Seniors pose nude for rescue squad fundraiser

By Ricardo Lopez

VIRGINIA BEACH

From a white shuttle bus, the models sauntered past a crowd of photographers and a video­grapher on their way to a beach-side photo shoot. A few chatted with their makeup people while others began undressing. “Let’s see some skin!” egged on one observer.

And skin they showed.

Nine men between the ages of 69 and 90 from the Atlantic Shores Retirement Community posed Tuesday for a 2010 calendar to raise money for the Princess Anne Courthouse Volunteer Rescue Squad.

The calendar, dubbed the “Pin-Up Boys of Atlantic Shores,” will feature the models, wearing rolled-up shorts, as they simulate nudity with strategically placed props such as kites.

The calendar was the idea of community resident Don Reinhart, who died from cancer in June, said his daughter, Donna Reinhart-Bourgelas.

“He always liked to tease,” she said. “He once told his nurse, 'Did you know I used to be a Chippendale’s model?’”

Eden Jones, general manager for the retirement community, was on location for the final shoot, at the 57th Street beach-side cabanas. They’d been shooting for three days.

“I thought the idea was brilliant,” she said. “We were worried we weren’t going to have people model, but our residents were lining up to do it.”

Jones said the volunteer rescue squad responds to emergency calls at Atlantic Shores quite frequently. In one 24-hour period, four emergency calls required the squad’s assistance.

“They come out so much, we want to be able to give them a nice big check for their work,” Jones said.

Floyd Evans, 89, who lived across the courtyard from Reinhart, had been preparing for his shoot. He exercises every day and was on Reinhart’s shortlist for potential models.

“I call these guys my hunks of the month,” said Betty Brown, 81, a fellow resident and chairwoman of the calendar committee.

Should residents with heart conditions be cautioned before purchasing a calendar?

“No,” Brown said. “It’s not that racy.”

The calendars will cost between $12 and $15, Brown said, and they will go on sale in early September.

“This calendar will definitely attract single women to our community,” Brown said to another onlooker.

Ricardo Lopez, (757) 222-5125, ricardo.lopez@pilotonline.com