Mr. Midwest Leather Contest A Huge Success

The second annual Mr. Midwest Leather Contest was held on Saturday, April 8, 2006 at the Chicago Eagle in Chicago, Illinois and the winner was Dr. Bruce Karmazin from St. Louis, Missouri.  The 1st Runner Up was Mr. Madison Leather 2006 Chase Lindberger from Madison, Wisconsin, and the 2nd Runner Up was Glen McDade from Hampshire, Illinois.

This was the largest contest in the leather community based on the number of contestants running. On the night of the contest there were 11 contestants from a total of 7 of the 13 states in the Midwest Leather Region.  The other contestants were Daniel Miller from Cleveland, Ohio, Jorge Arce from Chicago, Illinois, Billy Stevens from Baraboo, Wisconsin, Tim Gimzo from Des Moines, Iowa, Brian Smith from Chicago, Illinois, Geo Kriwkowich from Davenport, Iowa, and Michael Weise from Warren, Michigan.  

Friday evening, April 7th, 2006 kicked off the weekend with a Meet 'N Greet Fundraiser Party which took place at the Chicago Eagle starting at 11:00 pm where the staff and contestants were introduced and raffles were held benefiting the Leather Archives Museum in Chicago and the AIDS Pediatric Ward of Chicago.  Approximately 150 people attended the Friday Meet 'N Greet. Mr. Midwest Leather 2005, Wes K., from St. Louis, Missouri was present and directed the raffles, while Jon Krongaard, Master of Ceremonies for the Contest introduced the 2006 Mr. Midwest Leather contestants and staff.

The Mr. Midwest Leather Contest took place on Saturday evening April 8th, 2006 at the Chicago Eagle starting at 9:00 pm. The Master of Ceremonies was Jon Krongaard from Chicago, Illinois who did a fantastic job at keeping the flow of the contest going and keeping a large crowd of about 200 entertained. Jon started by calling each of the contestants up to the stage which was followed by the Formal Leather Wear introductions and then the Bar Cruise Wear and then the Minimal Wear (jock strap/physique portion) of the contest. The Interview Portion of the Contest took place on Saturday afternoon at the Leather Archives Museum.

The entertainment for the evening was Cerena De Carlo and Brian X from Fresno, California who did an incredible leather fantasy number to huge applause from the audience.  Brian later in the evening amused the audience with a terrific musical number. A special "Cock Cake" was presented to Mr. Marcus for his birthday and he received a huge round of applaud and everybody sang Happy Birthday Mr. Marcus.  Photos on this will be coming soon!

The Chief Judge for the contest was Philip Dietch from St. Louis, Missouri. Mr. Marcus from San Francisco, California was a Special Judge.  The other Judges were David Rhodes from Los Angeles, California, Wes K., Mr. Midwest Leather 2005 from St. Louis, Missouri, Michael Egdes, International Mr. Leather 2005, from Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, Dr. Alan Bowers, IML 2005 2nd Runner-Up and Mr. Louisiana Leather 2005, and Don Leach from Chicago, Illinois.

The Tallymasters for the Mr. Midwest Leather Contest were Mr. Chuck Windemuth, founder of the Kennel Club and Roadshow Director for the Leather Archives Museum in Chicago, and Dean Ogren who was Mr. American Leatherman 2000 and the current Contestant Support Coordinator for IML 2005 from Chicago, Illinois.

The Den Daddies for the evening were Joee Arteaga from Chicago, Illinois who was Mr. Chicago Leather 2004, and Mark Bozif, Mr. Missouri Leather 2003 and Pantheon Award Winner 2005.  The Event Coordinator for the Contest was Don Leach from Chicago, Illinois and this Contest was produced again this year by Kurt Pierce from near Chicago, Illinois.

Bios & Photos of Mr. Midwest Leather Contest 2006 Staff

The winner of this Contest, Dr. Bruce Karmazin, received $500 cash, 4 nights accommodations for the IML Weekend Event in Chicago, Leather Title Vest and Sash, one round-trip airfare of his choice anywhere in the Continental US for a leather event, and a gift basket valued at $250 from the contest sponsors for him to use for a Charity raffle.  He was also given a $200 gift certificate from Caliber Leather of Chicago, Illinois along with a $200 gift certificate from Mephisto Leather of Chicago, Illinois.  The 1st Runner Up for the contest, Chase Lindberger, received $250 worth of gift certificates from local Chicago leather vendors including Caliber, Mephisto, and Leather Sports.  The 2nd Runner Up, Glen McDade, received $200 in gift certificates also from Caliber and Mephisto.

On Sunday April 9th there a Victory Brunch at Touche's that went from 11:00 am to 2:00 pm and which was attended by many of the contestants and staff. 

It was announced that Wes K. will be co-producer of the Mr. Midwest Leather 2007 Contest which will be held in April 2007 somewhere in the Midwest.  Kurt Pierce and the staff thank all who worked to make this a great event and all who attended during the weekend for this making this a huge success. For any questions, please email Kurt Pierce, Producer of the Mr. Midwest Leather Contest at Kurt@MrMidwestLeather.com.