Responding to their community center's need for money, the Men of Maple Corner dropped everything - or nearly everything - for "Men of Maple Corner" a calendar for 2002.

The idea for the calendar came about after the Maple Corner Community Center, in Calais, VT, found itself facing high-priced renovations to the 100-plus year old building, and a diminishing supply of cash.

The goal includes funding many big-ticket items required by state regulations, including the installation of an accessible bathroom, a fire escape, and a new septic system. In addition, on-going repairs to the historic, white clapboard building were necessary.

The center, located in the heart of the village of Maple Corner, 10 miles north of Vermont's capital city, Montpelier, has served as a gathering place for the community since the 1920s. Built as a store in the late 1800s, it was moved (about a mile) to its present site in 1923, and served for many years as the local Grange Hall. In 1949, when the Grange disbanded, the Maple Corner Community Club was formed. Since that time, many events - pot-luck suppers, plays, dances, concerts, poetry readings, and holiday parties - have been held there.

The calendar can be ordered from Maple Corner Net

The idea for the calendar has been percolating since the release of the 1998 British film, "The Full Monty," which tells the story of a group of out-of-work men who perform a strip-tease to make money. The much-publicized success of "The Ladies of Rylstone" - in which members of a British women's organization disrobed for charity - spurred community members to take on this project.