It will be 10 years ago next year that firefighters from all over the Puget Sound area started showin’ their stuff for a good cause – in what is now the well known and often celebrated Washington State Council of Firefighters Burn Foundation firefighter calendar.
One of the ways the foundation’s executive director, Rod Heivilin, a retired Shoreline fire lieutenant, wanted to make the 10th anniversary special is he has solicited all of the approximately 160 firefighters who have graced the pages of the past 10 years of calendars to come back for the “All Star” 2005 edition of the calendar.
Of the those involved in the past, about 35 firefighters will vie again for the “All Star” calendar at the annual judging event, which is open to the public. The event starts at 7:30 p.m. May 27 at the new Premier Club in Seattle. Doors will open at 6:45 p.m.
Five firefighters from North King and South Snohomish Counties are hittin’ it hard in local weight rooms and health clubs, again preparing themselves for what they call “the ultimate competition.”
The five local calendar firefighters making a run at it again are David Engler and Craig Overfield of the Shoreline Fire Department; Kevin Miller and Bryan Youngman of the Lynnwood Fire Department, and Rich “Hawkeye” Couden from the Bothell Fire Department. The three others participating from Snohomish County are Larry Longley from Everett, Brandon Asher from Arlington and Keoni Brown from Marysville Fire Departments.
Youngman, who has been with the Lynnwood Fire Department for 13 years, said he is going for it again “because it is the best of the best.”
Engler, proud to be one of the oldest firefighters posing on the past pages at 52, agreed with Youngman.
“It’s a challenge in general and this year it will be even more of a challenge, more competition to be on the calendar, said Engler, who has been a firefighter for Shoreline for 23 years.
They all agreed they had a lot of fun raising money for the burn foundation, getting the V.I.P. treatment and hanging out with fellow firefighters who they wouldn’t otherwise have met. Then some, such as Miller, are also doing it again because he doesn’t want to let his friends and family down, he said.
“I feel like I need to do it again for my friends and family who want me to do it,” said Miller, who is the only one of the five local firefighters who is married. He’s been at the Lynnwood Fire Department for seven years.
Miller’s wife, Robin Miller, said despite losing time with her husband because of the time commitment and dealing with all of the “fans,” or calendar groupies, she said it is all for a good cause.
“I think he’ll do really well. He’s personable and charming — can talk to anyone,” Robin Miller said. “And he’s down to earth and people trust him.”
As these firefighters are well aware, looking good isn’t the only thing that got them into past calendars. Heivilin said the guys, and at times, gals, who have won also needed to have an outstanding personality and presence. They are also committed to about 300 hours of volunteer time to promote the calendar and to raise money for the cause – Washington State Council of Firefighters Burn Foundation – the focus behind all the excitement.
The WSCFBF was founded in 1987 and is a 501(c)(3) charity. The foundation raises money to fund burn research and educate about burn safety, with the hope of preventing those in the community from suffering debilitating pain and losses due to burns.
The foundation is operated solely by Washington state professional firefighters and have only one paid staff person, which keeps overhead expenses very low, Heivilin said.
The biggest fundraising year thus far, Heivilin said, was the 2003 calendar. The project, including all of its events and auctions raised over $225,000. The 2004 calendar was very close, but fell a little short because of challenges with calendar distributors, Heivilin said.
While Heivilin has a lot of memories and stories about organizing these calendars and the many events, something that happened in 2003 stuck out to him.
“We somehow omitted the date of July 31 in the 2003 calendar. While for most people this was not a big thing since they were buying it for the pictures and to support the cause more than the actual numbers on the pages, it was frustrating for me,” Heivilin said. “At our signings the guys on July would often write in the date as they signed the calendar. Well — one lady, who is one of our ‘regulars,’ bought a calendar and when the gentleman was about to add the ’31st’ to her calendar she stopped him. He said, ‘I was just going to add the missing date for you.’ She said, ‘You most certainly will not. I have told my mother many times that I am no longer having birthdays, that is my birthday and this is my proof.’ “
Tickets are now for sale for $25 through TicketsWest or through www.firefightercalendar.org.
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