Recon sponsors Mr. SAleathermen Competition.
from
Recon News
30 June 2009
Recon sponsors Mr. SAleathermen 2009 Competition Johannesburg, in a demonstration of the growing international support of the community-based SAleathermen organisation.
The Mr. SAleathermen 2009 competition is open to men of all races, ages, and body types. Preliminaries will be conducted by a panel of judges, who will announce the finalists on Friday, May 15th.
"We're completely gratified and overwhelmed by the support of Recon," says SAleathermen spokesman Eddy van Eeden. "They’ve worked with us since our founding in 2007 and were, in fact, the first international publication ever to feature us (Recon Magazine, Nov 2007)."
HELLFIRE: REDEMPTION, centerpieced by the first-ever Mr SAleathermen 2009 Competition, is also the first party ever sponsored by Recon on the African continent. The event is scheduled to take place on Friday, May 29th at Station Bar in Pretoria.
"The endorsement doesn't so much place us in the same league as these events," admits van Eeden, "but rather acknowledges the keen interest in our community and the desire to help it grow. Not only SAleathermen, but the entire South African leather community."
Deon Behrens of the Cape Town-based Bondage Warehouse agrees. An event co-sponsor, Behrens hopes that the Recon's international presence will help crystallize support from within the Southern African nation.
"As far as I'm concerned, it's just what we need," says Behrens. "The international leather community has flourished because it cooperates on a level that benefits everyone—clubs, individuals, and businesses alike. Recon has given us the opportunity to do the same in South Africa and we should grab it."
To this end, the competition organizers have gone nationwide in their search for the man who will represent SAleathermen and its community-based initiatives, drawing contestants from as far away as Cape Town and Durban.
To add further credence to the event, South African-born Michael Egdes, International Mr. Leather 2005, has agreed to participate as competition advisor, while the judging panel will consist of both South African and international leather figures, including TitanMen star Dillon Buck and Hans Ohlon of Scandanavian Leathermen (SLM) Stockholm.
The beneficiary of the HELLFIRE: REDEMPTION Party will be GALA, the Gay & Lesbian Archives of Witswatersrand University, a not-for-profit research group that challenges homophobia and advances the rights of LGBT people by documenting their histories, struggles, and achievements.
For more information, visit our SAleathermen site!
SHARE
