Special Event This Saturday, and Some Very Good News

On Saturday, September 1st, from 4-7PM at Bourbon Street (at 4612 Park Blvd):

JOIN US TO THANK OUR CONTESTANTS FOR STEPPING UP

If you were unable to join us on Saturday for the Mr. & Ms. San Diego Leather 2012 contest, this is your chance to greet and shower approval upon our contestants, hear from our outgoing titleholders, rub elbows with some great folks, and maybe enjoy a cigar or two.

These contests are NOT "Beauty Pageants" - they are a way for our community to welcome new leaders and volunteers who are ready to declare their intentions to do good works that benefit us all. Events like this one are our way of letting them know that they have a support-system that will sustain their idealism as the years go by.

Yes, it's the beginning of Labor Day Weekend, but it would mean a lot if you could swing by and share a hug or two!

This event coincides with the Cigars & Boots event's new monthly time and location.

REALLY GOOD NEWS

One would expect that San Francisco would have at least a dozen or so leather bars. Sadly, there have been NONE since the San Francisco Eagle closed in May of 2011.  This has upset many, many people, and now the San Francisco Eagle is re-opening under new management.

From their Web site:

It is our pleasure to announce that the Eagle will fly again!

Your new hosts, Mike and Alex, will reopen the bar as the S.F. Eagle.

It will take a couple of months to do the much-needed repairs and upgrades that the property requires, but some upcoming events are already in the works prior to the opening of the bar. Please check this website periodically for new announcements coming soon.

The bar and patio located at 398 12th Street has long been a special place, not only to the LGBT community, but to the entire community for decades, not to mention the live music community as well. We just couldn’t let such a historic place like this disappear!

We will continue to host fundraisers for all the organizations from the past, as well as welcoming new ones to make the S.F. Eagle the pride of our community once again.

We look forward to seeing all of you very soon!

NOTE FROM TONY: This is exactly equivalent to what happened in San Diego, years ago - Wolfs was heading downhill as its owner was dying, and the Eagle had changed hands several times and became a "European-style Mirrors and TV Sets" Bar called "The Arena".  They started painting over the Tom of Finland artworks in the men's room, and the outcry caused them to stop. 

Both bars failed, and our local hero Sir Nicholas took over the Arena, re-named it back to the San Diego Eagle and immediately gathered a team of many eager volunteers to un-do the desecrations done to our town's cultural gathering-place. As I have said before - He did NOT have to do this - He already has quite a nice catering business that keeps him hopping. He did it out of allegiance to his town and his Tribe.

Thanks to Nicholas, we have a major part of our history still around, despite the decades when things went so badly for us.  You will also notice the many, many historical signs, posters and other artifacts from the old days.  These aren't just knickknacks meant to cover the walls to look "authentic", they are the real deal, gathered out of love and a desire to preserve our cultural history.

My hope is that the same love, support and donations of posters, gear and such will flow into the well-loved San Francisco Eagle. San Francisco's Tribe deserves no less.

Cigars & Boots at Bourbon Street

From: Mr. San Diego Leather 2012 Aaron, and Mr. San Diego Leather 2010 Anthony:

Cigars and Boots Social

Beginning September 1, 2012, Bourbon Street will be our new host bar from 4-7PM.  This event will now be the first Saturday of every month at our new location. 

Join us for 1/2 priced pitchers of beer and $4.25 Smirnoff cocktails. Don't worry about eating before you come, as the kitchen will be open. Don't forget that afterward, Saturday night at Bourbon Street beginning at 7:30 pm is the Dream Girls Review. 

We will have cigars available for purchase. Please come out and join us whether you are a seasoned smoker, or curious to learn. 

Upcoming Events

EVENT UPDATES

The Men-Only Beat and Greet scheduled for this Friday, August 31 has been canceled. Dang!

RECENT ARTICLES

Review of the Mr. & Ms. San Diego Leather 2012 Contest, with LOTS of pictures!

UPCOMING EVENTS

Wed. Aug. 29, 7-9PM: MEN'S DISCUSSIONS. This has turned out to be ideal for building friendships by getting to know men outside of the bar/cruising scene. EVERY Wednesday of each month.

Sat. Sep 1, 4-7PM: CIGARS & BOOTS at Bourbon Street, at 4612 Park Blvd is our new host bar.  This event is now on the first Saturday of every month at our new location. Join us for 1/2 priced pitchers of beer and $4.25 Smirnoff cocktails. Don't worry about eating before you come, as the kitchen will be open. Don't forget that Saturday night at Bourbon Street beginning at 7:30pm is the Dream Girls Review. We will have cigars available for purchase. Please come out and join us whether you are a seasoned smoker, or curious to learn. 

Sat. Sep 1, 9PM-2AM; BearNight Dance at Numbers, at 3811 Park Blvd. $5 before 10PM. First Sat. of each month. Lots of leathermen attend this event, and it comes highly recommended… Here are some reviews

Wed. Sep 5, 7-9PM: MEN'S DISCUSSIONS. This has turned out to be ideal for building friendships by getting to know men outside of the bar/cruising scene. EVERY Wednesday of each month.

Wed. Sep 5, 9PM: PUPPY NIGHT at the Eagle, at 3040 North Park Way, hosted by Dayton O'Connor. First Wed. of each month.

Thu. Sep 6, 9-PM-Midnight: Yellow Hankie Social Night at the Eagle, at 3040 North Park Way. First and Third Thu. of each month.

Fri, Sep 7, 7-9PM; SDLOG educational event. First Friday of each month. at the Joyce Beers Community Center, by the Aladdin restaurant near Ralph's supermarket on University.

Sat. Sep 8, 9PM onward: UNIFORM NIGHTat the Eagle, at 3040 North Park Way. Wear Military Gear or Civil Uniform Gear. Second Sat. of each month.


Wed, Aug 12, 7PM: Men's Discussion: PLANNING THE FUTURE. Second Wed. of each month.

Thu. Sep 13, 9pm-1am; Red Hankie Social Nightat the Eagle, at 3040 North Park Way. Second Thu. of each month

Fri. Sep 14, 9PM-1AM: DRESS IT UP/STRIP IT DOWN at the Eagle, at 3040 North Park Way; 2nd Fri. of each month. Hosted by Mr. San Diego Eagle 2012 Eli. It's the nicest, friendliest crowd you'll see at a leather bar. Here are a few reviews, if you haven't been to one yet. Dress to impress if you've got the gear, or show us some skin - I promise you'll be glad that you did. Here are some pictures from Oct., February, March, April, June and September. Notice how HAPPY everybody is. You deserve to be that happy too.

Since the Folsom Street Fair is occurring next weekend, a few events in San Diego are being shuffled around.  The Eagle's monthly STUD Night event (where a local porn model gets introduced to the crowd, gets interviewed, hands away porn and answers questions (and possibly performs) will be combined with the monthly FMSD Gear Night at the Eagle called Dress It Up/Strip It Down on Friday, September 14th. It's also the First Anniversary Party for Stud Night, so It's going to be PACKED!

Sat. Sep 15, 9:30PM-2AM: LL Bear Dance Party @ Rich's, at 1051 University. Third Saturday of each month. Lots of leathermen attend this event. Shirtless with a harness appears to be the dress code!

Wed. Sep 19, 7-9PM: MEN'S DISCUSSIONS. This has turned out to be ideal for building friendships by getting to know men outside of the bar/cruising scene. EVERY Wednesday of each month.

Thu. Sep 20, 9-PM-Midnight: Yellow Hankie Social Night at the Eagle, at 3040 North Park Way. First and Third Thu. of each month.

Fri. Sep 21, 8:30PM-1AM: FRIDAY NIGHT BEAT AND GREET, downtown, hosted by Bryan Teague - American Leatherboy 2010, tiger - Ms San Diego Leather 2010, caryl - San Diego's premier Sea Monkey Trainer, and Mike Underwood - San Diego's very own Curmudgeonly teddy bear. Third Fri. of each month. This is a GREAT educational event if you want some hands-on training in a safe environment.

Friday, Sep 21, 9PM-2AM; FMSD is hosting the annual FOLSOM IN EXILE Party at the Eagle. This is for the folks (like me) who are low on cash, but still wanting to enjoy the spirit of the Folsom Street Fair here in San Diego. Gear up if ya got it, or wear as little as you dare. More details as time goes by. 

Sat. Sep. 22, 10pm: Underwear Party and Contest at the Eagle, at 3040 North Park Way. Fourth Sat. of each month. Everyone is invited to strip down to those boxers, briefs or "street" legal jocks and join in the fun, you do not have to enter the contest. Although our 1st prize is $100 Cash and 2nd prize is a $25 bar tab., Clothes check opens at 10pm and the contest will be held at midnight. Your evening will be hosted by Mr. San Diego Eagle 2012, Eli

Wed. Sep 26, 7-9PM: MEN'S DISCUSSIONS. This has turned out to be ideal for building friendships by getting to know men outside of the bar/cruising scene. EVERY Wednesday of each month.

Sunday, September 23: Folsom Street Fair in San Francisco.

Sunday, September 30: AIDS Walk San Diego

November 8-11: Palm Springs Leather Pride

Fri. Nov. 30, 8:30PM-1AM: MEN-ONLY Fri. NIGHT BEAT AND GREET, downtown, hosted by Bryan Teague - American Leatherboy and Mike Underwood - San Diego's very own Curmudgeonly teddy bear. The Men-Only version is on the FIFTH Fri. of each month, such as Nov 30 of 2012, and Mar 29, May 31, Aug 30 and Nov 29 of 2013. There will be hands-on training for folks who want to learn from experts in a very safe environment.

Review of the Mr. & Ms. San Diego Leather 2012 Contest

From Papa Tony: I arrived at the Live Oak Springs Resort for the ROMP Community Weekend Run with a bad attitude. I didn't like the idea of mixing the male and female contests together. I hated the idea of moving the crowd waaaay out east during the summertime. I was feeling pretty pissy about the whole thing.

And yet… 

I have never owned a motorcycle, so I've never experienced an Old Guard-style motorcycle run before. I gotta tell ya, there's a reason why they have stayed a tradition for over sixty years in our community. It was wonderful to be in that environment for sociable relaxing, catching up with old friends, creating new friendships, looking forward to the next event, or just snoozing out in the countryside. It was amazingly congenial, and we need to do it every year.

San Diego's Tribe is different from any other city's, and this kind of event really shows what makes us so special. The weekend was what I now refer to as a Level Three event - Most cities haven't reached this level yet. By this I mean that there was an over-arching theme that guided everyone's efforts, but in order to succeed, every participant pulls together with everyone else to contribute their best efforts to make something new and unexpected happen. The late-night fire-play on Friday night was one such unexpected part of the weekend that nobody expected.

I find myself greatly refreshed and optimistic about the future of this annual Family Reunion event, with one caveat.  I still think that the contest itself needs to be in the central San Diego area, so that the many, MANY folks who want to show love for the contestants have a chance to yell encouragement, applaud excellence and leer at the jockstrap parade. Out-of-towners need a Host Hotel so that they can come down to San Diego and act VERY single when they aren't otherwise occupied. That's something that we can all negotiate soon, once everybody has had a chance to rest.

The blending of the Mr. and Ms. San Diego Leather contest was a smash success. It was as perfect an example of a titleholder contest, done right, as I have ever seen… and I've seen hundreds. Yes, there were teensy glitches here and there, but that's not important - the pure authenticity and affection was what everybody in the audience was there to witness and give back. No politics whatsoever, no artifice, no trying too hard. The whole team came together with their very best efforts to support these fine young people in being the best that they could be, so that they could stand proudly with the rest of us and make San Diego a better place to live.

I DO wish that our two visiting emcees Karen Ultra and Loren Bertholdsen could have laid off on the cynical banter, though - it was the only sour note.  Out-of-towners don't yet understand what the new phase is like, so they tend to do their usual hard-ass, world-weary schtick, which tends to land with a thud in a crowd of affectionate idealists with supportive natures. San Diegans love to be sweet, open-hearted and kind, and every event shows up that way. Particularly this whole weekend.

I thought that mixing up the contest so that each new time that a contestant stepped onstage was a surprise that really worked well. Rather than everybody predictably doing the same thing, one after the other, there was a random and highly entertaining arrangement of fantasy/jockstrap/basket auction/90-second speeches, as you can see from the pictures below, and see the full set here:

The contest's producers: Bryan, Adam and Annie.

Aaron brings out the auction-basket goodies, and presents them as the emcees read from the list.

Scotty's skin-show/silly question segment.

The crowd of adoring fans.

Kane's Fantasy.

Wish's 90-Second Speech, in which she lays out her declarations of intentions for the future.

Aaron's skin-show. Most of the pictures were blurred, because he was on the MOVE.

Waiting in the wings...

Scotty's Fantasy with Eli. You could tell that they really like each other.

Kane's 90-second speech. The crowd's hearts melted, because he is so darned endearing.

Wish's Basket Auction. She's a pistol!

Aaron's Fantasy - The crowd stood up and SCREAMED when the scene hit its climax!

Scotty's 90-Second Speech.

Kane's Basket Auction

Wish's Skin Show

Aaron's 90-Second Speech. Many in the crowd cried during his speech.

Scotty's Basket Auction.

Kane really wowed the crowd with his Tarzan Buttflap during the Skin Show portion.

Wish's Fantasy was amazing - It was clear that everyone onstage with her loved her very much.

Daddy Don saluted the many members of San Diego Boys of Leather who have died recently, and invited the crowd to share a moment of silent remembrance.

The contestants came onstage for one more visit with the crowd.

Mr. San Diego Leather 1984 Mark Holmes spoke about recent developments in HIV research.

The support-team behind the scenes. They put everything they had into keeping our contestants sane, safe and comfortable.

Then it was time for the banquet!

Producer Bryan Teague, outgoing Mr. San Diego Leather 2011 Kurt, outgoing Ms. San Diego Leather 2011 Beanstalk, and Judge Ms. San Diego Leather 2002 Naria. This was her tenth-year anniversary of her title, just like Head Judge Mr. San Diego Leather 2002 Tom Dickerson. Mr. San Diego Leather 1984 Mark Holmes was there to hang the sash, and Producers Adam Latham and Annie Romano were there with very light hearts at this point, because everything had come off so well.

Our four contestants, awaiting announcement of the winners. Wish had to earn the title like anybody else, needing to win at least 70 percent to claim the title. Honestly, I was relieved that she wasn't running against the men, because she would have won! What a firecracker.

Wish is presented with the crystal trophy, the title patch (to be installed onto a vest made just for her), and her title sash.

When Aaron's name was announced as the new Mr. San Diego Leather for 2012, his and Wish's first response was to hug their brothers who didn't win.

Aaron got sash-ified by Mark Holmes.

Outgoing Mr. San Diego Leather Kurt asked for a special photo.

The traditional "Mama's Family" photo, showing the folks who have been actively connected with Mama Sandy Reinhardt.

To me, this picture summarizes the whole weekend.  I mean, just look at this picture - this is the face of the future of our community.  Sheer joy, love, acceptance. Totally relaxed comfort-level between the generations. These folks are united in standing shoulder-to-shoulder so that generations after them can stand on THEIR shoulders. Our future is assured! 

If you're even slightly considering stepping up and declaring your intention to work to make our community a better place, look closely at your support-system - the picture only shows the tiniest part of a massive Tribe that cares for our newest leaders and volunteers. You'll never be left dangling, or scorned. We need good people just like you.

This is how we are, when we are at our best.