"POWER TO THE BEARHOOD"
Let me introduce myself. My name is Gary
Herman Brad Lueckheide but please call me Brad, everyone
does. I"m 41 years old, born and raised in New York. I was
born on March 5th 1956 in Queens, lived in Long Island for
awhile and now I live on Grove Street in Greenwich Village
for 15 years. It's a block off of Christopher Street and I
wouldn't want to live anywhere else, Well maybe except for
San Francisco. I have had a few different careers over the
years. After going to the The New York Institute of
Technology and I became a mechanical draftsman, then to
help out my father, because of his failing health, I worked
as a butcher in the family's german butcher shop in
Brooklyn for a few years. Hard work but I ate well. Then I
got into architecture (love those construction workers!)
and became a freelance draftsman for various designers and
construction companies in the NYC area. I've done work for
various high level clients such as Donald Trump and
Governer Carey. I even built a house upstate for my lover
Gary (yes the same first name, thats why Brad), our Airdale
Terrier Bradford (deceased 4/3/97) and myself.
I've had a beard of various lenghts for 18 years and really
didn't connect with the bears till the winter of 1995. Boy!
I'm sure glad I did. After meeting the bears on-line and
finally meeting a few at the Dugout here in Greenwich
Village, I finally felt that I found a group I fit in with.
Within a few months I joined the MetroBearsNY Club and they
talked me into competing in the Mr. NYC Bear Contest 1996
at the Spike and to my suprise I won! I really enjoyed
hanging out with the bears so I volunteered to become the
Events Coordinator for the MetroBearsNY. It's been a great
year now and I've coordinated popular events for the club
which has doubled our membership to about 180, since I
joined. The club has raised money for AIDS causes in the
city and Toys for Tots at our holiday party this past
December. Not a bad job. I have judged a number of bear
contests and really enjoyed being Mr. NYC Bear for a year.
.........MY
LIFE AS A BEAR.......