August 3, 2024 PALS Bastinado in Pensacola, FL https://fetlife.com/events/1555321
August 10, 2024 Rack Room Bootblacking 101 in Milton, FL
August 17, 2024 LBT Mummification in Mobile, AL https://fetlife.com/events/1560023
August 31, 2024 The Vulgarians Bootblacking 101 in Tallahasse, FL https://fetlife.com/events/1541237
September 21, 2024 Vendor Faire in Tallahasse, FL https://fetlife.com/events/1482912
October 4 - 5, 2024 PALS Ample Samples in Milton, FL https://fetlife.com/events/1464216
October 11 - 13, 2024 Atlanta Pride
October 19, 2024 Second Annual Fire Day Bootblacking in Robertsdale, AL https://fetlife.com/events/1594348
October 22nd CASE Munch Panhandle Chapter in Robertsdale, AL https://fetlife.com/events/1604149 
November 2, 2024 PALS Monthly Demo in Pensacola, FL
November 9, 2024 Levi and Leather Bootblacking at The Roundup in Pensacola, FL
November 16, 2024 LBT Presenting Gas Masks in Mobile, AL
November 19, 2024 CASE Munch Panhandle Chapter in Pensacola, FL
December 5 -8, 2024 Florida Power Exchange Bootblacking in Tampa Bay, FL https://fetlife.com/events/1495185

What a journey the last year and some change has been. The decision to run started at South
Plains LeatherFest 2023 after sitting in on a class. Shortly after the class I had taken the time to
speak with a few different individuals at the event to include title holders, bootblacks, and
producers. After speaking with each I sat with my Ma'am and asked for her permission to run.
She glowed and simply responded, “You got this and I got you.” Those simple words gave me a
bit of reassurance. I wasn’t confident about it but felt that with Ma'am supporting me I could do
this.

Once back home I started letting friends, family and community know that I had decided that I
was going to be running for SouthEast Bootblack the following year. The amount of support,
love, and reassuring words swept over me like a tidal wave. I was shocked by it all. Each and
every person gave a very similar statement, “How can I help?” I was once again shocked as my
people gave money, items, or physical aid for the coming year.

With a renewed confidence boost I started to get ready. Then SELF 2024 finally arrived. Then it
was over. The weekend was a blur. It started and ended so fast that I am not sure what
happened at some points. At the end of SELF I was given the opportunity to represent SELF as
the SE Bootblack.

I was filled with a mix of emotions. Some emotions I expected such as joy, validation, success,
and excitement. The emotions I didn't expect were fear, nervousness, and unease. It took me a
few days after the event to finally realize why I was feeling these emotions. I was worried that I
wasn't going to be enough and that I would not honor the title that had been given to me. My
Ma'am once again reassured me and reminded me that I was picked to represent the title by not
a few but by the community at SELF. They believed that I could honor the title. With this
reassuring thought the fear, nervousness, and unease backed away, still there but controlled
and held back.

So a big thanks to SELF, Lady Catherine Gross, and her staff for everything they have done and
continue to do. This event would not feel like home without all the things you each do. SELF
feels like a warm embrace each time I go and I know it has to do with those who work it.
Thank you to all of judges. You all had a hard task and I thank you all so much for choosing me
to serve as the SE Bootblack this next year. I promise to do my best and earn the honor you
have given to me.

Thank you to the Den Mafia, slave abby and Bea Uty. Y'all where so amazing with making sure
we started each event on time and supported us when we needed it. In addition those fans
where fantastic and really helped battle that Atlanta heat.

A huge thanks to boy Dave for all of the insight you gave over this weekend. Your words of
wisdom, insight, and keen eye helped so much over the weekend. I will not forget all the help.
A big thank you to my leather family, community, and friends. Your support through this last year
and during the event where instrumental in my success. I promise to do you proud and to
represent the Emerald Coast with the best of my abilities.

The biggest of thanks to my Ma'am. You are amazing and this weekend went so smooth. You
did everything with a broken foot. I am so thankful that you where at the event. Your words
helped me through the weekend and your lap was a safe place for my tears when my anxiety
peaked.

So what is next for this bootblack? Well I will be going to The Red Chair for Leather weekend
this month. I plan to attend most of my local area events for the next few months. I have been
asked to present in Tallahassee in August which really excites me to teach about Bootblacking. I
am looking forward to more teaching opportunities to come up as well.

If you are interested in having me come out your way please feel free to contact me. I would
love to get the chance to present all over the south east and further.
Email SE.bootblack2024@gmail.com
Facebook Keriis
FetLife Keriis

It is already October and how the time has flown by so far. Over the last few months I have had quite a few opportunities to get out and show people my passion for bootblacking and leather care. I love the look I see when I explain how easy basic leather care can be.

So where and what have I done these last few months. Well over the course of the last three months I have taught my Leather Care 101 class three different times to quite a few people. I taught at my local Dungeon, The Rack Room to get some of the cobwebs knocked out from teaching, then onto Tallahassee where I taught to a group called The Vulgarians, and finished the teaching of the class with an online class with CASE. Each time I taught the class I was able to find a few things to tweak the class and make it better. All three groups want me to come back and teach the next stage. I am very excited to be able to do that for them in the next couple of months.

Besides teaching I have done quite a bit more bootblacking for the local and nearby communities. I was at Levi and Leather night at The Round Up in Pensacola and have been asked to return again in November to do it again. In addition I have been out to Tallahassee for a vendor faire where I was given a few take home projects along with working the stand.

In addition to this, I have had a few bootblack labs at my home with a few individuals who I am mentoring. Working with these individuals and seeing them grow and gain the skills brings great joy to my heart. One of my mentees came with me to one of my bootblack events and did drop of leather for me while I worked the stand. It was amazing to see them grow and gain some confidence in what they are doing.

Overall I am very excited for what I have done and am more so excited for all the things to come. Hopefully I will get some more opportunities to teach in the future. Anyone interested in me coming out to teach or doing online classes please let me know. I would absolutely love to share my skills, knowledge, and my passion with more people.

Over the last two and a half months I have had many different opportunities to teach, talk about who I am, and make great new friends. I have traveled both physically and virtually reaching out to new areas of the southeast in ways I didn’t expect. I feel like I am helping to open doors to future bootblacks. All of this makes me so very happy and proud.

Since October I have been a part of two different online classes and one in person class where I was able to teach about basic leather care, not bootblacking. In neither class did I ever show a boot or get into the details on boot blacking, stand work, or anything of the sort. Instead the class focuses on how to identify leather, the different ways to finish leather, and how to treat it. It focuses on everyone being able to take care of their own personal objects. It is a class about showing everyone that leather care does not require tons of practice, hundreds of dollars in products, and hours upon hours of work. It is something that anyone can pick up and do. Taking care of your own leather is not only self care but also preserving a piece of your history. The class generally touches on this and as I have now taught it four times I find myself realizing that it is a very important message.

We each must take our own strides to protect and preserve our own history for those of the future. We must clean it, so that it looks attractive to those who are younger than us. We must condition it, so that it lasts for another generation. We must protect it, so that it isn’t lost and forgotten. I have had the luck of being present for a few booting ceremonies during my title run. One of the things I tell each new recipient of boots is that they need to find a bootblack to take care of their boots and then tell them your story, your history, because it MATTERS.

Anyway I have had the wonderful opportunity these last few months to work with CASE, House of Kane, The Vulgarians, and Florida Power Exchange. I have been allowed the opportunity to come to each of these groups and learn about who they are and share a bit of myself with them. I am thankful to each of them for allowing me to be a part of their communities and share my gifts with them.

From these events new classes have come to my mind and I start to prepare for them. I have finished writing my Gas Mask 101 class which I am really excited to share with folx another part of who I am. I have three demos of it already lined up and hopefully will have a few more setup before the end of the year. During Florida Power Exchange I was asked to help lead the submissive roundtable. During the roundtable the topic of alpha submissives came up and multiple individuals started asking questions and wanting to know more. So from it I have decided to work on a new class about the alpha submissive. I am not going to get into the details of what the class is about but I will say I am very excited to start writing it.

My schedule is about to get real busy and I have a lot of exciting opportunities coming up including one that is very near and dear to my heart, The Leather Quilt Project. I am going to get the chance to work on it next month and the amount of excitement and joy that I have for getting this chance is bursting from me. I am so excited and can’t wait to share the experience with everyone.

I still do have some openings in my schedule if you want to reach out and have me come teach. My class list is slowly getting longer. Till next time. Be safe and remember your history matters.

So in my last column I let everyone know that I was going to the Leather Quilt Project to participate in the care and preservation of it. Oh boy was it so much more than that. The weekend started by getting to see the quilt fully up. Getting a chance to be up close and personal with the entire thing while not at a busy con was amazing. Being able to take the time to look at each square, get giddy about seeing your local area squares, and marvel over some of the unique squares made my heart happy. Once everyone arrived we quickly pulled the entire quilt down, separated each square, and stacked them. Then the real work began. Each square was cleaned, brushed, conditioned, excess threads removed, and analyzed. Squares that were in need of repair were collected in one area while the rest were slowly laid out to allow time to dry. Over 15 bootblacks and friends working in tandem to slowly take care of this amazing piece of history. As squares where worked you could hear conversations about them. You could see the energy of each person pass into the leather they worked. The most amazing part though was seeing when someone worked a memorial patch.

For those who do not know, the Leather Quilt is a collection of many leather squares from different clubs, organizations, events, houses, and people. The smallest number of squares are the memorial ones. These special squares are a reminder of those who came before us.Watching someone who truly knew a person start working their memorial patch a wave of energy could be felt in the entire room. Silence for a moment as the energy of that person was poured into this individual square of leather. Seeing the love, energy, joy, and pain poured into the square was something that put me in awe. Then to be asked to put my own energy into it was an honor that I will never forget. For any bootblacks out there who have the chance to go work the quilt I urge you to do so. This is an event I plan to attend every year for as long as my hands, body, and mind will allow me to. Below is a writing from the Leather Quilt about the event that encourage everyone to read.

(4) Writing by TheLeatherQuilt | FetLife
So besides getting the opportunity to work the quilt, the last two months have been filled with one event after another. I have given multiple online classes on Leather Care and bootblacking. All of which were well received. In addition to this I finally got to debut my Gas Mask class to a local group for the first time. I am so happy with the response I have gotten from it and am already lined up to present it a few more times over the next few months.

Lastly at the beginning of February we had a large local event where I normally spend an entire day bootblacking for my local community. This time however I was able to sit down and work the table while my two bootblack babies got their chances to work the event. I am so very proud of both of them for the hard work, love, and energy they put into the weekend. They both rotated in and out of the chair, which never stayed empty for more than 15 minutes at a time. They worked some very dirty boots and got the chance to do some amazing work and have great conversations with people in the chair. My heart grew a bit watching this and it amazes me to see them grow in their journey.

So what is next? SPLF is around the corner and I am excited to go back to this event and hang out with lots of people. I am not on the schedule to bootblack at the event but I will definitely be hanging around that area throughout the weekend. After that I will be attending IML for the first time and then of course I have SELF shortly after that. So busy times. Till next time. Be safe and remember everyone’s history matters.

In the last 10 months I have had the opportunity to serve the southeast region as your bootblack. I am still honored by this. It took me 15 years before I thought I had the skills, charisma, knowledge, and ability to run for a title. Even with all that I still wasn’t ready. It took my Ma’am, my family, my friends, and my community standing behind me for me to finally take the steps forward to do it. I had so much support that I was a bit overwhelmed with thoughts of failing them. My family and Ma’am would not allow those thoughts to dwell in me though. They reassured me and helped banish those thoughts of failure away from me. They gave me the support only they could give.

That support not only got me through the contest, but continues to this day. I have chosen them as my family. They are the people that have my back always. They support my ideas and help them come to life. They travel with me across states, make sure I drink and eat, and provide a safe place. I am very lucky to have them and wanted to tell them once again thank you for everything.

On the note of family I had a wonderful opportunity to see my title family at SPLF this year. Not only did I get to see them, I got to watch one of them deliver a powerful Keynote at the event. Sir_Andrew, your words have touched me. Thank you so much for sharing them with everyone and being an amazing friend to me. I am excited that you are holding on to the title for another year and want you to know I got you.

SPLF was amazing this year. I was lucky enough to get a chance to work the stands as a fill in. I met some amazing people during that time. The classes at the event were wonderful, as were all of the shows, the presentations, and of course the parties. I was able to see the Leather Quilt during the weekend. Each time I passed by it I smiled knowing I helped preserve that wonderful piece of our history. I had the opportunity to go to one of the Carter Johnson Leather Library Annexes and just soak in the history there.

Besides SPLF I have had a few teaching engagements and bar nights but mostly things have been a bit quiet. That all changes though here soon as I get ready for a large local event, IML, and of course SELF. It is going to be a busy next few months and I am excited for it. As always, be safe and remember everyones history matters.

 In a flash it is over. One year of holding a title I never thought I would be ready to hold. It has been an amazing year. But before I get into all the thanks and see you laters I had one last adventure that I was able to go.

Chicago. The Windy City. The City of Big Shoulders. Chi-Town. A city of openness that absolutely blew my mind. A place where I can be who I am in the public eye and it is okay. Home to both the International Mr. Leather and The Leather Archives and Museum. What an exciting place to go as my final destination for my title year before returning home to wrap things up. Where to start with this amazing trip. The competition and event were just amazing. I am so happy that I was able to go and represent SELF. Representing SELF was huge but being able to see the first ever bootblack to win International Mr. Leather just hits a different way. A massive congratulations to Renee, International Mr. Leather 2025. On top of that I have the distinct honor and pleasure to meet Judy Tallwing McCarthey, the first International Ms Leather. I was able to fanboy so hard over this weekend.

While in Chicago I took the time to go to the Leather Archives and Museum (LA&M). I have been wanting to visit LA&M for a little over 15 years. It was absolutely worth the wait. I am so happy that I was able to bask in the history of leather for a short time. As I walked through the rooms I smiled, laughed, and cried. Being able to sit in our history really helped center me and make me think of my own history so far. I am so glad I was able to visit and would love to talk with others about it.

Now comes the bittersweet portion. I am sad that my time as the active titleholder is coming to an end. My work is nowhere near done for there are still billions of stories to hear. While I am sad for the end I am also excited and joyful to pass the torch onto the next Bootblack.

I am thankful for my family having my back this year. I am thankful to SELF for supporting me each step of the way. I am thankful to every group that either hosted me in person or online to share a bit about myself with their communities. I am the most thankful to my Ma’am S_Nicky for helping me get through it all.

I am blessed to have had this time. Thank you all for some amazing memories. Your history is a part of me. It will not be forgotten. Remember everyone's history matters.