Naked Ladies of Grandin Calendar Is Here

Susan Stidham of Sole To Sole.

Pennie Auhero of Viva La Cupcake.

The calendars--you know the ones--are here and they're selling like latte macchiatos at CUPS in Grandin Village. This is The Grand Ladies of Grandin Village, the calendar that takes women business owners in the village--mostly middle aged, mostly pretty dang sexy--and shows you what they look like in the suit they came with. Which is to say naked.

I've written a ton about this and the first blog post has been one of the most popular in the five-year history of fromtheeditr.

The photos, by my friend Cricket Maiden and Patricia Giovannini, are exquisite (as you can see from these examples) and will not challenge your morality if you display them in your kitchen. They're pretty modest by most standards. Banks may not like them.

Getting the final lineup of 12 owners presented some problems, however. After the daily paper did a story on the calendar, the officials of the bank in the village, who had given permission for its VP to appear, withdrew that permission. My guess is that the reality of what was happening settled in and a semi-nude banker didn't fit the image.

Another old pal of mine, Linda Steadman, who owns Too Many Books and is slender and attractive, pulled out because, she said this morning, her family was beside itself over the exposure ... so to speak. She said she got e-mails and texts from "all over the country" after my blog post appeared and that her family expressed its disagreement with her decision.

In any case, I think everybody knew this wouldn't be easy, but it's here in time for Christmas and if what I saw this morning is any indication, you'd better get a calendar quickly if you want one. They're going to sell out in a heartbeat.

Sandra Meythaler of Roanoke Ballet Theatre.

Cherie Love of Mon Cherie's Salon.