BC3: Is Orlando's newest bear club MIA?

It appears that Orlando’s new bear club may be defunct.

Bears, Cubs, Chubbies and Chasers (BC3) was created when a group of disgruntled members split off from the Bears of Central Florida last year. The new club was formed after BOCF announced its annual Bear Bust event, traditionally held in downtown Orlando, would move out of town to a resort in Kissimmee. For many of the bears, this was the final straw in relation to a club they claimed had a history of not supporting its local members.

The new BC3 club created its own event, BC3 Weekend, and scheduled it at the Parliament House the same weekend as Bear Bust. Both clubs reported success from their events and announced plans to schedule 2010 events at the same respective locations and on the same weekend.

Mark Schmidt, a remaining board member, said after BC3 Weekend’s first successful run, leadership within the club fell to himself and two or three other people.

He said communication was a real problem and members trying to plan new social events were ignored. According to Schmidt, things came to a head when BC3 vice president Luis Melendez sent out a call for timely responses for information on members.

Melendez and Schmidt say Fred Belgie, one of the founding BC3 board members who also works at the Parliament House, sent a text saying they should just shut down the club. Belgie did not return calls for comment.

“I felt betrayed, and felt like [the creation of BC3] was nothing more than an attempt to get back at BOCF for [taking Bear Bust away from] Parliament House,” Schmidt said.

Schmidt says he’s not sure what he’s going to do now, but he heard a rumor that that another bear club may be formed in Orlando.

One thing is certain: he’s not interested in rejoining Orlando’s original Bear club.

“BOCF is not interested in doing anything for the locals, not interested in doing things like a group gathering to have fun,” he said. “They just want to suck as much money as they can from Bear Bust.”

Melendez agrees that the end of BC3 creates a hole in the community.

“I’m pretty upset because I feel that Orlando needs a social group like what we had planned originally and I think we have failed as an organization,” Melendez said.

The club is non-existent at the moment, according to Melendez. Schmidt said the group can’t even officially dissolve because the required number of board members to make that decision can’t be rallied.

Schmidt is pessimistic about a revival.

“I don’t know if the BC3 event could happen again. It takes effort; it takes work; it’s not all fun,” he says. “It’s frustrating when you see a lot of work go into something and then everyone drops out.”

Melendez isn’t giving up hope just yet and says he sent e-mails to other board members offering to step away if that would keep BC3 alive.

“I’d love to rejuvenate or start something different if there’s an interest out there,” he said. 

In the meantime, BOCF has announced its new venue for Bear Bust 2010.