Here's a few words from Jon Bastin, the President of the Harbour City Bears. From Jon: "The Harbour City Bears are based in Sydney, Australia and will be celebrating its 15th year in 2010. The club has nearly 500 members. On Sunday July 12th there is the 'Bear Factory' (poster) - a party that promises to produce 'hot and happy Bears'. Then on August 22nd, there is Chunky (poster) - a party for 'beefy Blokes, furry Studs, cute Cubs and hot Daddies'.

Each Australian summer the club welcomes guests from interstate and overseas to its Bear Essentials festival held to coincide with the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras festival. Bear Essentials 14 runs from February 26th to March 7th 2010 and events include: The launch with the Lord Mayor of Sydney; Bear Artspace, showcasing Bear and Cub Australian artists; An international Meet and Greet bar night; Bears beach day at Bondi Beach; The infamous UnderBear Party at the Oxford Art Factory, and; The Wett Fur Pool Party at one of the city’s main aquatic centers".

If ever you have plans to come and visit Canada, and more precisely Toronto, then make sure to hook up with the Bears of Toronto. They are a relatively young group, being founded in 2006, yet they are an active bunch that raises funds for charity groups like FIFE. And this weekend (June 27th - 28th), the Bears of Toronto will have a booth at the Pride Parade, so head on over and support them cute cuddly Canadian Bears.

One of my favourite Bear activists Joe Mannetti (aka Joe Falconi - photo - articles - profile) travelled all the way from one end of the US (California - his hometown) to go to Connecticut to be with the Northeast Ursamen (photo), one of the oldest Bear groups around (founded in 1992).

Joe had nothing but good to say about these guys. From Joe: "The Northeast Ursamen were selected by the public as the 'Best Bear Club/Organization' in the 'Best of the Bears' poll conducted by The Complete Bear website, and after this weekend I can see why very clearly. This is a group of Bears who are as dedicated to brotherhood and supporting each other and the community. The positive energy and warmth that the Ursamen exude is genuine. There was never a shortage of hugs or team spirit. Whether we were gathered together for a fundraising event, outreach, or a great meal the loyalty and dedication towards achieving the best outcome was always there! Kudos to their A-list Board and an outstanding collection of members who always put their best foot forward with everyone they meet and everything that they do for the community".

The following is from the Bearracuda's (website - articles - profile) newsletter: "In a couple of weeks, an ambitious group of Bears called Team Be-cause (Bears with a Cause), along with 2,000+ riders, will be cycling from San Francisco to Los Angeles as part of AIDS/LifeCycle 8. It's a 562 mile bike ride to help raise critical funds for the San Francisco AIDS Foundation.

Team Be-cause needs your help! Each rider is required to raise at least $3,000 in order to participate in the ride. After months and months of rigorous training, please don't let these Bears be denied! Please go to the Team Be-cause website and donate today".

The Columbus Ursine Brotherhood ~ CUB ~ are a busy bunch. First off it's high time to make plans for their Bear Camp '09 run which will be taking in Columbus, Ohio from July 30th thru August 2nd. The theme this year is Christmas in July. They have a ton of events scheduled including the Mr. All Ohio Bear Contest. Musician Bigg Nugg (website - articles - profile) will be performing.

2ndly, the Columbus Bears invite you to 'Show Stoppers'... a fundraiser for Camp Sunrise ... featuring Broadway memorabilia, silent auction, show tunes, 50/50 drawing and appetizers. This will be happening on May 23rd. Then on May 24th, they will be getting together at the Union Cafe for their Broadway Bears.

To keep up to date, check out CUB's blog page.

Joe Mannetti, aka Joe Falconi (articles - photo - profile) who recently won the 'Mr. International Daddy Bear' title at IBR is asking for our assistance. He is promoting Life Group and his goal is to raise at least $400, yet Joe says "I would like to raise more for them since they do such outstanding work for the community. I am part of a team of title holders for the Saddle Up LA event". Life Group raises awareness and educates others about HIV/AIDS.

My good buddy Eric (galleries - profile) with his super cute Daddy Bear roommate Mike (profile) attended the Toronto Spearhead's 39th Anniversary which was held last Friday, March 20th. Spearhead L.D.S.C (Leather/Denim Social Club) are involved in a variety of Leather events workshops in the Toronto area, and they began their club in 1970 making them the oldest Leather club in Canada.

They began their celebration with a 'Meet and Greet' at the Black Eagle Toronto, an event that was co-hosted with the Bears of Toronto. It was then followed by cocktails and supper at the Ramada Inn. Eric took pictures which you can see here.

2 upcoming events to note: the Spearhead's next charity event will be their Easter Food Drive for PWA (People With Aids) Food Bank which will be held on Saturday March 28th.

Secondly, Spearhead and the Bears of Toronto are hosting their Bear & Leather Fetish night on every 3rd Friday at the Eagle.

I just got word from Gary Leger (pic) - Mr. Ottawa Bear '09 - that new and exciting things are being planned for the Ottawa Bears; the Bear group in Canada's capital city. First of all, they have been working on a new design of their website (and they have a new dot.com as well). 2ndly, they have just elected a whole new board of directors, and 3rdly ~ if you were at MOB (Mr. Ottawa Bear contest - photos) and had fun, then Gary states that more fun is on the way.

There's a new podcast called 619 Bearcast. This weekly show is broadcasted from the area code of San Diego, CA consisting of 5 cute men (Brian, Dave 'Pinner', JP, Justin and Vito 'BigVBear') that talk about life love, TV and more. They have already aired 4 shows including their intro, which means I have some catching up to do. I just caught word of 619 Bearcast so here's hoping that they pump out a ton of shows like BearPodCast and BTalk.

The Bear Café in New York City (Yahoo!Groups) "is a place where you can sit down, kick back, talk and make friends with woofy guys of all ages, races, types and interests. We're an alcohol / noise / attitude-free space. Bring and play cards and board games. We have low, eclectic, but pleasing music - now all in a 2000 square foot space.

The Bear Café is not-for-profit and volunteer-operated. Currently all Bear Café events are cancelled through December 31st. The organization is currently in a transitional phase. We hope to resume a new schedule of events sometime in the new year".

It's a well known fact that the Bear world and the Leather world are, if anything, kissing cousins. The Bear community party sprung from the leather community back in the 80s... and tell me you do not get hard anytime you see some hot Daddy Bear all leathered up...?

But did you know there was actually a Leather Archives and Museum? Since '91 in Chicago. From their site: "In August 1991, the LA&M was incorporated in the state of Illinois. From that date until May 1993, the Leather Archives was, in effect, an idea struggling to take form. In '93, '94 and 95, the LA&M existed as a growing collection and appeared in public only as exhibits at International Mr. Leather in Chicago (plus a couple of abortive attempts to appear on the road). In fact, most members of the Leather Communities of the world - even in North America - were still unaware of the LA&M. In '96, a storefront home for the LA&M was opened in Chicago. Much larger exhibits were mounted in this space, but the collection outgrew the space very rapidly.

In July '97, Joseph W. Bean arrived to take on the job of Executive Director of the LA&M. Within three months, he had started a series of changing exhibits and proposed to the Board of Directors a capital campaign to raise funds to buy a building. The capital campaign was announced in December of '97, and met with immediate success.

The LA&M moved into its permanent home in late '99. The 10,000 sq. foot building provided for exhibits and the effective storage of the ever-growing collection of leather history. In January of '02, Joseph Bean retired from the LA&M, and then volunteer Rick Storer was hired to continue the work started by Bean and the entire leather community. In August of '04, the leather community made a $225,000 balloon payment to pay off the mortgage of the LA&M. Also during '04, the exhibit space was expanded from one 2,000 sq. foot gallery to a full building tour of eight galleries".

Team Bear has added a new look to their website. They have added more photos to their gallery and there's a new discussion forum as well. They have also raised a ton of dough for the San Francisco AIDS foundation - 145k.

"Team Bear is a community project of PrideWorks, a San Francisco-based non profit organization. PrideWorks absorbs administrative, marketing and development costs so that 100% of all net proceeds raised by Team Bear goes to AIDS LifeCycle, benefitting the San Francisco AIDS Foundation and the Gay & Lesbian Center of Los Angeles".

In other news, they need volunteers for the Hairrison. "Several fundraising efforts for Team Bear will take place over the Labor Day Weekend during Hairrison Street Fair this year. We need volunteers 1) to staff the Team Bear Beverage Tent (selling drinks during the fair), 2) to act as bar managers for other Beverage Tents, 3) to sell Bear Tags, and 4) to help out at fundraisers that week".

Ever wanted to go to Istanbul, Turkey? You have to admit that a lot of the men from Turkey are Bearish and very hot. Well if you ever plan to go, make sure to hook up with the Istanbul Bear Club (IBC). As they state, they are the 1st Bear Club in Istanbul.

From IBC: "Istanbul Bear Club organizes local and international Bear meetings, parties and events for Bears, Chubs, Cubs, and admirers to build communication between Turkish Bears, Kurdish Bears and Bears from all over the world. Istanbul bear club is a not-for-profit social organization".

Here's more news from the Team Bear guys (articles): "Fundraisers over the weekend at The Edge, Bench and Bar and Lone Star helped push the team up and over $100,000 plus several more riders have asked to join the team. This more than doubles our goal for the year and we still have more fundraisers and t-shirt sales yet to come!

The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence donate $4,500 to Team Bear. Several sisters are riding with the team, including Sister Mary Juanita High who presented the check to the team at the B-Unit fundraiser on Sunday. These fund will be given away on Saturday (day zero) to help riders in need of last minute help to make their minimums".

Team Bear ~ (B)ears (E)ngaged (A)gainst (R)etroviruses ~ is a group of men who bike in California to raise money as well as awareness for those living with HIV and AIDS. Here are a couple of news articles sent in by them.

#1 - "When the Steering Committee first met in the fall of 2007, we set ourselves an ambitious first year goal of $50,000, 10% of which we wanted to raise collectively through events. As of today the tally from official team riders and roadies stands at $68,394 plus we have raised over $4,000 through events - and we still have more fundraisers and t-shirt sales yet to come!".

#2 - "For years Team Bear has been symbolized by a bear holding a bike over his head (view here), created by noted bear artist Fran Frisch. We also now have a team logo. Designed by Pete King, it is meant to capture the spirit of accomplishment and triumph that the ride engenders by representing a bike at the top of a hill (or the world). But look a little closer and you’ll see that the wheels of the bike also make the ears of a bear and the dot becomes either his nose or his tail, depending on your viewpoint".

I need to make a correction; In a previous article I wrote entitled Antinoo Calendar - I mentioned about Antinoo (website), his calendar and his work he has done with the Mad Bears of Spain... ok no correction needed so far... however I go on to mention that the Norway Bears ~ Den Norske Bamseklubben ~ wrote an article about the calendar. I need to make a small rectification here... or this could also be considered an announcement:

Antinoo is going to be working with the Norway Bears and he is going to be making images using motifs from classical Nordic paintings (much like he did with the Mad Bears)... what Antinoo does is that he manipulates these images by placing cute Bears into the paintings. My bad for not getting the whole story straight... it's because I was pretty much guessing what this article from the Norway Bears was all about.

Sitges is a small city in Spain not far from Barcelona and it's also where you'll find some hot Bearish men who make up the Bears Sitges Club. These gents just had a major event in September and by going to this page, you'll get to see a ton of pics as well as some video slide shows.

When is their next major event? From what I can tell from their webpage, it will be at the beginning of May 2008, an event they call International Bears Meeting BSC. There is no info about this event on their site as of yet, but I'll keep you posted when they update their pages. For now, go enjoy all those photos of cute Spanish Bearish men.

There some of us who adore Bears and there are some of us who love our bikes... but what about Bears on bikes...? Just the thought of husky rugged men in leather and boots cruising along the highway on their motorcycle just might make some of you salivate. Well here's a group for you European men - it's called Biker Bears of Belgium aka B3. Whether you speak Dutch or French, just check out their modest gallery and you'll see that mature good looks will override all languages anytime. And from their news section, they had their first 'ride-out' in April and it was a success... ok so they had 3 members but it's a new group so here's hoping more will join.

Bienvenue, Willkommen and Welcome is how they greet you over at WOOF Party.

From their site: "WOOF Party organizes for you gay events in Geneva and in the French speaking part of Switzerland. Our goal? To make friends and have fun! We organize all our events with our partners. Do you like Bears, Sneakers or just being with nice guys? Join us ! This is your home, feel free to exchange honey or salmon with other Bears. Den sweet den, to be shared with friends. It is hunting's open season! But hunting with tenderness! No shooting! Just hugs and licking. Beary hugs".

Now that sounds like a ton of fun. Check out their upcoming events... oh... and yes, they said Bears and 'Sneakers'. I thought it was some German term for Cub or something, but it's not... they have parties celebrating sneakers, the one Bears will be wearing, and I guess you'll be sniffing. Sign me up. 

If God came down and said to me, 'Forrest, what would be one of your wishes', I'd probably say to him that I wish I knew all languages on this planet so this way I could talk to everyone and understand all. I think a lot of confusion in this world is due to simple miscommunication.

This being said, I just visited the SwissBears' website and yup, I wish I could understand what they were saying, but I don't, so I have to resort to looking at all the pretty pictures (like this one - very sexy - I love seeing men dance). From their members page, they look like a seriously fine bunch of good looking fellas, and from the pics I've seen of Zürich (Wiki page), it's one of the places I'd love to visit when I'm rich.