The Leather community is widely known for its fundraising efforts; in fact we in the community do more than many other gay organizations, actually more than most, to tell the truth. Here is a recent example and notices of things to come.

In San Francisco, the titled Daddies and boys, headed by SF Leather Daddy XXIII Richard Sprott and SF Leather Daddy’s boy XXIII "spunky" phil lindo presented the annual Father’s Day Beer Bust on Sunday the 18th. In the old days the beneficiary of this event was almost always the Godfather Service Fund, an organization that went round the AIDS wards bringing cheer, cosmetics, teddy bears, bathrobes and so on the AIDS patients. But there aren’t the numbers of people in that almost always terminal ward that there used to be (the "cocktail" took care of that) so the beneficiary has changed over the years. This time is was the Service Members’ Legal Defense Fund, formed to assist those caught up in the "don’t ask, don’t tell" fiasco.

As a result of the benefit, the Daddies and boys gave $190 to the Leather/Levi

Weekend scholarship fund (proceeds from the raffle ticket sales), and they

donated $1,700 to the Servicemembers’ Legal Defense Network.

They sold 372 cups, went through 15 kegs of beer, and tipped the bartenders $80 for their hard work on their behalf. They spent $321 on food and $20 on supplies. This info came from the financial statement issued after the event, something I would encourage all fundraiser producers to issue so that everyone in the community knows where their dollars end up.

Rock Hard and Chaps supported the event with raffle prizes, and the Alexander Hamilton Post 448 of the American Legion provided colors and support.

The words "leather community" mean more than just people who wear leather and may be into S&M. The words also include people with other associated fetishes such as cigars, uniforms and rubber. The rubber crowd in particular is very active. They have a beer bust at The Barracks on the third Friday of every month and they get up to some amazing high jinks there. They are the people associated with the West Coast Rubber Weekend, which takes place on Labor Day Weekend. More on that later but you can check the web site at http://www.westcoastrubber.com.  Those guys look really hot (in both senses of the word) in their skin tight rubber and shiny latex. Last month at their Barracks beer bust the Palm Springs group hung a pail from Alex Lindsay’s balls and people threw metal bolts in to it. The sadists in the crowd took great delight in adding to the weight. I believe it went up to about fifteen pounds before Alex sank to his knees! This last Friday the same guys were at it again with their Karnival of Kink. Mr. West Coast Rubber, Alan Stroik along with Avatar LA board member Mike Van Horn and the West Coast Rubber producers Loren Berthelsen and his boy Alex presented the crowd with a pervert potpourri of kink, including a vac-rack demo, flogging, violet wands, mummification, straight jackets and other pleasure tools. The Friday night bar goers enthusiastically "rode the rides" presented by the WCR guys. A little chance for people to stick their toes in the water and test it out.

Stay tuned next month on July 21 for a repeat of "Daddy Balls vs Boy Balls." Who will go to his knees first?

Coming up soon at the Tool Shed we have a Boots ‘n Briefs night next Saturday, July 1, and an all-American edition of Church with Friar Phuk’t at 7am the next morning with $2 Bloody Mary’s and Screws until 10am, and on Friday the 7^th it’s the monthly PSLOD beer bust. Also on Friday July 7, in L.A., it’s the Mr. Rubber contest at the Eagle (formerly the Gauntlet II). That should be quite a sight.

At The Barracks on the same Saturday there’s a fund-raiser for the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force. I hope you all make it to at least one of those. Support our community at work.

Coming up in July -

The whole world goes to the Folsom Street Fair in September, and the street is crowded with the bridge and tunnel crowd, looky-loos from the East Bay come to gawk at the leather folks and mock the faggots. Not as bad as Hallowe’en but getting there. However, Dore Alley Fair is a whole different story. This serves almost entirely leather family, there are no gawkers and it occurs on a weekend when there’s lots more going on to make the trip worth while.

On Friday evening, July 28^th, it’s the venerable Leather Daddy Contest at The Eagle. Many people come from all over the country to be part of this event. Pre-judging takes place privately and the contest itself is in evening. Judges are usually previous holders of the title, of whom there have now been twenty three.

On Saturday night it’s the Northern California Sir and boy title contest, at the DNA Lounge at 375 Eleventh Street (two blocks from the Eagle), and it’s an early one, starts at 4pm and finishes at 7pm, in time for people to go out and have dinner and then hit the bars. Next day, all day, is the Dore Alley Fair, which takes place at Folsom Street and Dore Alley, which is close to 9^th street and opposite the Powerhouse Bar. Some condos have recently gone up on the parking lot which previously was the vendor area, so I don’t know what’s happening there now. Rest assured, the fair is going on and it will be much more interesting and more purely leather family than the more famous Folsom Street event. I’ll see you there.

As I reported earlier, the Leather Levi weekend is getting close. Leather Levi Weekend 5 (LLW2006), a "Twisted Summer Camp" for gay leather men and women (and other gender orientations) occurs every year and continues to increase in popularity. August 10-13 (Thursday thru Sunday), participants in LLW2006 will gather at the Saratoga Springs Resort, in the hills between San Jose and Santa Cruz., CA.  As with past LLW’s, it’s a sure sell- out and tickets are going fast. LLW is designed as a safe and fun introduction to the leather/levi scene for people curious or new to the scene.  First-timers get a break on registration fees.  For the experienced, it's a great weekend to relax, meet other players away from the traditional bar scene, and play in the outdoors!

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