Passing the sash

Jim DeLong puts the Mr. Ohio Leather 2011 sash on contest victor Mike Greisinger on October 9, wrapping up a weekend of events in Akron.

Behind them are contestants Joe Dubrovich, first runner-up Dru Styles and second runner-up Bart Morris.

In conjunction with the Iron Eagles and Rangers joint run, Akron City Center and Daddy?s Akron, the Mr. Ohio Leather competition featured two days of events.

It started with a Friday introduction, meet and greet and bar crawl.

Saturday morning, the men rose early for a Bloody Mary cocktail party and 11 am interviews with judges before an afternoon town hall meeting with questions from participants in the run.

That evening, there was a leather community dinner, followed by the Pecs and Personality and speech portions of the competition, followed by entertainment and the announcement of the winner at Daddy?s.

The Mr. Ohio Leather competition was started in 1983, with Will Cheeks receiving the title, followed by Steve Boger in 1984. However, the competition went dormant for 23 years before being rejuvenated in 2007, when Boger finally had the opportunity to hand the title over to Gregg Lakota, Mr. Ohio Leather 2007.

--Anthony Glassman

Photo by Jed Ryan