Around Town: Something to cheer about as Redblacks cheerleaders release swimsuit calendar

Give me a C! Give me an A! Give me a L! Give me an E-N-D-A-R (sorry, I’m growing impatient).

What does that spell? Calendar, as in the Ottawa Redblacks Cheerleading and Dance Team’s 2017 swimsuit calendar.

Friends and family were invited to the Casino du Lac Leamy on Thursday night for a celebration of the team’s third annual calendar. The money raised from sales will help the 52-member co-ed cheerleaders and female dancers travel down to Toronto to participate in this year’s Grey Cup cheerleading-related festivities.

At the calendar release party, the cheerleaders presented a fashion show while dressed in their own personal gowns, as well as their Brio Bodywear-sponsored swimsuits featured in the calendar.

Ottawa Redblacks Cheer Team member Amanda looks fabulously fit in her bikini from Bio Bodywear Inc. at a fashion show held at the Casino du Lac Leamy on Thursday, August 18, 2016, as part of a release party for the team’s 2017 calendar.

The Redblacks’ cheerleaders are all volunteers. Many of them are studying at university or starting careers. They serve as ambassadors for the football club and regularly appear at community and charity events.

“This is our best calendar yet,” said returning calendar girl Cailin, who makes a stunning appearance as Miss March (the cheerleaders use only their first names to, you know, keep the creepy guys away).

The $20 calendars are being sold at all the Redblacks’ home games by the cheerleaders.

As fun and positive as the calendar experience was for Cailin, she admits to feeling “a little self-conscious” in the beginning. Turns out, gorgeous, smart women with fit bodies can get nervous in front of a camera, especially when wearing a skimpy bikini.

Lisa Aucoin, director of the Ottawa Redblacks cheerleading and dance programs, is flanked by team members Alyssa, left, and Cailin, at the team’s fashion show and release party for its 2017 swimsuit calendar, held at the Casino du Lac Leamy on Thursday, August 18, 2016.

“It’s a little nerve-racking; you’re out of your element,” said Cailin, a fourth-year honours student in political science at Carleton University. “We’re used to performing in front of thousands of fans but that’s something we practise and train for. It’s not like waking up and saying, ‘I’m going to be a Victoria Secret model today’.”

Gord Weber, a former CFL player-turned-professional shutterbug with an expertise in fitness photography, is the talent behind the lense. Gracing the pages of the calendar are his attractive images of the cheerleaders in their swimsuits as well as in athletic action on game days.

He set up his swimsuit shoots at a private quarry in Chelsea, Que. after getting permission from its owner. “It cost me four Redblacks tickets, but that’s OK,” he quipped. The quarry’s striking blue water and white rocks and sand appealed to Weber. “You get that tropic feel, on a budget.”

carolyn001@sympatico.cam