Local ‘Calendar Girls’ fundraising effort to benefit breast cancer walk

LYNN – The 2003 British comedy film “Calendar Girls” has inspired a group of local breast cancer survivors to create a “risqué” 2011 calendar, with proceeds to benefit the Making Strides Against Breast Cancer walk that takes place Sunday in Boston.The 2011 calendar, “Breast Friends,” was put together by a group of 10 local female breast cancer survivors with help from family and friends. The group wanted to put a creative spin on a fund-raising and awareness effort for breast cancer.Aside from the months of January and October, each month features one of the ladies in an almost nude photo in a themed setting in relation to one of the major holidays or celebrations occurring in that particular month.January depicts an “In Memory/In Honor of” page supporting all those battling the disease, while October features a group photo of all the women, dressed in pink, in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month.Terrie Stultz, also known as “Ms. March 2011,” is an eight-year breast cancer survivor who proposed the idea after brainstorming out-of-the-ordinary ways to make money for the Making Strides Against Breast Cancer walk.”After the walk last year, I had a dream about the movie ‘Calendar Girls,'” said Stultz. “I thought to myself, ‘Why can’t we do something like this?’ I thought it would be a lot of fun. We really want people that are diagnosed with breast cancer to understand that you can still laugh every day. It’s not a death sentence.””Calendar Girls” is based on a true story and recounts a Women’s Institute (WI) chapter’s fund-raising effort for a local hospital to raise money for leukemia after the death of one of the women’s beloved husbands. Since previous efforts had been lacking in raising significant funds, the chapter creates a provocative calendar featuring WI members that ends up raising more than $750,000.Mary Jane Solimine, aka “Ms. April 2011,” an eight-year survivor, hopes the calendar will not only raise money but also spread awareness about the relevance of the disease. “You really don’t realize how many people are affected by breast cancer,” said Solimine. “For anyone that’s diagnosed, just continue living your normal life. You will be fine; there is so much support.”Stultz, Solimine and their team of “Calendar Ladies” began the process of creating the calendar after receiving approval from the other eight women involved.”Some of the ladies were a little hesitant at first,” said Stultz. “But everyone ended up loving the idea, especially our husbands.”Stultz stresses that the completion of the calendar was a joint effort from many of the survivors’ families and loved ones.”We had no professional photographers,” said Stultz. “It was either a friend, husband or a family member that took the pictures.”The front “dedication” page of the calendar gives thanks to Meaghan and Mary Chalmers, cousins of Stultz who took the majority of the photos.Although the women appear to be naked in the photos, Stultz stressed that no one was completely nude.”We kept some undergarments on to feel more comfortable,” said Stultz.Stultz recalls a funny incident that occurred during the photographing of “Ms. July 2011,” eight-year cancer survivor Penny Cole. Cole is clad in an American flag and cowgirl boots atop a stunning Clydesdale horse.”We took the picture outside really early in the morning thinking no one would be around at that time,” said Stultz. “After we were done shooting the picture, Penny got off the horse and was standing half-naked next to him when a couple of runners came down the nearby path. We didn’t know whether to laugh at first or to tell the runners, ‘It’s not what you think!'”Overall, Stultz expresses that the process of creating the calendar was a lot of fun and supports a wonderful cause.”We had so much support,” said Stultz. “We have many angels.”Stultz’s husband contacted Business Manager Randy Brown of General Electric to inquire about costs of printing the calendars. After learning about the cause, Brown offered