. “So this emergency shelter will make a tremendous difference in these women’s lives.” Granger went on to say that Alternatives for Women helps over 250 women each year, and provided some disturbing Canadian statistics. “Across Canada, 3,491 women and 2,774 children sleep in shelters every night because it isn’t safe for them to sleep at home. On average, every six days a woman is killed by her intimate partner. All other forms of violence are on the decline, but gender-based violence remains unchanged because we don’t talk about it.” Granger expressed her gratitude for the funds raised by the WotL calendar project. “We know that we’ve had more expenses than we’ve ever had before with this renovation, and we will find good use for the funds. I would like to take the opportunity to thank the women on the rocks for their courage, for showing us that women of all ages are beautiful. That powerful message, I hope, will inspire the women who need our help to find that freedom from shame so they can seek to make a change in their lives.”

A public launch of the Ladies On The Rocks calendar is scheduled for Saturday, April 20 at the Grange Winery, at 1:00 p.m.