Saturday, February 22, 2014:
The Mr. San Diego Eagle contest hasn't been a plain-old "bar title" in a long while. In San Diego's Tribal culture, our titleholder contests are deeply meaningful, and a very effective way to identify, nurture and elevate the new leaders who are ready to work. As a result, we have claimed a series of superb men who have made a massive difference, and the quality-level just keeps increasing.
Photos by the excellent Scott Smith, documentarian extraordinaire. If you have text that you would like to add to the information below, please email it to papatony @mac.com, and it will be added for future generations to enjoy!
See also: Friday's Meet and Greet and Fashion Show, Saturday's Contest Photos & Reviews and Contest Crowd Shots, and Sunday's Victory Brunch. Also, check out Daddy Dan's review for Leatherati!
Papa Tony's Review of the Weekend
From Mr. San Diego Eagle 2014 Paulo:
This whole weekend felt like a dream.... just being able to compete.... to winning! who would have ever thought. I owe so much to everyone in the San Diego Community. I never ever thought this would ever happen. I was once judged by the leather community and never stopped loving leather.....
I was stubborn and still am!
I was given the chance to come to California not knowing what was a ahead of me or that I would be so accepted once again by the leather community. And Boy was I wrong. It turned around and accepted every part of me and saved me. I was ready to run away, I started believing I came to California for the wrong reasons....
And then .... I have people believe in me and told me I need to do this ... I need to compete.... I shied away at first, but people started opening their arms and giving me their hands..... I was given hope.... I was given help from complete strangers that saw something in me. I found a real community of brotherhood and sisterhood. I found a family!
Thank you to everyone involved.... Blue Montana, Robb Rodd and Scott Parman, T Brian Dickerson and Mike Russell, Colt Everyday and Truly Shae. Scottie Tidwell, Aaron Duke, Eli Correa and Keith Johnson, Russ Mortenson Boyd, Glitz Glam and Anthony, Anthony Michael Harmon! And many more names..... please forgive I am still exhausted.
and thank you To my east coast Family! you all Made me the man I was to come to California! I love you all! I told you I wanted to bring the EAST to the WEST!
I owe this all to my chosen family and new family! Thank you again!
From Eriel:
My first Mr. Eagle contest was a wonderful experience. This event reinforces why I wanted to join the Fetishmen group and finally be a part of the leather/ kink community. Besides the entertainment, what I found appealing was the sense of respect and welcome that seemed to resonate throughout. I enjoyed that everyone was approachable and easy to talk to. Energy was also abundant throughout and everyone seemed excited to be there.
I really admired that everyone was supportive of each contestant. All three were different in their own unique way, but all all of them received the same love and support. I wish that more younger guys like me (I'm 21) were there to have had experienced this sense of community. I feel that if they were to see this side of the kink community they would have a better perspective and respect for this realm.
From Aaron Duke:
Sometimes, you get to help someone else achieve their dream. A dream that is bigger than them. A dream beyond wearing a sash. A dream that is a shared vision for so many.
Please help me congratulate, Mr San Diego Eagle 2014, Paulo Batista. You did it!
I took away two concepts from this weekend that all three contestants spoke of:
Mentorship, in its many facets, how ever it shows up, and in whatever form it shows up, is alive and well in San Diego. There are many men behind the scenes that are reaching out and helping men in our community.
San Diego is truly "America's Finest City." I heard all three men express their love for the people of San Diego which truly make it AMAZING!
Robb Rodd, Thank you for your service to the San Diego Eagle and the San Diego LGBT community. You are truly wonderful person that I am so glad I have gotten to know in the past couple of years. I appreciate your love and support and hope to offer you the same as the 42nd Elected Emperor of ALL of San Diego.
Russ Mortenson Boyd, thank you for all your hard work producing this contest that elevated the Mr San Diego Eagle title.
Jay Heimbach and Derek Thunderchild, you both were amazing people to witness your personal growth over the past year. You each bring something different to our already diverse community here in San Diego. I hope that each of you will continue to serve the San Diego community with your unique skills and talents.
From Donald Vella:
Here are my thoughts on the events of Friday/Saturday Night's Mr. San Diego Eagle Contest. It was my first time attending such an event and from the moment I walked in I was blown away by the awesomeness of the venue, the warmth and friendlyness from the guys that were there to greet people. It was a great time to mingle, and survey the crowd. I Loved seeing the variety of the people, each in their particular own leather style. When the contestants and judges were introduced the show put a hush on the crowd as everyone became eager to hear what was about to go down. All the contestants were amazing in their own way and each were vulnerable and deserving of the title. All three men were Strong, Sexy, Smart, and Personable. It was wonderful to see the crowd giving all three the love and support they deserved.
From the Eagle staff:
Well..... our high energy, 4 day Mr. San Diego Eagle 2014 Contest event is over and we have a new Mr. San Diego Eagle - Paulo Batista. He gave two moving talks when he was on stage and we know he will represent the San Diego Eagle, our leather community and San Diego very well. We had two other great contestants, Jay Heimbach and Derek Morado. The contest was very competitive.
This year's contest was held at the Sunset Temple instead of our bar - which was good because there were more people attending than the SDFD would have allowed at the bar.
Our panel of 7 judges was awesome. We thank each of them for making the contest events such a success. Indeed, as one person told us, the high quality of the judges and the entire event really turned our title contest into a small version of IML in Chicago. From what our out of town visitors told us they'll be taking the word back with them about how we in SD do things and how warm and welcoming everyone was to our guests. It was really a wonderful reflection on our San Diego Leather Community and is the way things should be.
And the reaction to the contest and leather fashion shown through social media like Facebook is overwhelming. A lot of photos and videos were posted by people. We also saw comments posted by San Diegans, out of town visitors and leather people who weren't even at the event. Eagles in Dallas, Atlanta, London among places extended congratulations to Paulo and our leather community.
And we can be proud of our two contest producers, Russ Mortenson Boyd and Robb Rodriguez. They worked long and hard to pull this event together. We also thank the 56 volunteers who pitched in and helped out. Thanks Guys for a Job Well Done.
We also want to acknowledge and thank the SPONSORS of MR. SAN DIEGO EAGLE 2014 CONTEST THIS WEEKEND. They are:
The Crypt
665 of Los Angeles
Joshua's Design
Pleasures & Treasures
Mankind
Leather Love, Anthony Rollar
GED Magazine
The Leather Foundation
Judges
Tallymasters
The Contest Begins
Derek
Jay
Paulo
Acknowledging Mr. San Diego Eagle 2013 Robb Rodd
Announcing the Winners
Paulo Batista is our new Mr. San Diego Eagle for 2014, and Jay Heimbach is his First Runner Up. Congratulations to all three wonderful men. Our community's future is in safe hands with you on the Tribal team!
Happy Aftermath
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