It's a guy of the month club.

Byline: Lewis Taylor The Register-Guard

As with so many good ideas, the `Men of Eugene' calendar began as a little lie told in a bar.

"Two girlfriends of mine were hitting on a guy," said Crystal Walen, the mastermind behind the beefcake calendar. "They came up with this whole idea that they were making a calendar so they could get his phone number."

Partly to help her friends and partly because she thought it sounded like fun, Walen produced the `Men of Eugene,' a calendar she calls "a great gift for your sister, but not your mom."

The calendar features such indelible images as a naked service industry worker with a half-bushel of lemons in his lap and a stylish bartender plunging a toilet. Other men about town are seen doing what local XYs do: skateboarding, break-dancing and balancing shot glasses on a knife edge.

The men featured in the calendar are service industry workers selected during a beauty and talent contest held last month at John Henry's. The audience selected 11 men and one woman, who sneaked into the contest.

The calendar, which will be unveiled at a free release party at 10 p.m. Tuesday at John Henry's, will sell for $12. Music for the party will be provided by Burt Reynolds Overdrive.

`The Men of Eugene' comes on the heels of two other highly publicized local produced skin calendars: the `Men of the Long Tom Grange,' which helped raise money for Junction City schools, and `Oh Girls,' which featured scantily clad coeds and helped raise money for - well, let's just say it's a nice-looking calendar.

Walen said she wasn't thinking of those other calendars when she produced the `Men of Eugene.' She was just trying to help out some friends in need.

Incidentally, neither of those friends ended up connecting with the bachelor in the bar who inspired the project.

"That's what's so funny," said Walen, who hopes to make another `Men of Eugene' next year. "He wouldn't do it."

CAPTION(S):

Jeremy Shank is one of the `Men of Eugene.'