CLEVELAND — In the season of giving, the owner of Shiny Penny Studios, Keli Schimelpfeing wanted to shake up tradition and what better way to do that than celebrate dads and their bods with a charity calendar?
“There's a stigma on it for men to want to be sexy or good-looking in a little bit of a way, but especially if you're that dad midwestern guy,” said Schimelpfeing. “You don't go around saying, 'I'm the sexiest thing that's been gifted to Cleveland,' that's just not how it works.”
But Schimelpfeing is changing that narrative for Cleveland dads one month at a time.
“This gives them permission to come as their full selves,” Schimelpfeing added.
Whether it's Poseidon posing with his trident as Lake Erie crashes behind him or a pilgrim sprawled out like a Thanksgiving snack, there's someone for everyone. Mr. Janurary, Noah Hrbek, said he felt confident as ever wearing a John Snowesque Game of Thrones outfit deep in the woods off a Detroit Shoreway neighborhood.
“I feel good about it; it was a lot of fun,” said Hrbek. “This was definitely the most tame of the photos I think we took.”
Mr. January had to keep it PG. His 10-year-old daughter, Lydia, was cheering him on behind the scenes.
“She loves it,” said Hrbek. “She was actually at the photo shoot for most of it.”
Mr. October, Taylor Pohlig, channeled Chevy Chase proudly standing on his front lawn, toasting to a skeleton.
“This is me in my element celebrating the fact that I've finally gotten these decorations up,” said Pohlig.
Though most of the photos look silly, they have a purpose. Each calendar sold raises money for the nonprofit Meals on Wheels.
‘The one thing I love about Meals on Wheels is that they are so hyper-local and hyper-concentrated,” said Schimelpfeing. “I know when I write out a check for $1,000 to our local Kamms Corner Meals on Wheels, that's going to my neighbors and to the people that live here in this neighborhood.”
The calendar's celebration of diversity, body inclusivity, and self-love is another invaluable gift, giving power back to the term “dad bod.”
“I would love to see how we define sexy morph into being more encompassing of a person's entire being and I think that's what this calendar does really well,” said Pohlig.
So far, calendar sales have risen close to $3,000. Mr. April said the only Cleveland dad missing is Jason Kelce.
“Cleveland men — they know how to eat, we know how to drink, and we know how to have fun,” said Andy Mahl, Mr. April.
