Empire Bears, Inc. -- History

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A Very Brief History

The Empire Bears' first meeting occurred on December 20, 1995. Since then we have participated in many activities including:

attending and participating in parades
participating in the annual GAGV picnic
other food events: bear picnics, potluck dinners, Sunday brunches, etc.
movie nights, theater events, concerts (Rochester Gay Men's Chorus and others) and sporting events
fund-raising events for local charities
games nights
a book club
bear weekends at three gay campgrounds
attending local festivals
"Foraging" at the Bachelor Forum (bar)
trips to amusement parks

We have also traveled as a group to places including:

Toronto
Montréal
Buffalo
Niagara Falls, Ontario
various places in the Finger Lakes region of New York

Individual members have participated in bear events including:

The DCBC Bear Invasion in Washington, D.C.
Bear Bust in Orlando
Texas Bear Round-Up in Dallas
Bear Pride in Chicago
International Bear Rendezvous (IBR) and Folsom Street Fair in San Francisco
La Fiesta de los Osos in Tucson, AZ
Aurora Bearealis (formerly known as The Great Canadian Bear Hunt) in Toronto
Bear Bacchanal with Bear Buddies Toronto
Toronto Gay Pride with the Gen-X Bears
DiversCité (Gay Pride in Montréal)
Bear Prowl in London, Ontario
River Thames Cruise, Bear Hug, London, England
Great British Bear Bash in Manchester, England

Also, the Empire Bears are featured in a chapter of the bookThe Bear Book II, edited by Les Wright, now in a bookstore near you! Check out Les Wright's Bear History Project for more information.

Update: The film Bear Cub (Cachorro) was one of the Opening Night features at the 12th annual ImageOut Film Festival in Rochester, NY. The festival designated the Empire Bears a Community Co-Sponsor of the film.