It's not every morning that Kathy Daniels sheds her blouse for a sprinkling of colourful zinnias.
But last summer, in the wee hours of one morning, that's exactly what she did: dropped her top in the middle of the On the Farm Country Market Flower and Garden Shop.
"It was pretty fun," she recalled.
Daniels was not the only one getting down to her skivvies. Shannon Hearn visited Cleveland Avenue with nothing but a hat.
"He was by far the most daring," Daniels said.
The move to go nude was backed by a desire to help a Squamish family. Some members of Between Shifts Theatre's production of the Calendar Girls stripped down to the buff in their own charity calendar. As in the cheeky British comedy, the Squamish team ditched a more traditional style of fundraising calendar, stuffed with local scenery, for something a little more risqu茅 - nude pictures of themselves around town. Or at least the illusion of nakedness, said Linda Gardner, the director of last spring's hit play Calendar Girls.
"We did the calendar of our actors in different areas around Squamish," she said.
Money raised from the $20 calendars will go to Gardner's Hilltop House co-worker Sher Paligutan, who recently won a battle with leukemia. The time off work hurt his family, Gardner noted. When Paligutan was told about the fundraiser, he was surprised, Gardner said.
"He was quite taken aback by it," she said.
During the Calendar Girls production, a percentage of the show's royalties were donated to leukemia research. The story itself centres around friends coming together after a woman's husband dies from the disease.
The theatre's calendar can be bought at The Chief newspaper at 38117 Second Ave. All the money from in the fundraiser will go to Paligutan's family. The group has already collected $1,000.
The project was a great experience, Daniels said. If she has any advice about donning one's birthday suit in Squamish, it's the earlier, the better.
"When we were doing the shot, a lady came running by after yoga class," she recalled with a laugh.
