FUND-RAISER Firefighters vie for spot in calendar

Votes may be cast at Hot101.com starting today.
By DENISE DICK
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
WARREN -- Get ready to cast your vote for the city firefighter with the most sizzle.
Firefighters plan a 2005 calendar featuring photographs of the hottest 12 among their ranks. Chuck Eggleston, a firefighter who is organizing the effort, said 17 firefighters posed for photographs taken by Diana Lynne of Diana Lynne Photography, who is donating the work.
Those photos are posted on the Hot FM 101's Web site at Hot101.com, allowing people to vote for their favorites. The 12 who garner the most votes will be featured in the calendar.
"There's only one vote per PC, though," Eggleston said.
The finished product will be available at area bookstores and grocery stores for $10. They also can be ordered ahead through Warrenfiremen.com.
Calendars' proceeds
Proceeds will go to area charities and toward the purchase of a firefighters' union hall.
The men last posed for the camera for the 2003 calendar which raised about $8,000, selling more than 1,500 copies. Last year's proceeds were divided among a fund for the union hall purchase and Muscular Dystrophy Association, Warren Family Mission, Salvation Army, Fine Arts Council of Trumbull County and the Trumbull County Animal Welfare League.
FACT and MDA also will likely be recipients next year although other charities haven't been finalized.
"We'd like to find a youth group of some kind," Eggleston said.
Eggleston hopes the 2005 collection generates even more sales.
"It being the first year, it was hard to market," he said.
Online voting also should spur sales via word of mouth, Eggleston hopes. A group of press and celebrity judges picked the hottest blaze battlers for the 2003 calendar, selecting 12 from the 27 who smiled for the camera.
They also plan a 2006 Men of the WFD calendar.