The 1998 Mr. GCB Contest was a lot of fun.  This page is pretty old so some of the email address and links might not work!

Group Shots and Others

	A couple of GCB members having a drink and catching up during the contest.
	Some New Orleans bears get cuddly.
	A shot of several of the contestants holding the frozen T-Shirts.
	The rest of the group.
	These men are really working on those shirts.
	One of the judges!  WOOF!
	Contestant #7 is putting his all into opening up his shirt!  Look carefully at the extreme right of this picture and you can see Contestant #6 sitting on his!
	A New Orleans bear gets friendly with one of the locals.

The Contest

The events got rolling along around 10PM. Members and club officers worked hard to get the bar decorated for the show.  The pre contest party the night before had been loads of fun with members bringing Teddy Bears to hang up and decorate the place.   Following the contest, the Teddy Bears are traditionally donated to a childrens chairty.  The place was decked out for the show!

The judges this year were from Pensacola, Mobile, New Orleans, and Birmingham.   BIG THANKS for all their hard work!  The bar provided free drinks and the club provided a "drink slave" to make sure the judges were never thirsty.

The contestants were introduced in their swimsuit and "A-Bear" (Mr. Gulf Coast Bear '97) sprayed 'em down with ICE WATER!  While in their swimsuits, each contestant was handcuffed behind their back and then had to pick up a tennis ball from a stool, and deposit it in a container several feet away.  Bonus points were awarded for creativity and style. 

Next up was the Jock Strap competition. After all the contestants had come out in their jock straps one at a time, the entire group was brought on stage all at once.  They were each given a tightly folded T-Shirt which had been put in a zip-lock bag of water and frozen solid.  Frozen too solid!  It took the contestants several minutes of pounding and prying and dipping the shirts in a tub of water to get them unfolded.   The first one to get their shirt on was awarded bonus points.  It was quite a sight to see all eight contestants on their knees in their jock straps struggling with these frozen shirts frantically dipping them in water and pounding them on the floor to win the extra points.  

Following that was the Bear Image part of the contest and the contestants had to retrieve a numbered bananna from a tub of water and answer a corresponding question written by the attendees to the Judges Reception held earlier. They then were allowed to eat the bananna in a creative way for extra bonus points.  Some of them were very creative. 

After this, the contestants were given a fixed amount of time to mingle among the contest attendees and sell raffel tickets to win many prizes including the original pencil drawing of the contest poster.  The contestants got 1 bonus point for each ticket sold and all proceeds from the sale went to a local charity.

The Contestants

#1
	Contestant #1 is Sam from Atmore Alabama.  He's not a member of the club but he's been spotted a few times at our meetings and he's a very friendly bear.
#2
	Contestant #2 is Ricky from Pensacola Florida.  He's been a long time member of the club and regular at most all the bear functions.
#3
	Contestant #3 is Jerry from Pensacola Florida.  Jerry just moved back to Pensacola and we welcome him home!
#4
	Contestant #4 is Rick from Pensacola Florida and western Pennsylvania.  He's our resident chef!  You can reach him by e-mail at BigRicBear@aol.com
#5
	Contestant #5 is Jim from Pensacola Florida.  The club members have been eyeing Jim for a long time and we're glad he finally entered the contest!  When he insterted an entire peeled bananna into his mouth/throat, the crowd (and one of the MC's) went completely nuts!  You can reach him by e-mail at StrongHnds@aol.com
#6
	Contestant #6 is Ken from Pensacola.  He's the annual host of the Bears on the Beach party and a long time member of the club.  He's always fun to hang out with! We often wonder just how much weight you could hang from that left nipple. You can reach him by e-mail at BchBehr@aol.com
#7
	Contestant #7 is Paul from Mobile Alabama.  A long time member of the Gulf Coast Bears, he's cuddly, cute, and a little shy.  You can reach him by e-mail at BayouBear7@aol.com
#8
	Contestant #8 is Kevin from New Orleans Louisiana.  He really put his heart into opening up his frozen T-shirt. This is the first time we've welcomed Kevin to Mobile but he can come party with us anytime!   You can reach him by e-mail at KevCubNO@aol.com

The WINNER!

Contestant #8 - Kevin from New Orleans!

	The moment when Kevin finds out he is Mr. Gulf Coast Bear 1998!
	The happy winner with his Bear Bucket!  Stuffed with prizes including a silver belt buckle worth $250!
	The belt buckle awarded to the winner. Sterling silver and gold this hand crafted belt buckle will last a lifetime!
	The winner with the first runner up!  If the winner chooses not to enter any other bear contests, the 1st runner up can enter and represent the club as Mr. Gulf Coast Bear.
	TWO Winners!  Mr. GCB '97 and '98.  Two outstanding winners with all the looks, personality, style, grace and HAIR to make any bear drool.