User:Drewan

About Me
Drewan is the online name of Andrew Bertke. I'm a gay leather man living in the wilds of Minneapolis, MN with my husband and two dogs. I'm employed as a web and multimedia designer and ecommerce manager for a Twin Cities based publishing and marketing company. In my spare time I volunteer web services for numerous people and groups.

My Story
I was born on January 17, 1973 at approximately 7pm in New Orleans, LA to Sandra (Sandy) Gross, an unwed 16-year-old girl. I was given up and soon adopted my a loving couple, Alfred (Al) and Darlene Bertke, who at the time resided in Starkville, MS

As a Lutheran minister, Al was called to new churches every few years. While growing up, we left Starkville, MN in 1977, moved to Ballwin, MO(suburb of Saint Louis, MO) from 1977-1979, Alton, IL from 1979-1982, and finally Brainerd, MN from 1982-1989.

In 1988, while visiting Minneapolis, I met the man who would eventually become my husband, Joseph Agee. A year later I left home and moved into the dorms at The Minnesota Center for Arts Education, a state funded arts high school. I graduated in 1991.

In 1992, Joe and I bought our home in Minneapolis where we have lived ever since.

Marriage
Although we've considered ourselves married in the eyes of God, we never went through the ritual of a Wedding or Commitment ceremony until 2003. We were legally married on August 28, 2003, in the B.C. Room at the Royal York Hotel in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Our ceremony was officiated by Reverend Doctor Cheri DiNovo of the United Church of Canada. We shared our ceremony with three other couples, Don Kaiser & Dan Heine, Don Sakers & Thomas Atkinson, and Richard Wix & James Odon.

Experience
Web design: HTML, CSS, Flash Desktop publishing: Photoshop, Illustrator, QuarkXPress

While I prefer to work on Apple Macs, I am also very comfortable on Windows PCs.

Hosted Sites
I host several websites on a volunteer basis.

Atons.net - website for the Atons of Minneapolis, one of the oldest gay male leather clubs in the USA. This site is also mirrored to atons.us

Drewan.net - my own site

GaylacticNetwork.org - website for the Gaylactic Network, the international organization for GLBT Science Fiction fans

Gaylaxians - website for the Gaylaxian Science Fiction Society (GSFS), the first Gaylaxians club, located in Boston, MA.

LeatherJourney.com - a site for the Minnesota Leather community.

MarcDebauch.com - website for my friend, Marc Debauch, who is a local artist. This site is a gallery of his erotic art, so obviously it isn't work safe.

MNLeatherPride.org - website for the MN Leather Pride celebration

NCGaylaxians.org - website for the North Country Gaylaxians. This site is TOTALLY out of date. I'll be reorganizing it soon.