Prepping for the 4th

well, the fourth of july long holiday weekend is upon us and these are the four days we are targeting to hit laguna beach with our petitions to SAVE the BOOM!!!

please try and volunteer 1 or 2 hours (there are 96 hours making up this long weekend!) to help us get signatures. we will be setting up tables at different times throughout the weekend at the 3 large supermarkets in town, pavilions, ralphs and albertsons. we hope to have a pair of volunteers at the tables outside these storers.

additionally, we will be hitting the beaches, downtown, and walking door to door in some of the neighborhoods.

please come by my place to pick up your clipboard, pen, petitions, materials and a Free www.savetheboom.com cool t-shirt (FREE to all petition drive volunteers).

refreshments will be served. and we will have plenty of cape cods on hand in support of a similar effort that occurred in provincetown, massachusetts last summer that was successful in keeping the boatslip hotel and bar from being torn down by a chicago developer and replaced by condos.

the petition drive has really picked up steam the past couple of weeks, but we want to make a big push over the weekend when lagunans will be out and about and there will be lots of visitors in town as well.

thank you very much for your help to SAVE the BOOM!!!

Press Release: Gentry Joins Effort

Former Mayor Robert Gentry to Serve as Co-chair of SAVE the BOOM!!!

Coming Out of Retirement to Lead Effort to Fight for Laguna’s Gay History and Future Urges Community to Come Together


LAGUNA BEACH, CA – Robert F. Gentry who served for 12 years on the Laguna Beach City Council including three terms as Mayor from 1982 to 1994 will become Co-chair of the grassroots citizen’s effort recently launched to save Laguna’s historic Coast Inn and Boom Boom Room. These two establishments are the cornerstone of Laguna’s gay life, and the Boom Boom Room is arguably the oldest continuously operating gay bar in the Western United States.

In accepting the leadership role in the campaign to SAVE the BOOM!!!, Gentry stated, “I am pleased and proud to join the efforts of Lagunan's and visitors alike in saving the historic Boom Boom Room from demolition and redevelopment.”

In an open letter to the community released today entitled “Save the Boom Boom Room: A Laguna Beach necessity!” Gentry stated that, “scores of gay men and women have helped to define Laguna Beach as an art colony, a sea side resort, a charming old world village, an open and affirming culture. It is now time for the community to come together again and save an important symbol, The Boom Boom Room and the historic Coast Inn. By expressing the community's value in saving this important historical business and structure, the community is affirming its respect for and tie to the gay community. Nothing could be more important at this point in time.”

SAVE the BOOM!!! Founder Fred Karger, said that, “we are thrilled to have someone so respected in Laguna Beach come on board in a major way. Bob Gentry was one of the early leaders in gay civil rights in the nation and to have him help head-up this campaign is a major boost to our efforts. He had tremendous success in saving many other things for Laguna during his 12 years on the City Council. His experience, contacts, leadership and dedication will be invaluable.

Among Gentry’s many firsts was becoming the first openly gay mayor in the United States.

Here is Bob Gentry’s Open Letter:

Save the Boom Boom Room: A Laguna Beach necessity!


I am pleased and proud to join the efforts of Lagunan's and visitors alike in saving the historic Boom Boom Room from demolition and redevelopment.

Why? For the past several decades the people of Laguna Beach, along with their neighbors and visitors have saved a number of important community assets. Here are a few examples. While serving 12 years on the Laguna Beach City Council, and as the Mayor of the City, we were successful in saving Sycamore Hills from massive development. Laguna Canyon was then threatened with the development of 10,000 homes and the ensuing traffic. The people of Laguna Beach saved the canyon by voicing their opposition to its demise and taxing themselves to purchase the property as open space. This action followed the historic saving of our coastline in the 70's from high rise development. The horrible pandemic of HIV/AIDS devastated the City of Laguna Beach, and the people again stepped forward to save the lives of many residents and visitors by establishing the only local AIDS Task Force in the County. That effort educated hundreds of citizens, and saved many lives. The giant oil and gas industries petitioned the federal government to permit oil and gas exploration off the coast of Laguna Beach. Again, the people spoke against this horrible development, and the outer continental shelf off of Laguna Beach is now immune from exploration. We saved the beautiful coastline, again.

So, now we are faced with another saving opportunity. Every community has its "tap roots" into history, tradition, and identity. One primary tap root for Laguna Beach is the gay community. Scores of gay men and women have helped to define Laguna Beach as an art colony, a sea side resort, a charming old world village, an open and affirming culture. It is now time for the community to come together again and save an important symbol, The Boom Boom Room and the historic Coast Inn. By expressing the community's value in saving this important historical business and structure, the community is affirming its respect for and tie to the gay community. Nothing could be more important at this point in time. Yes, this is private property and a private business. But it has the symbolism so important to the definition of Laguna Beach. Expressing ones desire to save this symbol sends a powerful message to our elected and appointed officials. This expression assists them in finding ways to keep Laguna Beach an important international destination resort, a creative enclave on the Orange Coast, and a community who truly cares about its history and all of its residents.

Get involved, sign the petition, and let's again save Laguna Beach!

More front-page coverage

here is the link to dan beighley's story from friday's Laguna Beach Coastline Pilot.

http://www.coastlinepilot.com/front/story/48882p-74578c.html

another great front page story. mr. hazy can be a hero to the community if he is willing to extend the lease for the hotel and the boom. city officials have confirmed that mr. hazy has not submitted any plans to the city yet, so any renovation will be a long way off. let's hope he does the right thing and keeps the boom open while he proceeds with his planning.

will keep you posted.

and don't forget to help out this weekend for a couple of hours by taking a petition around and getting signatures to help SAVE the BOOM!!! -- more on that later.

More coverage from Dana Miller

this write-up is from dana miller's column in the current issue of IN Los Angeles Magazine:

Not long ago I wrote of a friend with a plan. A dear, elegant gent named Fred Karger is on a mission with intense passion to save the Boom Boom Room in Laguna. It has been sold to a straight guy for millions and apparently the guy's concept is an upscale bed & breakfast with a swell restaurant. Fred is tenacious, if nothing else. He has just launched his new Web site, filled with action items including a petition. Check it out at savetheboom.com. Good luck Fred!


thank you, dana!

Saturday's Signature Gathering


yesterday if you were grocery shopping at ralphs market in laguna beach you would have seen a card table, signs, candy, two enthusiastic signature gatherers and some excitement from the customers (and yes, a giant piñata). at several points there was a line to sign the SAVE the BOOM!!! petition.

to get your own petition, simply go to http://savetheboom.com/ and print one out for yourself. they are fun and easy to use. sign the top box and get four more signatures from your friends and family and mail in to the address at the bottom of the petition: 1278 Glenneyre, #20, laguna beach, ca 92651

Independence Weekend Petition Drive


and we are planning a big Independence Weekend Petition Blitz in laguna from friday, june 30th through tuesday, july 4th. please let me know via return email if you would like to volunteer anytime throughout the weekend and include your phone number.

thank you very much and remember: SAVE the BOOM!!!

The word is spreading

yesterday's Laguna Beach Independent ran a front page story on SAVE the BOOM!!! it's the lead story and is continued on page 8. just scroll down to p 8 to see the rest of the story.

Here's a PDF version.

have already gotten a lot good feedback.

Press Release: Petition Drive Launches

Petition Drive Kicks Off Today to SAVE the BOOM!!!

LAGUNA BEACH – the grassroots campaign to save the endangered Boom Boom Room and Historic Coast Inn (1401 South Coast Highway, Laguna Beach CA 92651) launched its petition drive today with a goal of gathering 5,000 signatures by Labor Day. “June 1st is the start of the Hurricane season on the East Coast, but this will be the Laguna Hurricane Season,” stated
Fred Karger, founder of Save the Boom!!! http://www.savetheboom.com/

“I spoke to the organizer of a similar effort in Provincetown, MA. Last summer they collected 3,500 signatures to stop a Chicago developer from tearing down the Boatslip and building condominiums in its place. We want to get more signatures than they did and hope to have the same results,” stated Karger. The Boatslip is a mostly gay hotel and bar in Provincetown, MA, a popular beach resort on the tip of Cape Cod.

We want to show the City leaders of Laguna Beach that the residents of Laguna, as well as visitors to our city want to keep the Boom Boom Room and the Coast Inn gay. The Boom Boom Room is the oldest continuously operating gay bar in the Western United States.

The Coast Inn was sold last fall to Steven F. Udvar-Hazy, a Beverly Hills Billionaire for a reported $13 million. He also purchased the properties across the street for another $12 million. Udvar-Hazy is the 125th richest American on the Forbes list, worth an estimated $2.5 billion.

SAVE the BOOM!!! was started in March of 2006 with the goal of preserving the second oldest hotel in Laguna Beach built in 1929 and the Boom Boom Room which dates back to the 1960’s.