The calendar hangs in the parts department at Crete Carrier, open to June and pictures of model Chrissy Reifschneider of Lincoln.

A “calendar” in the “parts department” tends to invoke a stereotype — a scantily clad woman draped over a hot rod or seductively holding a power tool.

This calendar is not one of those.

Yes, there are women and power tools, but they’re using them, not showing them off. They’re covered in grease, not suntan oil.

“(The calendar) promotes what we do in the field as opposed to what the tool companies sell,” said Reifschneider, a diesel mechanic and fabricator at Crete Carrier. “It’s politically correct.”

The 2007 Female Mechanics Calendar is the creation of Sarah Lyon, a 28-year-old artist and motorcycle enthusiast from Louisville, Ky. She received a grant from the Kentucky Women’s Foundation for the project but funded it primarily herself.

To put it together, Lyon traveled more than 6,000 miles on her 1978 Yamaha during the summer of 2006, photographing women mechanics from around the country.

The Miami University of Ohio graduate came up with the idea after working in a motorcycle shop and for a cabinet maker.

She guessed there had to be others like her, so why not give them their due?

“I thought it would be a good idea to give them some visibility,” said Lyon, who passed through Lincoln recently on her new motorcycle, a 1977 BMW. “It’s kind of like an activist project.”

Found mostly through word of mouth, Lyon met with automobile, motorcycle, hot rod, jet airplane and diesel mechanics.

The 14-month wall calendar includes multiple images of each mechanic and their biographies.

 The idea is to challenge stereotypes of the typical tool-girl, pin-up calendar.

“I thought it was weird at first,” said Brandie Jones, a diesel mechanic at Lincoln Truck Center, who is featured in September. “When Sarah explained what it was for and why she was doing it, I thought it was really cool.”

Lyon said she lucked into finding Reifschneider and Jones.

She found herself broke down on a desolate road in Wyoming during a rain storm when Crete Carrier truck driver Chris Alatsas stopped to help.

Lyon said it’s unusual for her to accept help.

“A Chevy S10 had stopped earlier, but I felt evilness,” she said. “I told them ‘No, I was fine.’ But with Chris, it didn’t feel like that.”

Alatsas gave her coffee and a ride to the nearest town. He also provided her a lead on the two women mechanics in Lincoln.

Reifschneider and Jones both were pleased with the calendar and were complimentary of Lyon.

“She was cool, really nice to talk to and easy to work with,” Reifschneider said.

Jones said Lyon spent a half a work day with her, shooting more than 200 images.

“She made me feel like I was in the spotlight,” Jones said.

Reach Jeff Korbelik at 473-7213 or jkorbelik@journalstar.com.