Thought the Women of Queanbeyan calendar was good? Get ready for the blokes
While the semi-naked women of Queanbeyan will adorn the walls of homes across the region for the next 12 months, in 2021 and 2022, it’ll be all about the blokes.
Organisers of the female version of the calendar are at it again – this time calling on the men of Queanbeyan to peel off the layers and suggestively cover their pink bits to raise funds for Yvonne Cuschieri’s Respite Care for Qbn dream.
Queanbeyan Travel and Cruise’s Jim Cooper bared all in the original 2000 calendar.
A runaway success, the Women of Queanbeyan calendar raised more than $80,000 for Canberra region cancer support group Rise Above – the original goal was $20,000 – and organisers want to top that figure with the blokes. Gillian Southwell and Rocky Burnell, two of five people behind the female version of the calendar, are on a huge recruitment drive for the 100-odd men they’re hoping will star in the 2021/22 version.
Yes that’s right – the men’s calendar will be so big it’ll hang on the wall for a gobsmacking 18 months.
Queanbeyan butcher Peter ‘Butch’ Lindbeck and colleague Barry Dickinson.
Gillian and Rocky have a solid starting point for recruitment: 2021 marks the 21st anniversary of the original Men of Queanbeyan calendar, a Queanbeyan Age initiative that took the region by storm and raised a few eyebrows – but mostly howls of laughter – in the year 2000.
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The original calendar starred local personalities like Queanbeyan Tigers legends Tony Wynd and Adam Heading, businessman and owner of Queanbeyan Workwear Bernie Baz and the very handsome men of Johnny Res Mechanical Repairs. Butcher Peter Lindbeck donated a sausage or two (sorry) to help out and Jim Cooper from Queanbeyan Travel and Cruise never looked sexier.
Queanbeyan Tigers legends Tony Wynd and Adam Heading.
Gillian and Rocky want all the men from the original calendar to get their kits off again, and will approach about 20 other men to star as calendar boys.
“Not only was the women’s calendar empowering for the girls of our city but it brought the town together in a truly phenomenal way,” Gillian says.
“It had this real energy about it. It was fun, different, and turned out to be a great way to raise money for people who desperately need it.”
The Waterbed King, still to be identified from the original calendar.
Despite the 12 months of work the women’s calendar took, Gillian and Rocky and ready to do it all again. The professional photographers who captured more than 75 Queanbeyan women for the special publication – and who all volunteered their time – have agreed to help out again.
And the men’s calendar will premier at a huge launch event in August, just as the female version did.
The lads from John Res Mechanical Repairs.
“It’s 2020 – so this time we’re planning a Roaring 20s-themed ball,” Gillian says.
“We’re excited. It’ll be a big year but so much fun. And helping Yvonne achieve her dream of a respite home in Queanbeyan is, in turn, one of our dreams.”
Keep up to date on the Men of Queanbeyan Calendar via the launch event Facebook page.
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About the Author: Briony Winchester
Part bogan, part wannabe plus-size model and part journalist, Bree's the woman behind Q! News. She's a pop culture obsessive who's deeply in love with her hometown, Queanbeyan, and the neighbouring capital. A born storyteller, she's been writing locally, nationally and internationally for more than 25 years.
