Merry Christmas

I would like to wish Everyone a Very Merry Christmas and a Safe and Happy 2009.

You can still order calendars from the details below.

Remember to have patience at this time of year and drive carefully and safely to your destination.

Calendars make good Christmas Pressies

Don't forget to order your calendar to be sent overseas in time for Christmas. So far many of them are winging their way around the world to countries such as Ireland, Canada, Australia, Italy, USA, England, Germany.
Thank You so much to everyone who has supported the NZ Female Firefighter's and The NZBCF by buying one or more of the calendars. There are still more to sell, details below.

Calendar Orders

To order your 2009 Female FireFighter's Calendar email me at
firelady-calendar@hotmail.com

or Post an order with payment and your return address to
S Nolan, 2 Acton Street, Pleasant Point 7903,

Calendar's are $12.00 each plus postage. New Zealand post is: $1.50 for 1 to 5 Calendars,
$4.00 for 6-10 Calendars
$6.50 for up to 21 Calendars
If ordered by email details will be given on how calendars can be paid for.
Calendars can also be bought by contacting one of the girls in the Calendar.

All proceeds after expenses are taken out will go to
The New Zealand Breast Cancer Foundation

Publicity galore

The calendar is really taking off and with all the publicity we have had from Newspapers around the country which also connect to websites for the papers, the calendars are selling like hot cakes, well hot calendars really!!!
The calendar was also mentioned on TVNZ Breakfast thanks to the NZ Breast Cancer Foundation having a launch for their events calendar for October and including some of the Female firefighter's from the calendar in a display in Auckland.
It was also mentioned on Channel 7 news and there is an article in this weeks New Idea (11 Oct 2008), featuring some of the girls.
Liz, Toni and I made the front page of the Timaru Herald on Saturday 4th October and have had lots of positive feedback about appearing in the calendar with our clothes on. It is really unheard of these days for that to happen so I hope we haven't shocked to many people.
Pleasant Point has a ' Get to the Point Day' on the 8th November 2008 and I will be selling calendars there for the day if anyone is interested in getting 1 or 20.
I would like to thank everyone that has bought one for their support. I would really love to present the NZBCF with a really big cheque at the end for a great cause.

Calendar's are being printed

I can't believe we have finally got to this stage of the Calendar. They are now being printed. Lynda Tindall from Pope Print has done a great job with the design and we certainly aren't going with just the traditional calendar design.
Orders are now being taken and the details are on the post below.

If you are interested in joining a New Zealand Fire Brigade call in to your local station and have a chat to one of the firefighters. You will find it to be a very rewarding way to spend your spare time as a volunteer or even make it your new career move and look at how to become a fulltime firefighter.

Daylight saving starts soon so don't forget to renew the batteries in your smoke alarms.

Calendar Orders taken now

You can now order your 2009 Female Firefighter's Calendar by emailing me at
firelady-calendar@hotmail.com
or by contacting one of the girl's through their Fire Station.
Calendar's will be $12.00 each and add $1.50 postage if you want it posted anywhere in New Zealand.
Please pre-pay for calendars when you order to make it easier when distributing.
If ordered by email details will be given to how calendar can be paid for.
All money after Printing and expenses taken out will go to
The New Zealand Breast Cancer Foundation

Thank You for supporting this great cause.

Cover Girls

Pleasant Point and Cave are both in South Canterbury and as we work together in backing each other up at calls, I thought it only fitting to have Toni join Liz and myself for the Calendar. It was quite ironic that on the day our photos were taken we ended up working side by side fighting a vegetation fire where both our Brigades were called to. Toni was still looking very glamorous in her makeup as she thought she might as well get some use out of it and wear it to her part time job, I had gone straight home and taken mine off, the guys would never have let me live it down if I had turned up at a fire with makeup on, on a Sunday evening.

Toni Taylor is 43 and with the Cave Rural Fire Brigade. She has 3 Children and works at the Vet Clinic in Temuka. She is a real animal lover and has been known to adopt an animal or 2 that had no where else to go.

I got Toni to write a few words for the blog and this is what she had to say.

"Hi my name is Toni Taylor and I am part of the Cave Rural Fire Unit. I have been with the Unit for 5 years. I thought it would be a good way of putting something back into the Community.

The Cave Crew are a great bunch of fellas and it is an honour to be part of it.

When I heard about the Calendar I thought what a great way to show women can achieve anything and also a great way to raise money for Breast cancer.

I have a close friend who's sister lost her battle with Breast Cancer, so know close hand how devastating this disease can be. My part in this Calendar is to honour her memory and the fight of so many other woman."

Liz Harding is with the Pleasant Point Volunteer Fire Brigade. She has been with the Brigade for 12 1/2 years and holds the rank of Senior Fire Fighter.

Liz is Pleasant Point's local postie and has had to make a dash to the Station when the siren has gone up. The locals have now learnt some of those early morning calls mean the mail is going to be a little late.

Liz has just finished going for her Heavy Traffic licence so now can drive the Trucks. The next stage is usually a pump operators course so she can drive to the call outs.

She also spent quite a few years on the First response and then as an Ambulance Crew member when Pleasant Point got its own Ambulance.

Well this is me, Shirley Nolan, I have been with the Pleasant point Volunteer Fire Brigade since 2005. I hold the Rank of Fire Fighter. I joined the Brigade when my Hubby and I moved to Pleasant Point. Being a shift worker at Bluebird Foods, Washdyke. Most Brigades are short crewed through the day, especially in small towns where most of the Brigade works out of town. I thought it would be a great way to meet new people in a new town and to also do something to help my new community. I just wish I had joined a Brigade earlier, it can be the most rewarding feeling getting home from a call knowing that you have done everything in your power as a team member, to save a life or property or what ever the call may have been.

I am coming up 50 next month (only in age, certainly not in maturity) I have 4 children and 2 lovely Grand-daughters plus 2 cats.

I live just round the corner from the fire station so when the siren goes up the locals can see me running to get to the station. I especially love it during the day when all the kids from the Play Centre stand at the fence to watch the Fire Engines go out.

The reason I decided to put the calendar together, was looking at last years Fire Fighter's calendar and seeing the only female , a fire fighter herself, looking like she was being rescued. I thought a Female Calendar would help bring more awareness of Females in Brigades, no matter what age, size or occupation etc. It is also a great way to raise the awareness of Breast Cancer and the great job the NZ Breast Cancer Foundation are doing, and raise money for a great cause.

Girls CAN do anything if they really put there minds to it.

I have really enjoyed putting this calendar together. I have met some really fantastic People along the way and would like to Thank all the Girls who posed for the Calendar (I felt like I had known them already, they made me feel so welcome, we had so many laughs), the People that took me, a perfect stranger, into their homes to stay, the Brigades for the help they gave me in getting equipment ready for the shoots and supporting the girls through this and especially my Hubby for letting me take off for weekends to fly all over the country to get the photos I needed.

FEMALE FIRE FIGHTERS FOR THE FIGHT AGAINST BREAST CANCER