Heart of America part 2

Saturday brought us back to Missie B's for a very different view. No day-glo to be seen, but there was leather. This year's Judging Panel featured Stan Dibble, Jeremy Morris, boy Tony, Pup Luckey, and me. The judges had interview time with the contestants while classes ran in the upstairs bar. The two contestants were both running for LeatherMan; unfortunately there was no Leatherboy contestant this year. These men are very new in the leather community, and they have a great future of learning and fun ahead of them. Both men were intelligent, presented themselves well, and faced the questions with grace. We didn't even make them cry! Then it was lunchtime (delicious buffet) and time for more classes. Luckey and I tried out a new class presentation we call Digging Deeper, which is more of a Puppy 201 class. No floor time, all talk time. It was our first time to present this, and there were some bumps, but we were well-received. There was good feedback, and I know where we'll be making some edits and changes for the next time.

When classes were done, we had enough time to grab a shower and head back for All You Can Eat Sushi (eating again) before the contest started. The wonderful Karen Ultra returned as M.C., and Luckey brought her the rocket fuel she consumes from Starbucks. Of course, she was dressed beautifully. The contest ran smoothly; the contestants performed well; the audience was entertained and respectful. In the end, there was a victor. Dom J will carry the title for a year and represent at American Brotherhood Weekend this Fall. In reality, both men won. They shared their hearts and their lives in a very public way, and that is SCARY. I had a good visit with both of them afterwards, and I'm convinced that they will both be involved in the leather community for years to come. With the contest wrapped up, it was time to relax. We headed off to finish the night relaxing with our local pack of friends and family, and eventually fell asleep before heading back to the hotel. Did I mention there was a "Christian Women's Conference" in the hotel? We got some funny looks when we walked through in our leathers, lol.

Sunday morning arrived way too early, and we headed back to Missie B's for brunch. Wow, what a spread! (yes, eating again) Plus we got a surprise - International Leatherboy BammBamm and his pup, Pup Tugger, drove out to join the festivities. It was great to see them and hang out for a while. There was more socializing and flirting, and good visits with both contestants again. Finally, it was time to drive home. It was a bit harder this time - probably because we were so tired from the non-stop weekend of fun. There was an early dinner stop at Braum's near Salina, KS, because it's really hard to drive past one, and both Chris and Hayes had never eaten there. Once again, the February weather was gracious to us and we arrived home safely that night.

Many thanks to boy Elena and the entire Heart of America crew for producing a wonderful weekend. Thanks to Missie B's for hosting, and thank you to our friends, family, and the local community of Kansas City for showing us such a great time. Great job everyone!

ABW 2012

American Brotherhood Weekend is one of my favorite events of the year. I always explain it as the family reunion where all the cool aunts and uncles and cousins show up for a great party. In this case, aunts and uncles and cousins translates into People Who Work In Their Communities. This wonderful group of people are active, contributing members of their own local leather communities and they are happy to share their experiences. What works, what doesn't work, pitfalls, new ideas - these people are full of information and they are happy to share. And they all come together to support this weekend that selects three titleholders - American LeatherMan, American LeatherWoman, and American Leatherboy - the American Leather Family.

Yep, I'm biased. My boy holds the American Leatherboy 2008 title, and he had a great year working and traveling with Randy Carmenaty and Joan Norry. This is my extended family, and I love them.

So I was excited to get to take the puppy along with us to Chicago for ABW 2012 and introduce him to our extended family there. Bonus points that we both got to show up with shiny new titles. Chris and I had booked our airline flights months in advance (got to plan ahead!) and we were able to find Luckey a last minute deal on airfare that was even better than ours. (score!)

Thursday night was the Contestant/Judge/Family night at Dean's home, and the hospitality was flawless, as always. Food, drinks, friendships new and old, introductions, and catching up - all the ingredients for a fun night.

Friday I did some touring around Chicago with Luckey and Chris joined us after lunch for a boat tour of the architecture and the lake. I thought I was going to freeze out on the water. Later came dinner at Frontera Grill and back to the hotel where the last member of our weekend pack joined us, our friend Pup Dino. (I know you probably read that as Dee-noe, but he says it's Die-noe, because he likes Dinosaurs!) Together we made the trek to Touche' for the Meet & Greet to officially start the weekend. Lots of fun there!

Saturday afternoons brought us to the Leather Archives & Museum for the contest. The judges certainly had their work cut out for them - the contestants were strong and very qualified.

Saturday night was out in Boystown to meet local friends and hang out at the CellBlock, and Luckey got his 'hawk cleaned up by local barber Fluffy (the kitty) in the Bondage Barber Chair. There was rope, drinks, making out, and general fun all around.

Sunday at the LA&M finished out the contest, Luckey and I got to speak for a few minutes about our contest, and then the new titleholders were announced! Congrats to Jeff and Doc, and Tyler agreed to represent for another year as Leatherboy. There was much happiness and picture taking. Then we set off to SideTrack after the Victory Party at Touche for the winners. Eventually, most everyone wound up at SideTrack too. Purple Squishie Drinks! Yes, they are really called Ketel One Krush, but many years ago, I drank many many of them and named them Purple Squishies! (that's another story) Luckey found that the Red Squishy drinks were more to his taste.

Luckey headed back to Denver on Monday; Dino left early on Tuesday; Chris and I flew home to Denver on Tuesday night. Everybody had a great time and we started planning our return trip to MIR.
Overall, I counted the trip a great success. We had fun and Luckey got to meet our extended Chicago family, plus all the cool aunts and uncles and cousins in our ABW family.