March 2012 marks BNC’s 16th anniversary. From a small start meeting in the founders’ home, through a long list sites on the North Side, in Hammond and Downtown, and camping weekends in Wisconsin, Michigan and Indiana, BNC has grown to be one of the longest lasting and most successful groups of our kind anywhere with over 370 current members.

In honor of this milestone, our March 4th Sunday Afternoon Bar Play Party at The Jackhammer will be free for all members. Cum join us in celebrating our 16th Anniversary!

While the last year have proven to be a very successful for the club with increased attendance, this success is being severely threatened by a lack of volunteers to help with check-in at our parties. It is essential that more of you step forward to help, or we will be forced to cancel events.

There are many of you who attend parties on a regular basis, but have never stepped forward to help. You do NOT need to volunteer to work at every party that you attend, but 10 guys who would be willing to work one in every three or four parties they attend, would insure that we have adequate staffing.

Attendance is free at any party you work, and guys who volunteer on a regular basis earn BearBucks that can be used to pay your annual membership fee and to attend other parties or to pay for guests.

Volunteering is easy. Just email bncinfo@bearnaked.org with your first and last name and say you want to volunteer. You then will receive an invitation to join our BNC Volunteers Yahoo Group. We use this group as a communication tool to schedule guys to work at our events and to discuss other club business.

Email bncinfo@bearnaked.org three hours before an event to get information or directions.

Sunday, February 5th - Afternoon Bar Play Party @ Jackhammer. Door 2:00 - 3:00 PM, $10 for members, $15 for guests. Cash bar after your two drink tickets have been used.

Saturday, February 18th - Bar Night Play Party @ Touché. Door 6:00 - 7:00 PM. $10 for members, $15 for guests. Entry includes 2 free Well Liquor or Domestic Beer drink tickets. Cash bar after your two drink tickets have been used or for Call Liquor and Imported Beer.

Wednesday, February 22nd – Weeknight Bar Play Party @ Jackhammer. Door 7:30 - 8:30 PM. $10 for members, $15 for guests. Cash bar after your two drink tickets have been used.

Saturday, February 25th – Bears, the Baths, and Beyond @ Steamworks. 1:00 – 6:00 PM. Coupon for $5 off the price of admission for members.

Sunday, March 4th – Afternoon Bar Play Party @ Jackhammer. Door 2:00 - 3:00 PM. FREE for members, $15 for guests. Cash bar after your two drink tickets have been used.

Saturday, March 17th - Bar Night Play Party @ Touché. Door 6:00 - 7:00 PM. $10 for members, $15 for guests. Entry includes 2 free Well Liquor or Domestic Beer drink tickets. Cash bar after your two drink tickets have been used or for Call Liquor and Imported Beer.

Saturday, March 24th – Bears, the Baths, and Beyond @ Steamworks. 1:00 – 6:00 PM Coupon for $5 off the price of admission for members.

Wednesday, March 28th – Weeknight Bar Play Party @ Jackhammer. Door 7:30 - 8:30 PM. $10 for members, $15 for guests. Cash bar after your two drink tickets have been used.

Sunday, April 1st – Jackhammer, 2:00 PM
Saturday, April 21st – Touché, 6:00 PM
Wednesday, April 25th – Jackhammer, 7:30 PM
Saturday, April 28th – Steamworks, 1:00 PM
Sunday, May 6th – Jackhammer, 2:00 PM
Saturday, May 19th – Touché, 6:00 PM
Wednesday, May 23rd – Jackhammer, 7:30 PM
Saturday, May 26th – Steamworks, 1:00 PM

All MEN are welcome to our regular monthly events. BNC provides pizza and two drink tickets at Touché and Jackhammer (cash bar after your drink tickets are used). We encourage everyone to bring their own gym bag to store clothes. We strongly encourage you to bring correct change!

While guests are always welcum at BNC events, you must join in order to attend more than one event in any six-month period! Your $15 ($20 for snail-mail newsletter delivery) annual membership gets you a $5 discount on entry to events, and reduced admission to our annual New Year’s party, and at least two free events every year.

Touché is located at 6412 N. Clark and The Jackhammer is at 6406 N. Clark, just north of Devon at the Clark/Ashland split.

Touché…
The back bar, past the restrooms, is our event location. Check your coat at the bar’s front door, and check your clothes just inside the back bar. In case you have to use the men’s room while you’re at the event, we have bathrobes to provide the required degree of modesty!

Jackhammer…
Our event location at the Jackhammer is “The Hole” with some very hot play spaces including a sling, a St Andrew’s cross, and a workout bench.

BY CTA: #22 Clark buses stop at the corner of Clark Street and Devon Avenue, as does the #155 Devon bus which connects to the Red Line at the Loyola station.
#36 Broadway buses and SOME #151 Sheridan buses begin and end their routes end at Clark and Devon.
TAXIS: If you’re cabbing, you will find LOTS of cabs dropping off and picking up passengers at Touché and Jackhammer.
PARKING: There is a pay-box parking lot across Clark Street. Please remember to pay for parking until 9 PM for Saturday and Wednesday parties as the city’s new parking agreement with a private contractor has resulted in much tighter enforcement. Additionally there is plenty of parking on the surrounding streets. Do NOT park in the small lot on the north side of the hardware store or in the former Wendy’s on the north side of Touché. You will be towed from either location.

All guests at Touché events MUST either RSVP or be accompanied by a current BNC member. RSVP’s will only be accepted via email sent to bncinfo@bearnaked.org and MUST be sent no later than 3 PM on the day of the party. If you are not either a current paid or renewing member, accompanied by a current member, or on the RSVP list, you will not be admitted.

Sponsorship is NOT required for guests to enter any BNC event.

While BNC as a club provides the bartenders and the clothing check guys a small gratuity for each event, we ask all members to remember to tip for services rendered just as they normally would in any bar. This is especially important at our New Year’s Eve event as the staff working this party pass up what would be their best night for tips to provide us with excellent service we receive from these great guys. We know it’s not easy carry a lot of cash when you’re naked, but money in your sock always works, or alternately you can tip up front.

Steamworks is a private membership gym / sauna / bathhouse exclusively for men 18 years and older,
open 24/7/365. Steamworks is located at 3246 N. Halsted between Belmont and Aldine in the heart of Boystown. Steamworks offers BNC members a rotating series of discount coupons to attend their Bears, the Baths and Beyond events on the fourth Saturday of each month.

For more information including directions, parking, membership and room and locker rates, please visit their website at: www.steamworksonline.com/chicago/chicago.html

Camp Buckwood / 4 Seasons Lodge is a private all male clothing optional campground and resort located near Spearsville, Indiana – about 1 hour south of Indianapolis – offering tent camping, RV sites, cabins, a Bed and Breakfast lodge, swimming pool, hot tub, hiking trails, etc.. For more information on Camp Buckwood visit their website at www.campbuckwood.com or call 812-597-2450.

BNC is always looking for volunteers. You can help by becumming a BNC volunteer! Our event volunteers get free entry to the event they work, and volunteers who work on a regular basis or who help out behind the scenes to do the footwork that makes events happen get a healthy batch of “BearBuck$” that they can redeem to pay annual membership and/or to pay for entry to events. Without volunteers, BNC does not exist, and BNC events don’t happen. What are YOU doing to help BNC give you good times?

If you can help out either occasionally or on a regular basis, please e-mail bncinfo@bearnaked.org with your name and contact info.

BNC is requesting all members who have not already done so to sign up for delivery of the BNC Newsletter via email. Besides, being a much greener method of receiving your newsletter, you will help BNC save money and time.

Email us at bncinfo@bearnaked.org with the email address you want to use and your first and last names. We’ll test it, update the database, and save us all some time and money. The more of our membership that moves to this service, the more often we will have free events!

If you are on-line, visit our web site at http://www.bearnaked.org. You can find the schedule, "frequently asked questions", membership registration forms for download, and a whole lot more-even an e-mail link to get information. Check it out and tell us what you think.