One man bought 40 copies of the calendar which is hoped will raise funds for a legal appeal. Photo / Neroli Nolan
A group of women are hoping to create maximum exposure for a legal fight - by posing topless for a fundraising calendar.
The residents of the small West Coast community of Haast bared almost all to support jailed helicopter pilots Dave and Morgan Saxton.
The father and son
are appealing to the High Court over the length of their two-year and nine-month sentences for taking greenstone from the Ngai Tahu iwi in a remote part of South Westland.
The women decided to strip off for mates who volunteered as the community's search and rescue patrol over a few beers in the pub.
"They gave the shirts off their backs for so many years so we decided to give them ours," says Wanaka real estate agent and Miss September Tasha Jones.
Miss November Sherie Wright describes the men as Haast's security blanket. "When something happens they are our first port of call."
The women describe themselves as a diverse group, connected by a friendship with the Saxtons.
"We are down-to-earth, hard-working characters of the Haast community who spend our daily lives mustering, hunting, cooking, pouring beer, selling real estate and generally keeping the men of Haast on their toes," says Jones.
The stunt is reminiscent of a fundraising drive by members of the Rylstone Women's Institute, of North Yorkshire, England, in 1999.
In a move depicted in the film Calendar Girls, the women posed topless to raise money for a local hospital's cancer ward.
The Haast version was mostly shot by local photographer Neroli Nolan, who also appears in it.
With a first print run of 1000, the black-and-white calendar was launched at last night's annual Hunter's Evening in Haast.
There has been keen interest, with one man ordering 40.
The calendars can be bought online at: www.wildonsaxton.co.nz
