Local Calendar so much more than Men in Tubs
By Ari Lord
While seductiveness is undoubtedly part of the calendar’s popularity, Jeremie Jalapeno has a bigger mission: to encourage men to be more open and vulnerable with their feelings and experiences.
“The mission statement of Men in Tubs is to create a world of vulnerability and connection. I am sharing the message about vulnerability and what has helped me over the years to step into myself more and not being afraid to show up,” says Jalapeno.
Jalapeno is a professional photographer and graduate from Kelowna’s Centre for Arts and Technology Photography program.
Jalapeno is a trained photographer and graduated from Kelowna’s Centre for Arts and Technology Digital Photography program.
“I was in photography school in 2016, and a friend of mine sent me a photo of him in a tub, and I decided I wanted to create a calendar of dudes in tubs,” says Jalapeno.
Humour is undoubtedly part of the images. One of the perks of making the calendar is Jalapeno has met and connected with many different people.
In 2020, Jalapeno had a chance to share the story behind the calendar at an event at the Capitol Theatre. He recalls nearly 200 people in the audience one night, which he says was “very cool.”
“I did a slideshow of behind the scenes from all of the calendars and brought speakers onstage. Me, a personal coach, an addiction recovery coach, and a sex educator all gave a talk about something very vulnerable.”
Jalapeno’s speech was called, “Secrets of a loser: the shame I carry,” in which he openly discusses (using humour) the connection between a health issue he faces and dispelling shame.
After the first calendar in 2020, Jalapeno decided to donate some of the proceeds to non-profit organizations. He contributes to the organizations in communities where he sells the calendars, for example, Kaslo and Golden. He also donates more widely.
“I donate to the ManKind Project. It’s an international organization that helps men learn how to connect with emotion and how to process and heal past trauma with trained facilitators. It’s been helping me a lot over the years,” says Jalapeno.
The distribution of the calendar is going fairly well.
“So far, it’s been nice and has expanded out of town. I’m selling it all over BC, and also online. Last year I sold 1800 copies,” says Jalapeno.
Jalapeno makes a living working as a catski photographer at Keefer Lake Lodge in Cherryville, south of Vernon. He’s up and out of the lodge early with guests, documenting ski outings as well as compiling a slide show from the day’s activities to show patrons in the evening.
“I tree planted for 14 seasons,” said Jalapeno of his primary occupation.
“The money I made in the year helped me get (the calendar) going. I’m not going back this year; I’m retiring from it. It’s time.”
Jeremie grew up in Quebec and has lived in Nelson on and off for 11 years. He loves the access to nature and also the culture of the area.
“There are so many different things we can access like mountains, waterfalls, rivers, lakes and glaciers. The first thing that brought me to Nelson was snowboarding, and I had a lot of friends that were living in Nelson, and the vibe of the town stuck with me. How people are friendly, open, willing to have a conversation, and just enjoy life a lot.”
While it is the tail of the season for selling a calendar, Jalapeno says his calendar might still be available at a few stores like Posies Flowers and Lokel hair salon. Otherwise, he sells it online at menintubscalendar.com.
