by Robert Igoe

Created on: January 17, 2009

ALTOONA, Pa. - The club may be called "The Casino," but there is no gambling inside.

Still, for the nearly 500 women who paid to get inside, the night is as close to a sure thing as they can get.

The Chippendales are in town, and that means they can count on a few hours to forget about the jobs, the bills, the kids, and the men in their lives and let their hair down.

The show will begin in a half-hour, but Kaleb Art, showing a humility and an availability rare in most entertainers in openly walking the hallways, attracting dozens of those fans and making their day with a kiss, an autograph, a picture, even just a smile.

"I like seeing an 80-year-old woman giggle like an 18 year old," he says. "It makes it worth it."

The Chippendales were founded 30 years ago in Los Angeles with a goal of bringing top-class male entertainment to women across the country. Today, the Chippendales have acheived that goal and then some, with regular appearances in all 50 states and 25 countries. The Chippendales now have their corporate headquarters in New York and boast 38 full-time members divided into touring groups on both coasts and in Europe. The team also has permanent squads in Boston and Las Vegas.

In his young career, Art has worked for both U.S. touring companies and is a common sight in the team's promotional materials and the team's merchandise, including DVDs and the team's biggest-selling item, the calendar.

Art is on the cover and the first page of this year's calendar and fellow Chippendales Michael Hammond says the designation is no small honor.

"The calendar is a legacy that you can look back on the rest of your life and know that you accomplished that," said Hammond, who has been in four of the calendars. "It's a great experience."

The Chippendales only take on a few members a year to replace those who leave the team. Those new members are chosen from hundreds of applications and monthly tryouts which measure not just an applicant's looks, but his personality and dancing ability. For those who are accepted, being a Chippendale means hundreds of screaming fans at up to 200 performances a year. But those fans and that fame comes with a price that includes hundreds of days on the road, often up to two weeks between days off.

But Art knows that his life is one that countless men would give anything to live, despite the demands.

"The job itself is a blessing, there's really no tough part," he said. "All the travelling over the years, it builds up. But you can't complain, it's

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