Where do I begin - the results?  Hang on!

First and foremost, I want to thank all of you who took the time to nominate these wonderful bears and came back to vote.  Apparently, some of you got a little carried away with the voting.  Where we saw obvious voting irregularities - we attempted to correct the tabulation.  Was the system perfect? - not even close - but we tried to control it the best we could.  Understandably, this left a few of you frustrated.  It was never our intent to create DRAMA - and our apologies to any and all who felt slighted.  We have a year to figure it out.  And for those of you who are still unhappy, I'm sure we'll read about it on Facebook.

The spirit of the Best of the Bears has been to celebrate those in the community who go above and beyond.  And this year, I am proud to call many of the winners and nominees my friends.  And the envelope for Best Actress goes to . . .

Bear of the Year - Jack Sugrue of the Lazy Bear Fund

Best Bear Artist - Mr Cub PDX - Brent Marr

Best Bear Bar - Diamond Jim's Detroit

Best Bear Podcast/Blog - Bears in the City

Best Bear Business - WOOFtease

Best Bear Campsite - Hillside Campgrounds

Best Bear Club - NE Ursamen

Best Bear Fundraiser - Joe Mannetti

Best Bear Performer - PA Cooley

Best Bear Porn Site - Pantheon Bear

Best Bear Pornstar- Patrick Montanna

Best Bear Publication - BEAR Magazine

Best Bear Resource - BEARNATION.us

Beat Bear Run - Bears of Liberty Weekend

Best Bear Video - Woof Strapped

Best Bear Website - BEARNATION.us

Please join me in celebrating the Best of the Bears 2009