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Outdoor hunks Photo courtesy Sherry Belzberg Ashland firefighter Kelly Burns, 30, appears as "Mr. January" in an "Outdoor Men of Southern Oregon" calendar published by photographer Sherry Belzberg of Jacksonville. Pictures depict woodsy guys in their element By Mark Freeman Sherry Belzberg wants 2001 to be the Year of the Beefcake in the Rogue Valley, and she�s amassed 12 separate reasons for outdoor-minded women to say, "Oooh." Belzberg, a 45-year-old free-lance photographer, has taken the image of the Southern Oregon outdoorsman and given it a saucy swirl in a new 2001 calendar meant to tickle fancies of women who like their men in chaps, rock-climbing gear or rubber fishing waders. These are the Outdoor Men of Southern Oregon, and it�s not 12 months of men with pickup trucks, tank tops and bodies by Budweiser. "The idea is to show women that, if you�re walking in the woods, you may see a gorgeous guy like this," Belzberg says. "They�re all from Southern Oregon, and all doing something that they do here." Like Darin Rembert, who stands in waist-high water with only fishing waders on as Mr. April. Then there�s Dave "Mr. July" Grannis rappelling off rocks at Hellgate Canyon on the Rogue River. Kelly Burns, a.k.a. "Mr. January," appears dressed only in his yellow fire pants. "I know I�ll take a lot of flack about this," sighs Burns, a 30-year-old Ashland firefighter. "But really, for me, this was just kind of a fun thing to do." But the fun feels a bit more like sheepishness now that the calendar is out. "I just assumed nobody knew about it," Burns says, "but I guess, eventually, people would find out." Belzberg is betting at least 500 people will find out. That�s how many calendars she had printed last week and ready for sale beginning today. The calendar costs $20 and will be available at some local bookstores and beauty salons as well as at Photography Unlimited, the business Belzberg runs out of her rural Jacksonville home. Belzberg, a former Ashland Daily Tidings photographer, says she got the idea for the calendar earlier this year, when she and a friend were reminiscing about a 1970s Men of the Applegate nude calendar. She thought the time is ripe for a similar version for the new millennium. "Only these guys all have clothes on," she says. "They may have their shirts off, but they�re dressed." Belzberg, who won�t say how much she has invested in the calendar, is hoping it will turn a profit, which she says she�ll split between funding a 2002 calendar and worthy environmental projects that benefit the Applegate Valley. The men are all 24 to 46 years old. One of them, "Mr. October" Jerrid Henney, is Belzberg�s fianc�. "All the photos are set up in ways that, if you�re a girl, you get that �come hither� look," Belzberg says. None of the models were paid for their poses, which were all shot between early April and late May. And many now say they are a little bit embarrassed by their brush with beefcakedom. Burns says he�s appearing for posterity. "At some point, maybe when I�m an old man," Burns says, "my grandkids will look at this and say, �Wow, Grandpa was a hottie�." Obituaries | Sports | Business | Classifieds | Tempo | Prime Times | So Oregon Sites | Outdoor Journal | Subscribe | Contact | Movies | Advertise | Real Estate Showcase | Archive | Editorials | Letters to the editor | Religion | Wake-up Call | NIE | Cyber Chef | Job Network | So Oregon Weather | WSJ Northwest | Forums | AP Wire | AP Money | F.A.Q. | Awards Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. The Community Newspaper Subsidiary of Dow Jones & Co, Inc Copyright �The Mail Tribune 2000, Medford, Oregon USA