Venus Swimwear models Amber Arbucci and Marina Corwin

Make-up artist Michelle VanderHule and E! TVs Carol Grove

    This is Venus' last shoot of the year and it will be featured in the 2002 catalog coming out in December. Lou Maggio, Director of Photograpy and Production Promotion for Venus Swimwear, exclaimed, "We brought an All Star Team with us this year-the best of the best!"  Praising Assistant Manager Einer Gomez and the entire staff of Ramon's Village and also commenting on the outstanding beauty of the island, he added, "the people in San Pedro are almost too nice-we just had to come back!" Ramon's Village Director of Marketing Lance Chancellor explained how pleased Ramon's is to be hosting the Venus crew once again.

    Invited to attend Sunday's shoot at Victoria House, the San Pedro Sun photographer was more than willing to snap a few photos and conduct interviews with the beauties. The models "du jour" included high fashion's Amber Arbucci, E! TV's Carol Grove and "the unforgettable" Marina Corwin, all visiting Belize for the first time. Amber, an international model from Florida has been featured in several top magazines around the world as well as Victoria Secret and other well-known catalogs. She commented that, of all the tropical locations she has worked in, "Belize is by far the best visually." Amber also mentioned how much she loved swimming and interacting with the marine life at Shark-Ray Alley. Carol, a former Miss Kansas, is the host of E! TV's Search Party. She is also an international fitness spokesperson for Muscle Tech, is featured in several health and fitness magazines as well as a model for several prestigious catalogs. Carol has worked for Venus and E!TV since 1994 but says television is her favorite since more of her personality is allowed to emerge. Marina, a renowned swimwear model, was scheduled to model twice before in Belize, (the last time "Keith" postponed her trip) and is delighted to finally be here after hearing about Ambergris Caye from her sister Lola, who attended last year's shoot.

    All Venus models are picked because they possess a "the girl next door" look and personality-very approachable and never intimidating. Lou Maggio insists that a "good attitude" is a must for models and age doesn't matter. Several of the models mentioned the "family feeling" they experience working with Venus. This year's high profile models have worked for companies such as Frederick's of Hollywood, Victoria Secret and Guess. Other models featured in the Belize photo shoots are Amanda Perez of Colombia, South America; Amanda Marcum, named one of the top ten hottest women in Maxim magazine and Jessica Pace, one of Hollywood's biggest names in modeling.

    Responsible for photography on one of the teams is Jorge Alvarez who attended last year's Venus shoot and also works for People Magazine. The other team photographer is Larry Bartholomew whose work includes Macy's and Frederick's of Hollywood. Also returning to Belize this year is Craig Honeycutt, a worldwide fashion makeup artist. Joining him is Michelle VanderHule of Hollywood who is famous for creating the dazzling smiles of such stars as Madonna.

    Attending the Venus shoot as well, are executives from Body Shop, a sportswear company whose clothing is now included in Venus Swimwear catalogs. President Jerrold Rosenbaum has forty years in the business with over 100 retail stores, but says this is his first catalog experience. "Body Shop clothing compliments Venus swimwear, making this joint effort a great success. We are happy to be a part of the largest mail order swimwear business in the world, and especially happy to be here in Belize," said Mr. Rosenbaum.

    The community of San Pedro welcomes all these wonderful people to the island and thanks them for the exposure given to our destination. A brief description of each photo shoot location is included in the inside cover of the catalog. Venus Swimwear sends out approximately 20 million catalogs per year. Catalogs and merchandise can be found on-line at www.venusswimwear.com.