“Oh my,” Hollis resident Jane McCarthy said when she first saw the calendar filled with revealing photos of local socialites.

“It’s a little risque,” she said.

The women who appear in the “Dorcas Dishes Calendar” were one of the most popular attractions at Buxton Community Day Saturday. Modeled after a calendar in the movie “Calendar Girls,” the calendar features members of the Dorcas Society of Hollis and Buxton. The society devoted to historical preservation was founded in 1897 by author Kate Douglas Wiggin.

Society members were selling the calendar for $15 to raise money to support the society’s charitable programs. Models, who wore sashes identifying for the calendar included schoolteachers, church members and the wife of a former minister.

Rev. Joanne Stoughton, the pastor at the Tory Hill Church where many of the models are members, said the calendar was done tastefully. She thought Wiggin would have approved. “She was high on fundraising,” Stoughton said about Wiggin. “They used to do kissing booths in Kate’s time.”

At the annual festival, the models wore sashes identifying their month in the calendar. Autograph seekers, carrying copies of the calendar, roamed through the crowd on Saturday searching for the models. One model signed a calendar for a Buxton bachelor.

“We’ve signed 50,” said Carla Baade Turner, 53, one of the models and president of the Dorcas Society.

Miss July 2006, Ruth Johnson of Buxton, 87, said she was autographing steadily throughout the day. “It’s been wonderful here today,” Johnson said at the booth on the church lawn.

Johnson even signed one for a customer who was giving it to a bachelor doctor. The husbands, brothers and sisters of models were all fine with it, Johnson said. However, she said the calendar shocked a granddaughter, but she got over it.

“The teenagers are shocked,” Johnson said.

Miss April 2006, Jan Flint of Hollis, 65, said a daughter had a fit until she viewed the calendar. “Ma, I’m sorry. That’s very tasteful,” the daughter apologized.

“My youngest daughter thought it was a hoot,” Flint said.

Miss August 2006, Candie Mayhew, 34, of Waterboro said her husband bought two calendars, and she hadn’t heard any negative remarks. “Most people think it’s really neat,” she said. “We’re happy with the reception the calendar has received.”

A calendar customer at the festival, Barbara Lawson of Hollis, called it a wonderful fundraiser for the society. “These ladies have a lot of guts,” Lawson said.

Miss March 2006, Joyce Durkin of Buxton, 49, was one of the models busy signing autographs at the booth. She said her mother also thought Wiggin would roll over in her grave. “Other than that, the feedback has been positive,” Durkin said.

Joy Rubin of Buxton knows many of the ladies who are featured in the calendar. “I think it’s a great cooperative venture,” she said.

Rubin said even an outspoken critic bought a calendar. “She forked over 15 bucks for it,” she said.

Miss October 2005, Lynn Cummings, 45, formerly of Hollis, said her mother bought five copies and Cummings’ boss bought four. “Everyone I know thinks its great,” Cummings said.

Calendar cover girl, Linda Caouette, 57, who is also Ms May 2006, said people think its funny and start giggling. “We were laughing when we did it,” she said. “Even the minister of our church totally supported it.”

McCarthy, who originally thought the calendar was risque, decided it was “very cool.”

“Who said things are boring in Buxton,” said McCarthy.

The calendar is also being sold in England, where one of the models lives. The Dorcas Society can be contacted through its Web site, www.dorcassocietymaine.org