Westerville native has two months in campus calendar
The year 2000 belongs to Westerville native Josh Dudley - at least, May and December of 2000 do.
Dudley graces the front and back covers of the 2000 Campus Men® calendar, as well as the months of December and May.
"It was a bit of a new experience," Dudley said.
Dudley was approached to model by Sean Ashbrook, the calendar's producer, as he was walking through the Ohio State University campus. The calendar features OSU students, but, of course, uses none of OSU's trademarks.
Ashbrook said he has produced 11 of the calendars so far, and also produces a women's version.
Ashbrook gave him a flier with a telephone number to call, but Dudley said he wasted little time thinking it over.
"I decided pretty quickly after reading it," Dudley said.
Dudley said he did it for the experience, an opportunity to preserve his posterior for posterity, as it were. It'll be an interesting story to tell the grandkids.
His mother, a two-time national martial-arts champion, agreed, he said.
Dudley grew up in Westerville, and graduated Westerville South High School in 1995. His parents have since moved to Cardington, in Morrow County.
Dudley is a senior studying welding engineering at OSU, learning how to make automated welding machines.
He interned for the automaker Saturn in Tennessee for the last three summers and plans to work there after graduation.
He said his interests never ran to modeling, on the contrary; his interests ran towards motorcycles.
Dudley said he got interested in motocross when he was about 3 years old and raced for about 14 years, competing nationally from 1989 to 1995.
Dudley said he's been too busy to race since he started college.
"It (college) pretty much takes all of my money and time."
In between classes, he said he enjoys lifting weights and sports such as basketball and martial arts.
He never thought of himself as a heartthrob, he said. "I guess it's not something I think about."
After two preliminary shoots in Ohio, Ashbrook took Dudley and about four other models to Miami, for a four-day shoot.
The Westerville native was visiting Miami for the first time, and it was quite a shock, he said.
"You couldn't go outside without seeing a Ferrari or a Lamborghini," Dudley said.
Shooting took place right about sunset, Dudley said, leaving days and nights free to hang out in Miami.
Ashbrook said Dudley was very easy to work with, and his pictures have been popular with fans.
Dudley said he had not been recognized on campus yet, because his classes generally keep him fairly cloistered. But May is still five months away.
Originally published Dec. 8, 1999. Story © Westerville News & Public Opinion. This text is exactly as published.
