Word of a local girl appearing in the pages of Playboy magazine seems destined to vitalize the sense of civic pride that, in matters such as these, tends to localize in the line at the newsstand. "I heard that, too, but I haven't seen the magazine," Morris' Lisa Nelson said. "I think that's pretty cool. She's probably spending some time at the mansion." As one who's been that route, she has a vivid base of reference on the matter.

Nelson, who owns the Studio 707 beauty shop on Liberty Street, spent her early 20s as a smiling, cocktail-serving, walking photo op in a bunny suit for whom doors opened both literally and figuratively.

"It was a great time in my life," the 1979 Morris High School graduate said of her days as a Playboy bunny. "Those were really wonderful memories."

A fashion merchandising and designing student who'd moved to Milwaukee after graduating from Morris, Nelson, who was then Lisa Dohman, caught wind of a Playboy Bunny Hunt competition for the Lake Geneva, Wis., Playboy Club.

"There were about 4,000-5,000 girls trying out," she said. "My parents always encouraged me, but they were preparing me to not be disappointed if I didn't make it."

When the phone call came informing her that she and 12 other girls were chosen, and once her heart rate got back under 600, she began her move to Lake Geneva. Raking in fancy coin while rubbing elbows with well-heeled bon vivants at the Playboy Club didn't take much getting used to. Opportunity, excitement and entitlement are the universal siren calls to duty beckoning maidens dealt glamour's genetic straight flush.

"But after a year they closed up the Lake Geneva club," Nelson said. "I was sad. A lot of the bunnies were sad. We didn't want it to be over."

LaDonne takes L.A.

Thanks to a transfer to the Los Angeles Playboy Club, it wasn't. LaDonne -- which is her middle name -- spent the next 12 years in California, five as a bunny.

"I was kind of in awe when I got there," she said. "I was so taken by the whole L.A. thing."

The array of stars she met included, among others, Kareem Abdul- Jabbar, Magic Johnson, Rod Stewart and Stevie Wonder.

"His publicity people wouldn't let me get a picture with him," she said, "but he did give me a $100 tip for serving him Dom Perignon."

And there were those nights at the Playboy Mansion playing quarters with Charlie Sheen, or chatting with guys like Emilio Estevez, Brad Pitt and Tom Hanks.

Her gaining entrance to the famous mansion -- the Shangri-la coveted by four out of five hedonists -- involved merely picking up the phone. No boyfriends allowed, though, she recalls.

The Dorothy Stratton thing -- where a jealous husband murdered the 1979 Playmate of the Year and then killed himself -- sort of blew that for all the non-psychotic mates of bunnies.

The eventual selling of the L.A. Playboy Club marked another heavyhearted ending point in the life of LaDonne, who was Lisa again. With the bar set at the world-class height of the Playboy Club, a "regular" cocktail waitress gig wouldn't be the same. So she stayed in Los Angeles and cut hair for seven years, with a clientele that included Annette Funicello's daughter and Lindsay Wagner's son.

Memories forever

The Playboy chapter had run its course, but the memories were forever. Apart from the regular encounters with the Hollywood set, her oeuvre includes having appeared in a music video (Burning Sensations' "Belly Of The Whale"), as an extra in the movie "Private School" and at hundreds of trade shows and promotions. She even got recognized once out on the town, outside a convenience store, the week after she appeared on the cover of TV Guide.

Then a funny thing happened to her after she moved to Bradenton, Fla., to continue her career as a hairdresser. She ran into Kent Nelson, a guy she dated "for about a week" while they were students at Morris. They started seeing each other again, this time for more than a week. Their eight-year marriage has brought them a 7-year-old son, Nicholas.

"I like being back in Morris, back where my family is," she said.

The California influence is noticeable at Studio 707 (815) 942-0714, where the retro, hippie motif can be found inside, with neon-colored daisies painted on the floor and sweet incense wafting throughout the shop -- and outside, where her Volkswagon Beetles sport the same custom floral paint jobs as her studio floor.

The full-service beauty shop includes a staff of skilled beauticians (Tracy, Dawn and Tara) and offers manicures, pedicures and hair-coloring procedures.

"I'm really happy here," Lisa said. "I feel really fortunate to have done the things I was able to do (as a Playboy bunny). People always ask if I'd go back to those days if I could. I'm like, `Heck, yeah.' "