PORT ARANSAS, Texas - Miss February is hearing a lot of cigar jokes these days, Miss August is worried her 84-year-old mother will find out and Miss October suddenly is fending off would-be male dinner guests.

The three naughty grandmothers are among 14 local women featured in a tongue-in-cheesecake benefit calendar, "Treasures of South Texas," that is the rage of this close-knit island community.

"It's been overwhelming. I went to City Hall to pay my garbage bill and they were all trying to get my recipes for coleslaw and cabbage rolls," said white-haired Ginger Henley, who, as Miss October, poses with two large and strategically placed cabbages.

"I tell you, it feels good. I kind of feel worthwhile again. Life's not over at 75," she said.

In less than two weeks, almost 900 copies have been sold at $20 a pop, with all proceeds going to Port Aransas Community Theater. Its director, Jane Bull, who supervised the hush-hush project, plans to order a second batch soon.

"It started out as a fund-raiser, and you know the rest. It's kind of like taking the kitty cat out for a walk and having it turn into a Bengal tiger," said Bull, 65, who managed to keep her own clothes on.

"It's very light-hearted. We even have our mayor in there. She's Miss July. We felt quite brave in doing it, and I did not expect the response to be 100 percent positive," she said.

The 14 demure pinups range in age from 41 to 77 and include a church elder, a librarian, a manicurist and a church pianist. Twelve are grandmothers and one is a great-grandmother.

They appear in various stages of undress in vintage Vargas Girl poses incorporating well-placed flowers, vegetables, feather boas, bathrobes and, in the case of Mayor Georgia Neblett, the Texas flag.

"I don't think we're selling sex. We're selling beauty," said Phyllis Capps, 59, who appears with her daughter Tanya Chambers, 41, on the August page.

Local reaction during a reporter's visit this week was almost uniformly positive.

"It's been real popular. We've probably sold about 80 of them. It seems like whenever the men come in and buy one, they're always picking it up for their wife," chuckled Jerry Callahan, 59, working the counter at Woody's Sports Center.