Local Leather News Roundup

(Leather Life column published in Lavender Magazine, Issue #174, January 25, 2002)

Atons Officer (Re-)Installation

On January 12 the Atons held their annual Officer Installation ceremonies, this year in conjunction with the January L&L (Leather & Levi) Night. Sworn in were Sam Carlisle, president; B.D. Chambers, vice-president; Keith Cheetham, secretary; and Paul Rozendaal, treasurer. If those names sound familiar it might be due to the fact that this year’s slate of officers is a repeat of last year’s. But hey, when something’s working well, why change?

Oscar®, Emmy, Tony, Grammy—and now Sadie

Minnesota Stocks, Debentures and Bonds (MSDB) announces the creation of the Sadie Awards, an interesting twist of the whole concept of community awards. Starting with the MSDB Fire Play class on November 17 of last year, the club has been accepting nominations for awards in various categories. Over a six-month period, a panel of judges will review various scenes, organizations, events and other lifestyle activities. Then MSDB, who with tongue firmly in cheek calls itself “the newest academy in town,” will be awarding prizes to folks who stand out for their contributions to the local scene. Recognition will be given for most memorable scenes, most creative costuming, theme, party; outstanding event, most informative demo and other categories to be determined.

MSDB’s mission with these awards is “to promote creativity and joy of BDSM. This is most assuredly NOT a popularity contest, but rather an honest desire to acknowledge and stimulate talent and artistry in our community.” MSDB is seeking input from the community—any suggestions for award criteria, nominations for judges or entries for the various categories should be forwarded to ladytek@hotmail.com. Nominations for judges should be for members in good standing from their club who attend other organizations’ events. Criteria suggestions are welcome from any and all interested parties.

Mr. Minneapolis Eagle Contest and Mr./Ms. MN Olympus Leather Contest looking for competitors

The fourth annual Mr. Minneapolis Eagle contest will be held in February. Prizes: first place $100, second place $75, third place $50. First-place winner represents The Minneapolis Eagle and the Twin Cities leather community in this year’s International Mr. Leather contest in Chicago over Memorial Day Weekend, with their airfare and hotel expenses paid by the Minneapolis Eagle and its sponsors. For more information, or if you’re interested in competing, talk to a bartender at the Eagle.

This year’s Mr./Ms. Olympus Leather contest, held in conjunction with the Pantheon of Leather Community Service Awards, takes place in Chicago the weekend of Feb. 15-17. Although Minnesota claims two national Olympus Leather titleholders from prior years, at this writing it appears Minnesota will not be represented among this year’s competitors. The organizers of the Minnesota branch of this contest are looking for contestants from whom to choose a Mr. and Ms. Minnesota Olympus Leather to represent the state in next year’s national contest; anyone interested in competing should contact dcoral@hotmail.com.

New Director at Leather Archives & Museum

The Leather Archives & Museum (all together now: “Located in Chicago, Serving the World!”) is getting a new director. Joseph W. Bean, who will be retiring from the Executive Director position at the end of January and who created that “Located in Chicago . . .” line, became Executive Director of the LA&M in 1997. Under his leadership the Archives was able to move from a storefront on North Clark St. to its own (much larger) building at 6418 Greenview Avenue.

Rick Storer will take over as Executive Director at the beginning of March. Storer is a Chicago resident who has worked as a volunteer for both the LA&M and the International Mr. Leather contest. He is also actively involved in Masters and Slaves Together.

Out of the Closet and Into the Museum(s)

The Leather Archives & Museum isn’t the only organization interested in documenting and preserving our leather heritage. Our very own Minnesota Historical Society, located in the shadow of the State Capitol in St. Paul, has a large collection of documents and artifacts related to the history of GLBT folks in Minnesota. And they want more—they want us, the leather community! One of their themes for this year, “Out of the Closet and Into the Museum,” highlights their drive to enlarge their GLBT collection in certain areas which are now under-represented—such as the leather community, especially representative leather garments.

The aim of this project is to get local individuals, clubs and organizations involved in funneling as much of our history as possible, in all forms, to both the Leather Archives & Museum in Chicago and to the Minnesota Historical Society here at home. (I’ll bet there’s enough history to go around.) You’ll hear more about this as the year goes on; until then, if this sounds interesting and you’d like to be involved, please contact me through the Lavender Magazine website (www.lavendermagazine.com).