(Leather Life column published in Lavender Magazine, Issue #94, January 1, 1999)
Plus: Ms. MN Leather’s Year-End Message & 1999 Event Calendar
PHOTOS: (Please use A and B, or C, or D. Also please use E. In other words, it’s important that all three people get their pictures in the column.)
Photo A: Greg Hausler, Mr. Minnesota Olympus Leather 1999.
Photo B: Cori Ander, Ms. Minnesota Olympus Leather 1999.
Photos C and D: Left, Greg Hausler, Mr. Minnesota Olympus Leather 1999; Right, Cori Ander, Ms. Minnesota Olympus Leather 1999.
Photo E: Holly Wheland, recipient of the first-ever Minnesota Olympus Leather Community Service Award.
The 1999 Mr./Ms. Minnesota Olympus Leather contest took place on December 13, 1998 at The Saloon. First-time contest promoters Joshua Smith (the current Mr. Minnesota Leather) and Thomas Smith (the current International Mr. Rubber) put together a tightly-paced, entertaining evening that drew quite a respectable crowd. The evening’s beneficiaries were The Aliveness Project and The Leather Archives and Museum.
The show opened with a fantasy performance by current Mr. Minnesota Drummer Steve Eue. After the five contestants had been put through their paces, outgoing Ms. and Mr. Minnesota Olympus Leather Renee Indehar and B.D. Chambers, who helped judge the contest, gave heartfelt step-down speeches before sashing their successors: Ms. Minnesota Olympus Leather 1999 Cori Ander and Mr. Minnesota Olympus Leather 1999 Greg Hausler. First runner-up honors for the women’s title went to Pamela Keesey, and for the men’s title to Leowyn. Also competing for the women’s title was Ruth Berger, who was also in the recent Ms. Minnesota Leather contest.
Other judges for the evening were Gary O’Neill of Wolf Productions, current Ms. Minnesota Leather Mario, and Holly Wheland of The Brass Rail. Wheland was also the recipient of the first-ever Minnesota Olympus Leather Community Service Award; she was honored for her willingness to help the leather community and the entire GLBT community by hosting events and assisting with fundraising. According to Joshua Smith, Wheland is “usually one of the first to offer her help.”
Ms. Minnesota Leather’s Year-End Message
Your humble columnist will now turn over the soapbox to Mario, Ms. Minnesota Leather 1999, who has this year-end message to the community:
“1998 brought huge accomplishments to the Minnesota leather community. Two of our leather clubs, The Black Guard and The Atons, are nominated in this year’s Pantheon of Leather for the “Club Event of the Year” award, and The Atons are also nominated for “Club of the Year.” These are very large honors.
“Since Kevin Cwayna took International Mr. Leather, it seems to have really helped boost our morale. This year marks the return of Ms. Minnesota Leather, an achievement due solely to the hard work of Renee Indehar (along with the help of many others). And after almost being lost, the Minnesota Olympus Leather contest and crown was sweetly restored and recovered thanks to Thomas Smith and Joshua Smith. I’d like to extend special thanks and praise to people who lead in the community such as “Mr. Fantasy” Michael deLeon, Steve Lenius, Renee Indehar, Kevin Cwayna, P.J. Knight, Colin Spriestersbach, B.D. Chambers, Ken Flanagan, Steve Eue, Dan and babalon of TIES, Empress C.C. Sakowitz and Emperor Bill Ganzer of the Imperial Sovereign Court of the Ice Castle . . . and that’s just to name a few.
“This year has seen the beginning, with the help of Joshua Smith, of a leather roundtable forum which meets monthly and which invites anyone to come and participate. Thanks to this forum we have a calendar of events to the year 2000, which will ensure that future events and fundraisers won’t compete with each other for the same dates.
“I’d like to say ‘Good Job’ to The Minneapolis Eagle for its Wednesday-night Women Night. This is truly a way to unite both the men’s and women’s leather communities. And with that, I would like to proclaim the New Year’s resolutions of Mr. and Ms. Minnesota Leather: “We will no longer refer to the men’s or women’s leather community as such. We will only refer to it as our leather community.”
“Congratulations to the new Mr. and Ms. Olympus Leather. They will be great representation for us in New Orleans at Pantheon of Leather in 1999. In closing, please remember that the fundraisers in the coming year are of paramount importance in producing another international titleholder for Minnesota, so please show all of your support in 1999.”
Mario, Ms. Minnesota Leather 1999
Upcoming Leather Events
Here it is: a list of Minnesota and selected worldwide leather events until the year 2000. Mark your calendar now, but remember that these dates are subject to change.
January 23, 1999: Atons Installation Banquet
January 29-31: ISCIC Coronation
February 5-7: International Mr./Ms. Olympus Leather Contest and Pantheon of Leather, New Orleans
February 12-14: Black Guard presents Black Frost ’99
February 26-28: Mr. Minnesota Fantasy Contest
April 16-17: Minnesota Drummer/Drummerboy Contest
May 21-23: Knights of Leather Tournament XI (run)
May 28-31 (Memorial Day Weekend): International Mr. Leather (IML) Contest, Chicago
May 30: Atons IML Widow Party
June: Regional Drummer Contest
June 25-27: Minnesota Leather Pride, Twin Cities Festival of Pride
July 16-18: International Ms. Leather (IMsL) Contest, Las Vegas
Mid-August: International Mr. Fantasy Contest, Omaha
September 3-6 (Labor Day Weekend): Mr. Minnesota Leather Contest
September 24-25: Ms. Minnesota Leather Contest; International Mr. Drummer Contest/Folsom Street Fair, San Francisco
October 16-17: Rainbow Expo Minnesota
December 5: Atons Holiday Fundraiser
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