Spring Hill Hooters waitress featured in 2011 swimsuit calendar

The local Hooters restaurant just added another enticement.

Its wait staff has one more swimsuit model.

The famous restaurant already offers more than the usual dine-in chain. Customers can drink cold beer, eat spicy food, watch various sports on flat-screen televisions and get an eyeful of beautiful women.

Kim Chipelo, 18, holds the 2011 Hooters swimsuit calendar Friday afternoon in the restaurant off US 19. Chipelo was one of 12 girls selected to be in the calendar for the month of October. It is the 2 .

Kim Chipelo has worked at the Spring Hill store at 3437 Commercial Way for two years. She recently became the third server in a row at that location to be featured in the annual Hooters calendar.

Chipelo, who is a week away from her 19th birthday, liked her chances as soon as she saw the photograph taken during her Tampa tryout in July.

“They actually showed it to me at the photo shoot,” she said. “I really liked that one.”

Chipelo’s smile, along with her long brown hair and apricot two-piece swimsuit, are included in the October page. She’s facing slightly toward the right. She’s standing and leaning against a pine tree with her hands above her head.

Her first name and restaurant location is listed in her photo, which was placed in the middle of the bottom page and to the left.

She shares the month with five other waitresses from Florida.

Several of the models in the calendar – about 188 of them – show a variety of expressions. Some are sultry and others are serious. Most of them, including Chipelo, are smiling. The image suits the local college student and aspiring teacher. It doesn’t take much to elicit a smile from her. She’s shy, but also bubbly.

Chipelo doesn’t like to brag about her appearance in the famous calendar, but she sometimes can’t resist telling customers to buy it for one simple reason.

“Yeah, I’m in it,” she sometimes says to them.

Chipelo is originally from St. Petersburg. Her family moved to Spring Hill when she was five and relocated to Brooksville a few years ago.

She was first hired at Hooters to be a hostess. She started waitressing soon after her 18th birthday. Her sister also is employed there along with some of her friends.

The Spring Hill location is tucked next to a bowling alley along U.S. 19 and is one of 10 restaurants in the Tampa area owned by the chain’s original owners. Hooters was founded 25 years ago in Clearwater.

In 2007 and 2008, Kaylie Kushmer was in the calendar. In 2009, Sam Nessler was featured.

Both still work at the Spring Hill location, but Nessler is on a temporary absence because she is expecting a baby soon, employees said.

“I just think it’s great Spring Hill has had a girl in the calendar for four years running,” said Kushmer. “It’s awesome for us because we work in such a small store.”

Kushmer took part in a region-wide calendar signing both times she was selected. Chipelo will do the same in December.

Kushmer recalls the reaction from the other Hooters girls after the bus rolled away from the Spring Hill restaurant. They couldn’t believe how friendly everyone was, she said.

“It’s very homey here compared to other restaurants,” said Chipelo. “Other (chains) can be very strict. We have rules, but it still feels very free … and fun.”

The corporate office also knows of the Spring Hill store’s positive reputation.

“They always have great girls here,” said Leah Ramker, who is the promotions and marketing director for Tampa Bay Hooters Management Corporation. “They are great employees and beautiful girls. I don’t know whether there’s something in the water, but it’s always been a great group.”

To become eligible for the calendar, employees are expected to submit photos directly to the Hooters corporate office. Once they make the first cut, they are required to take part in a casting call, or a photo shoot, Ramker said.

The restaurant has four main photographers and they visit most of the major metropolitan areas to set up the shoot. The process begins in February and ends in July, said Ramker.

The 2011 calendar is special – it’s the 25th anniversary collector’s edition. It features a double-sided flip cover and a special section dedicated to the U.S. military. It also includes several “jokes of the day,” which is a Hooters calendar tradition.

Since 1986, the calendar also has included “mixed-up months.” It requires the owner to constantly flip through the pages to find the appropriate month, giving him the chance to revisit and/or preview all of the images.

Distribution usually exceeds 500,000, according to a company media release.

The 10 finalists from the Tampa area were called to corporate office in September for what they thought was a training seminar. They were shown a PowerPoint presentation and the last slide shown a message – it read, “You’re in the Hooters calendar.”

There was a party afterward.

Her selection brought feelings of satisfaction to Chipelo. She had made it to the photo shoot round the previous year and was only one step away from having her face seen by more than 500,000 people. This year, her wish was granted.

“I’m very excited,” she said.

Kushmer already is beckoning her to try out again. She hopes she’ll wind up with a bigger spread in 2012.

“I’m telling her she should do it every year,” joked Kushmer who was seated next Chipelo, who was sporting a wide smile. “It should be required.”