1-6-2000

Four-legged bears may be hibernating this winter, but not the human variety. There's no shortage of bear club activity during these first few months of the new millennium. It seems like every club threw a big Y2K bash or a Christmas party, and we look forward to hearing all about them over the next month. <grin> But for now, let's look ahead to the next few months. Upcoming Bear Runs BOP's Fiesta de los Osos is just around the corner from Jan 13-17th. On the other end of the US, the New England Bears are accepting registrations for their Hibernation Run on Feb. 2-6th in Provincetown MA. On the heels of that will be International Bear Rendezvous in San Francisco, Feb. 18-21. IBR's registration deadline is 1/31. Finally, Harbour City Bears (Sydney AU) are hosting their Bear Essentials 2000 run on March 1-4th. Featured events include a pool party, harbor cruise, and the Sydney Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras Party. Happy Bearthday Besides runs, there's another reason for bears to kick up their hiking boots and party: club birthdays! On Jan 8th, the Renegade Bears of Seattle celebrate six years \ together. This party should be a real riot. They've also moved their web page to a cool new internet domain (renegadebears.org) and are offering free email accounts to their members. On the other end of the age scale, the Bakersfield Bears of California are celebrating their first year together with a big party for members on Jan 15-16th. Congrats guys! Here's to many more birthdays for both clubs. Roller Bears What has fur, wheels, and is really scary if it can't stop? A bear on rollerblades. North Country Bears will investigate this brave new frontier in bear sports when the club hits the Minneapolis MetroDome on January 8th. Get It Online Columbus Ursine Brotherhood (CUB) hosts an Online Party at Tradewinds on Jan. 14th. "Watch our big screen as we flash up pictures of bears and cubs from the net. You'll also be able to anonymously send a note to guys in the bar." Part of the cover fee goes to AIDSWalk-Columbus, which supports AIDS service organizations. Football and Disco Later this month is a holiday that even the hetero bears celebrate: Super Bowl Sunday. Kansas City Cave Bears will mark the occasion by hosting a "Naked Super Bowl Party" on Jan 30th for its members. (At least they won't have to worry about what to wear.) And for you disco bears in California, if you haven't been YMCA-ed out by all your Y2K night dancing, you can cut up the rug with Bears Ventura at Oil Can Boyd's on Jan 15th. Black and Blue Ball Speaking of north country, further up the map in the land where the polar bears roam, the Last Frontier Men's Club (Anchorage, Alaska) will host their "Black and Blue Ball" on Jan 29th. At the event, the titles of Alaska Bear Cub, Mr. Bear Alaska and Mr. Alaska Leather will be decided. We've Heard Of Bringing Back a Souvenir, But This Is Ridiculous There's nothing as much fun as traveling to a new place. And what could be better than doing it with a bunch of your club buddies? During October and November, ten men from the Mannheim Bears of Germany went on a tour of Australia. They did plenty of sightseeing and socializing with those ever-woofy Australian bears. And one of them got an unexpected bonus. From the club's newsletter: For most of us it was a chance to experience life Down Under and get to know some of our Australian bear brothers better. For at least one of the group it was wedding bells, having met the bear of his dreams and falling madly in love - the daily international phone calls have begun and the emigration plans are being investigated! XMas in Ventura Bears Ventura have been busy lately. Two of their members hosted a very successful Christmas party for the club back in December, complete with turkey dinner and a gift exchange for the 100+ attendees. Popular gifts included a bear Polo towel and Ben-Wa (ahem) "accessories". Bear Alliance Gets Going The guys in Ventura are also involved in a wonderful cooperative effort with other bear clubs in the Southern California and Nevada areas. It's called the Southern California Bear Alliance, and it consists of (take a deep breath here) the Bakersfield Bears, Beach Cities Bears, Bears LA, Bears San Diego, Bears Ventura, Black Jack Bears, and Palm Springs Bears. (whew!) Paul Dunn from Bears Ventura writes in his club's newsletter: [Its purpose] is to coordinate activities amongst the clubs so as to provide to best bear experience possible. Through the alliance, club events are scheduled so that they don't conflict with events at other clubs, thereby giving members of all the clubs the widest range of activities to attend.

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