IT'S HIP TO BE BARE Just don't call them colonies. You know, the places where you hang out in nothing but your belly button and sneakers to celebrate National Nude Recreation Week (July 9-15). Naturists, who consider "colony" passé, will commemorate the week with open house events at nude beaches, clubs and resorts around the country. In California experienced and novice nudists are welcome at a surfing party in Jacumba, a lawn concert in Los Gatos and a dance in Corona. In other states nudists can check the internet for information on local clubs.

By Craig Wilson
USA Today
Dec. 20, 2002

We're not sure whether this is a good or a bad trend, but more and more of us are taking off our clothes. For money.

Not that long ago, fully clothed church, gardening and civic groups would compile recipes, put them in a binder and sell them as a fund-raiser.

Now, following the lead of their British counterparts - those nude Women's Institute ladies and The Full Monty gentlemen - Americans are taking off their clothes, having their photos taken, attaching them to calendars and waiting for the money to roll in.

These calendars, not to be confused with model material, are hot even if their subjects are not. It is estimated that, at $15 to $19 a pop, they've raised $1.5 million for some 40 causes in the past couple of years.

"Obviously, we think this is a positive trend," says Judi Ditzler, executive editor of N, the magazine of the Naturist Society in Oshkosh, Wis. "These are just regular people who are willing to get out there and bare all for a good cause. We think that's great."

The Naturist Society, by the way, does not have a calendar. Here's the skinny on a few who do, as well as Web sites for ordering:

• In Tamworth, N.H., the 2002 Women of Tamworth calendar raised $75,000. The 2003 sequel, Tamworth Men in Hats, features men fishing, playing the banjo and hunting in only their hats. (www.menoftamworth.com)

• Gardening enthusiasts who call themselves the McLaughlin Foundation aim to raise $150,000 with a calendar of themselves naked among the greenery. The goal: to pay off the mortgage on the foundation's gardens and homestead in South Paris, Maine. (www.mclaughlingarden.org)

• The First Men's Garden Club of Dallas is out with its 2003 beefcake calendar. The pinups range from age 32 all the way up to Mr. June, Chester Cundiff, who just celebrated his 90th birthday. "He's our poster boy," says Patrick Flautt, Mr. July. (www.dallasgardeners.org)

• The now-famous Men of Maple Corner are back, too. Organizers hope their latest calendar will do as well as the first, which raised more than a half-million dollars. Proceeds go to a dozen community groups, but it's the last year for these Vermonters to bare all. Or most. (www.maplecorner.net)