Save The Boom!!!

Message From Bill Clinton From Haiti

2010-02-05T10:00:00.000-08:00

Flying into Port-au-Prince for the second time since the earthquake -- I was pleased to see continued signs of an expanding relief effort.

Today, I'll help my team deliver the emergency supplies we brought with us on our plane.

Donation by donation, it's the generosity of people like you that is keeping this relief effort going. And your continued dedication is what will make sure the Haitian people have the tools and supplies they need to rebuild.

I am so grateful that you have responded to this devastating crisis. As you read this, work is underway to deliver meals, set up temporary shelters, and restore access to health services for earthquake survivors.

I'm proud that today we were able to deliver laptops, generators, plastic sheeting, protein bars, and 1,900 lbs of medical supplies.

And it's not going to stop there. Long after the television crews have gone and emergency response teams have returned to their home countries, I can promise you the Clinton Foundation will remain committed to Haiti's long-term rebuilding and recovery.

We will work with reputable organizations, the Haitian government, and most importantly the people of Haiti to ensure that they are empowered to create more opportunities for jobs, education, and health care than existed the day before this tragedy occurred.

There is a Haitian proverb, "Men anpil chay pa lou," which translates as "Many hands lighten the load."

It's going to take a lot of help and a long time, but I know that together you and I can lighten the load that the Haitian people have carried on their own for far too long.

Thank you for being part of that work with me today. I'll continue to be in touch as our work continues here in Port-au-Prince and beyond. Bill Clinton

PS. Only with your continued generosity will we be able to sustain these efforts. Please make a donation of any size today: www.clintonfoundation.org/haitiearthquake

"Saving the Boom" Premieres in Laguna Beach - Club Bounce

2009-09-02T00:09:00.000-07:00

Well, the Premiere of John Keitel's extraordinary "Saving the Boom" was the social event of the summer. Sponsored by the incredible Laguna Beach Film Society under the leadership of Joanne Story and Keiko Beatie it was a wonderful evening.

The pre-party was at Wells Fargo Bank in the party room on the 3rd floor with wonderful food, wine and an ocean view not to be believed.

Then then everyone marched over to the theater and filled it up. There were over 300 people at the premiere. The crowd laughed, cried and thoroughly enjoyed John's documentary. Many of the stars of the movie were there. After the screening there was a quick Q & A with the film's producer, John Keitel, the Narrator, Andrew Reynolds and Fred Karger, who is still hard at work SAVING the BOOM!!!

Then lots of the party goers walked the couple hundred feet around the corner to the after party at the Marine Room. Owner Kelly Boyd was there to greet the guests. Kelly had a major role in the documentary as well. Mayor Boyd was having a busy night with all that was going on downtown that night.

Here are photos form the Premiere and the screening held last Thursday at Club Bounce, the fun gay bar right across PCH from the old Boom. Owner James Nelson screened "Saving the Boom" for the folks who missed the Premier. It was a very fun night.

See lots of pictures below.

Remember the Boom has two For Sale signs in the windows. It's just waiting for the right buyer to come along. Please spread the word, and let's SAVE the BOOM!!! and Laguna's gay heritage along with it.

Thank you and scroll down to see the fun photos:

Jeannie looking gorgeous with her daughter, son-in-law and her adorable granddaughter!

The wine was a flowin'. Thanks, guys!

Peter, John, Andrew R., Andrew R., Michael and John Wooden

Movie star and longtime Laguna resident, Tom Panno on the left

Yay, Violet was there. She's in the movie and was sensational! Former Boom server.

The Narrator, Andrew, Edie, John and Steve buying some raffle tickets.

Keiko Beatie giving a short lecture on the films playing. She put the whole night together. Thank you, Keiko!!! It was magnificent.

SAVE the BOOM!!! Treasurer and "Saving the Boom" star, Shane Miller with good friends Diane and Jay Foster in from Denver for the Premiere

Film Society members are all ears listening to Keiko explain the night's films.

Fred out front. "Saving the Boom" and "Harry Potter". A great double bill!

The theater was full -- 300 + people!!!

The boys in the balcony

The marquis is coming down. What a night!!!

After Party at the Marine Room

Fred and SAVE the BOOM!!! donor Peter Montgomery

Andrew who just moved back to Laguna and Russell visiting from Cody, Wyoming

John and Neal at the Post Party

Laguna Beach Screening at Club Bounce, Thursday, August 27, 2009

The DJ spinning away. Everyone was dancing.

SAVE the BOOM!!! Calendar Models; January Joe and February Ray -in from Boston

Fred, Dan, Joe and Film Maker John Keitel

Michael visiting from Vienna loved the movie -- thumbs up!

Justin and Bounce Manager and Bartender, Michael

Cody, Dianna and Teddy (former Boom Bartender) celebrating

Thanks to one and all for helping with the film, supporting our effort and turning out to see John Keitel's wonderful film

Best regards,

Fred Karger

Founder www.savetheboom.com

2009-07-11T13:34:00.000-07:00

LAGUNA BEACH PREMIER SETPARTY PREMIER PARTY

LAGUNA BEACH, CA -- John Keitel's highly praised documentary "Saving the Boom." will have its Laguna Beach Premier this Thursday, July 16, 2009 at 7:00 pm. The film that has packed theaters in Los Angeles, Newport Beach, Palm Springs, Long Beach and recently in Tel Aviv, Israel will finally be shown in the town where the story is set. The screening is sponsored by the Laguna Beach Film Society, which has monthly showings of important films on the third Thursday of each month.

"Saving the Boom" is part of a local filmmaker's night, and will be feted at a pre-premier reception in the Community Room of Wells Fargo Bank, 260 Ocean Avenue from 6:00 to 7:00 pm. Then we'll walk the block to the Laguna South Coast Cinemas, 162 South Coast Highway for the 7:00 pm premier. Then everyone will head around the corner to the famous Marine Room Tavern,
214 Ocean Avenue for a short Q & A and drinks! We are trying to SAVE a bar after all.

Ads ran yesterday (see below) -- sponsored by SAVE the BOOM!!! -- inviting everyone in Laguna Beach to come see this wonderful story of the herculean all volunteer effort to save the historic Coast Inn and Boom Boom Room and Laguna's gay and lesbian life along with it. The film features over 40 Laguna residents, spanning at least three generations. It's funny, emotional, fast paced and sexy.

John Keitel has directed, produced and edited many award winning documentaries and will be present for all the festivities.

6:00 to 7:00 pm Reception and Movie $20.00 / Movie only $15.00

And check out the wonderful story about the Premier and SAVE the BOOM!!! by Daniella Walsh in this week's Laguna Beach Independent: CLICK HERE

The Boom Lives On, at Least in Film
Saving the Boom is more than mere nostalgia.

By Daniella Walsh

The only thing that now decorates the once fabled Boom-Boom Room is a For Sale sign. But, even though shuttered, it lives on in the minds of countless gay and straight revelers who partied there as a gay community symbol, something akin to the Stone Wall Inn, only in a happier context. Here, people pretty much danced and drank the night away without having to worry about the law, those who enforce it and gay bashers who persist in perverting it.

"The Boom was a wonderful place," recalled Laguna Beach resident Fred Karger, "It was the closest thing we had to a gay community center. It's now empty, and we want it back," said Karger, who optimistically still labors to re-open one of Laguna's main attractions for the gay tourist trade, which had fallen off but is, with the opening of new gayfriendly restaurants, on the rebound.

On Thursday, the Laguna Film Society will show "Saving the Boom," a John Keitel documentary chronicling the efforts of Karger and others who still endeavor to revive what was for many a home away from home.

The film premiered at the Los Angeles Outfest, played to packed houses at the Newport Beach Film Festival and the Long Beach Q Film Festival, and ran at the Tel Aviv Gay and Lesbian Film Festival in Israel last month. "I flew out to that and even did a major interview for a major radio station," said Karger, whose efforts to save the Boom from closure pushed him further out.

Before that, although openly gay, Karger he supported gay causes behind the scenes but never publicly.

"This was a great breakthrough for me, at age 59," he said. Former Laguna Beach mayor Bob Gentry, the nation's first openly gay elected official, was a cherished mentor and role model. Gentry co-chaired the Save the Boom campaign and is featured prominently in the movie.
Having stepped into public limelight anyway, Karger then charged into campaigning against passage of Prop. 8 and now for its repeal. "I did everything to make proponents of Prop.8 think twice," he said, including exposing the son of the Boom and adjoining Coast Inn owner Steven Udvar-Hazy as a $1000 contributor to Prop. 8 proponents.

The Boom closed in 2007 after an 18-month wrangle to keep it open. Since then, the price for the building package has fluctuated and so have its owner's fortunes. He reportedly dropped from being the 79th wealthiest person in 2007, to 288th now, in part because a sizable chunk of his wealth was in stock of now government-owned AIG. Shares that peaked in the $70s has sunk to under $2 per share.

Karger still harbors hope Hazy will unload the compound for a good price. "Hazy paid too much but perhaps it would help all of us if he sold it to us for a good price or if he were to donate the buildings to the city," Karger said. "We could put up a special trust and he could make a lot of points by helping us," he added. "I hope he'll do the right thing."

John Keitel's documentary: Saving the Boom Boom will play on Thursday, July 16 at the South Coast Cinema, 162 Pacific Coast Highway. Tickets at the door: $15 Free for Laguna Film Society members. Call: 949- 494-8971x201

2009-06-05T21:20:00.000-07:00

Steven Udvar-Hazy’s Wealth Drops 82%
Falls to #49 in Los Angeles
Boom & Coast Inn Owner May Be Ready to Sell?!

Link:
Los Angeles Business Journal

Lots of the super rich billionaires and centimillionaires in Los Angeles have lost fortunes in the last year as a result of the deepest economic downturn since the great depression. Among the worst hit is the owner of the historic Boom Boom Room and landmark Coast Inn built in 1927.

Steven Udvar-Hazy bought the building nearly 4 years ago, and put the property up for sale two years. The signs are up in the windows were they have been since Memorial Weekend 2007.

As you know, the Boom was rented out last fall to the Laguna Beach Democratic Club, and they held several highly successful fund-raisers there. The Boom was packed and fun just like the good old days before it closed Labor Day Weekend 2007.

As the sign says, contact Joe Smith at Monarch Beach Realty. Make them an offer: 949-489-1100 Let’s get the Boom back open soon!

Business Assistance Committee
Laguna Beach, like all cities is suffering from a drop of revenue. One reason for that is due to the loss of the Boom. It’s not just the loss of sales tax from the club and bed tax from the 24 hotel rooms, but Laguna Beach is far less a gay and lesbian destination resort than it was for over 60 years.

Now that the wonderful Marks Restaurant has reopened in the Canyon, the gay community is starting to come back. As we approach the busy summer season, we desperately need an anchor bar to really bring back the well-heeled gay travelers that stay in hotels, eat in our restaurants and spend lots of money around town. The gay and lesbian travel market is now a $70 billion a year industry to those who go after it. This revenue source would greatly help Laguna recover from the slowdown, and a brand new reopened Boom Boom Room and Coast Inn would really help.

“SAVING THE BOOM” Documentary in 3 Film Festivals!

Two weeks ago lots of Lagunans and other film goers made it to the screening of John Keitel’s incredible film at the Newport Beach Film Festival. The 35 minute documentary is about the LGBT history of Laguna Beach, and our efforts to SAVE the BOOM!!! “Saving the Boom” also played last Saturday to a packed house at the Long Beach Q Film Festival. And next, THE INTERNATIOANL PREMIERE of “SAVING THE BOOM” will be at the TEL AVIV Gay and Lesbian Film Festival in Tel Aviv, Israel on June 25th.

We are in discussions with the Laguna Beach Film Society to set up a screening as a part of their monthly program (a lot closer than Tel Aviv). We will keep you posted on that.
Thank you all for all your help and support as we work to SAVE the BOOM – Forever!!!
Best regards,

Fred Karger
www.SAVEtheBOOM.com
949-494-4750

"Saving the Boom" -- News Coverage

2009-04-26T20:19:00.000-07:00

I wanted to share two incredible stories from Friday’s Laguna Beach Coastline Pilot with you. The first is by Ashley Breeding, who wrote a wonderful piece about the history of Laguna’s landmark Boom Boom Room and the new documentary “Saving the Boom.” “Saving the Boom” will screen this Tuesday, April 28th at 2:00 pm in Newport Beach at the Newport Beach Film Festival. For tickets and information go to: http://newportbeach.bside.com/2009/films/ashortgayla_newportbeach2009

The second story is by filmmaker extraordinaire, John Keitel. It’s a First Person essay about his coming out, his relationship with his mother and the historical significance of Laguna Beach and the Boom. Both of these are must reads.

The stories are below in their entirety, and I have also included the links. Please forward to your email list for your friends to enjoy
Thank you and we hope to see you at the screening on Tuesday!

Laguna Beach Coastline Pilot
Friday, April 24, 2009

Battle of the Boom Room

Filmmaker John Keitel sits in the Garden of Love and Peace below the Coast Inn and the former Boom Boom Room. Keitel's movie, "Saving the Boom," documents the campaign to save the legendary gay bar as well as the adjacent Coast Inn and garden.
New documentary on campaign to save iconic gay nightclub will be shown at the Newport Beach Film Festival

By Ashley Breeding

For filmmaker John Keitel, the Boom Boom Room was more than a gay hangout: It was a place of community, and the battle to save it is personal.

The second screening of Keitel’s “Saving the Boom,” a 2008 film documentary about efforts to keep the iconic gay bar — and the gay community in Laguna Beach — alive, will be at 2 p.m. Tuesday at the Edwards Island 4 cinema during the 2009 Newport Beach Film Festival.

The film premiered last summer at Outfest, a popular gay and lesbian film festival in Los Angeles. Since that time, Keitel the film’s producer and a former Laguna resident, has updated the film with additional footage, which we will be viewed for the first time next week.

Although the Boom closed on Labor Day of 2007, despite immense efforts to keep it open, Keitel said the film still conveys an important message to this day.

“My objective was not just to save the Boom, but to make a film about a place that played a significant role in people’s lives, including my own, and to touch those people,” he said. “So little is known about gay history, so this gave me an opportunity to talk with people in the gay and lesbian community about their own stories, and to see what history is there and how we should honor it.”

The documentary follows Save the Boom leader Fred Karger and his volunteer group during their year-and-a-half effort to raise awareness and prevent the Boom from closing its doors after 60 years of service.

Interviews include those with former Laguna mayor Bob Gentry — one of the first openly gay elected officials in the U.S. — who’s served as a role model to so many who followed him, and current city council member and Boom supporter, Kelly Boyd, now the city’s mayor.

The establishment, originally named The South Seas, was purchased by business tycoon Steven Udvar-Hazy (ranked by Forbes in 2009 as the world’s 305th richest person), who planned to turn the corner building on South Coast Highway and Mountain Road into a boutique hotel and five-star restaurant.

Keitel and his crew document Save the Boom’s civil rights movement, through their march on Century City and upon Udvar-Hazy, collection of petitions to present to city council, and even to the movie premiere of “Ocean’s Thirteen,” where they protested to Brad Pitt and George Clooney, who had been rumored to be silent partners of Hazy’s and the Boom.

Perhaps the most exciting part of the documentary is the casting of “The Men of Laguna Beach” calendar, which showcased the city’s 20 hottest men and was used to raise funds for the cause. Celebrities and Boom-goers like Nicole and Heather Tom also partook.

Former Coastline Pilot reporter Josh Aden tried out and made the top 10.

Karger said he is thankful to Keitel, a longtime friend, for making his cause the focus of one of his projects.

“It brings attention to the cause, which is still going,” he said. “Through this documentary, you can see [our] passion behind it, as well as the need for a gay and lesbian place to socialize.

“It wasn’t just a bar to us, but a community center, where we could go and be accepted. We’re not giving up until we get it back.

”Keitel said the film was also a way for him to honor what Laguna meant to him, particularly the Garden of Peace and Love, where his own mother’s ashes were scattered, and where those of so many who were struck by the AIDS crisis were laid to rest.

His other documentary, “Prodigal Sons,” which tells the emotional and touching story of a transsexual named Kim, will also premiere at the festival on Monday.

FIRST PERSON:

Remembering Mom, honoring the Boom
By John Keitel

The first time I visited Laguna Beach was during spring break freshman year. It was 1983, and I had come west from Chicago for college. I was with my very straight, very “SoCal” roommate and best friend from Pasadena, and we were on our way to visit his high school girlfriend at her parents’ beach house.

The moment we swung off the 405 onto Laguna Canyon Road in his yellow pickup, I knew I was somewhere special. It was still a two-lane road back then that skirted strawberry fields and ponds close enough to touch, and the record winter rains of that January had given way to emerald hills that swayed in the late March breeze. As I looked out at the Pacific from their living room perched on the bluff above West Street beach, I had no idea just how important to me this place would become.

Four-hundred miles away in Palo Alto, the news that year of Robert Gentry’s election in Laguna Beach as one of the country’s first openly gay elected officials seeped into my fraternity boy consciousness and gave me a sense of hope and possibility that I hadn’t realized I lacked.

When I returned to pursue my master’s at USC film school in 1988, Laguna became my weekend destination of choice, and its gay heart — the Boom — the iconic bar of my youth.

Like so many others, I found love, friendship and acceptance among the sandy, tattered pool tables and rambling open-air rooms. I even met one of my first boyfriends there and with him made my first feature film. The name we chose for our production company was Boom Pictures.

My relationship with Laguna took an unexpected turn in 1991 when my mother followed me from Chicago to Leisure World in Laguna Hills. The youngest of seven children, I had come to California to chart my own course, so at first I was reluctant to embrace what I viewed as my mom’s encroachment. But nearing 70, she had been diagnosed with an emphysema-like disease, and she could no longer take the brutal winters or humid summers.

Over the next decade, my reluctance melted, and Laguna came to mean so much more to me than I could have ever imagined on that day I first encountered it.

Surrounded by the familiarity of my youth, it became my refuge from L.A., and a place I could still be my mom’s baby as her breath grew shorter. Heading out for a Saturday night, I can still hear her asking, “Where you going, honey, the Boom?” Even she was in on it.

When she passed six days before my 35th birthday, I took solace in being able to be with her, holding her hand as she took her final breath and we said goodbye. I remember sheepishly setting the pine box containing her ashes on the table next to me at the Zinc Cafe for one last meal together before heading north on PCH. I took the long way home that day.

It would be seven years until I saw Laguna again.

Fred Karger was a guy I’d met during my Laguna years. He had grown up in the suburb just next to mine back in Illinois, and we shared a hometown camaraderie.

So when I received his first e-mail blast about the Boom’s sale and imminent closing in June 2006, I gave it a dutiful read. It was slated for redevelopment as a boutique hotel and restaurant. Just what Laguna needed. It was another sad passing, but it had been so long since I’d been down there. And I was determined to keep the past in the past.

When I bumped into Fred at a party a few days later, I expressed my regrets and wished him luck. But Fred’s not just any guy. In my regrets he heard resignation, and anyone who knows Fred knows that’s not a good answer. Before I knew it, I was heading down the 405 again, camera in tow to document Fred’s efforts to save the Boom. It was Fourth of July weekend, and I was back in Laguna.

The strawberry fields were single-family homes, Laguna Canyon Road a four-lane highway with a towering toll road cutting through the San Joaquin Hills above it.

Quaint oceanfront trailer parks had given way to five-diamond resorts, and the youth-oriented surf culture had become just another set piece for reality TV.

The earthy charms that had made Laguna an oasis of inclusiveness on the Orange County coast had become its main draw, and many people, the gays included, had been priced out of the market.

Armed with an arsenal of strategies honed during a career in politics, Fred succeeded in extending the Boom’s life span by one year. Documentaries have a way of hijacking a filmmaker’s life, and this was no different.

Every time I found myself heading south for another petition drive, protest, or City Council meeting, I secretly cursed Fred and his moxie. His “Men of Laguna Beach Calendar” contest was hatched, I’m convinced, just to keep me hooked.

It worked. Over the weeks that turned into months I found myself rediscovering Laguna. People I had somehow missed my first time around were eager to share their own Boom histories with the audience my camera promised. And places I had been countless times before offered up new surprises.

Nestled on the bluff below the Boom, The Garden of Peace & Love had been there the whole time. I must have passed it a million times on my way to the beach at the foot of Mountain Avenue. But the vagaries of youth blinded me to a lot of things, and the garden was one of them.

Founded by Michele Martinay in the 1980s, it began as an impromptu AIDS memorial. With the ocean surf crashing just beneath it and under the watchful care of Michele, it evolved into a hallowed ground where all Lagunans could memorialize loved ones of any stripe. I realized that my film was no longer just about a bar but about a history and the community that history had launched and nurtured.

It was also inexplicably and inescapably about Mom. The pine box where she resided had become an interesting if macabre conversation piece back home in L.A.

Ironically, her only request had been that she not end up in my closet. For more than eight years, I had been looking for an answer to a question I had been unwilling to ask. In saving the Boom, I found my answer.

With the bar and dance floor already shuttered for months above us, my siblings and I gathered at the foot of Mountain with our mom one last time. We added her name to those that had come before, painted on rocks and etched in wood, and gave her the ocean view she had always wanted.

As the breeze carried her away, I caught a glimpse of the boy that I had been. I wondered if he had become the man she had intended. I wondered if Laguna was still the town it wanted to be.

2009-04-24T00:07:00.000-07:00

SAVE the BOOM Documentary to Appear
in 2 Upcoming Film Festivals

LAGUNA BEACH – John Keitel’s well received documentary, “Saving the Boom,” will be shown in 2 premier Southern California Film Festivals.

The prestigious Newport Beach Film Festival is the first to host John’s documentary on Tuesday, April 28th at 2:00 pm at the Edwards Island 2 Theater. For tickets and information go to: Newport Beach Film Festival The documentary is reviewed and rated 5 stars!

Then on Saturday, night May 8th Saving the Boom" will appear in the Long Beach Q Film Festival. tel. 562-434-4455 or email: kimw@centerlb.org for ticket information.

"Saving the Boom" premiered last summer at Outfest in Los Angeles, with special celebrity guests, George Clooney and Brad Pitt on the red carpet to kick off the festivities.

I you missed it last summer, come to either Newport Beach or Long Beach. You will love this movie! It is the full story off all of our efforts and activities over 1 ½ years to save our landmark bar. If you are not in the film, you will know plenty of people who are. It is a beautifully told story about Laguna and its gay and lesbian life and history.

For a sneak preview of Saving the Boom, click on this link: Current TV

John Keitel’s second film in the Newport Festival has been in several other festivals around the world, and has received much critical acclaim, it’s called Prodigal Sons. It will appear in Newport Monday, April 27th at 5:30 pm.

We hope that you can join us at for these wonderful films.

There’s a New Gay Restaurant in Laguna Beach --
Marks Reopens!!!

Mark dePalma, a renowned Laguna restaurateur, has just brought back his talent and style to his brand new Mark’s, located in Laguna Canyon. I was just there last night for dinner, and it was incredible and fun, and on a Monday night no less.

Excellent food, a full bar, great looking servers and bartenders, it’s the most upbeat place in town. After loosing Woody’s and the Boom, it’s so nice to see Laguna Beach coming back with such a wonderful new addition.

Thank you Mark for your tireless work and effort to bring your beautiful and exciting Mark’s Restaurant to Laguna!

Mark’s 1st Laguna eatery was a mainstay on PCH for years, and now his new Mark’s will be around for a long time to come.

Check it out: 853 Laguna Canyon Road, Laguna Beach, CA 92651 (1/2 mile east of Coast Highway) tel: 949-715-4200 Free parking EVERYWHERE!

It’s outstanding!!! Here’s the web site: Mark’s

The Boom is Still For Sale….

Yes, the 2 For Sale signs are prominently displayed in the windows of the Coast Inn, 1401 S. Coast Highway. Owner, Steven Udvar-Hazy is going on year 2 with his property on the market. The Coast Inn and Boom Boom Room closed their doors on September 4, 2007 after a 61 year run, making it the oldest gay bar in the Western United States. It has been vacant ever since, except for a couple of months last fall when it reopened as the Laguna Beach Democratic Headquarters. Several fund-raising parties were held there, and was it ever packed.

If you are interested in purchasing this landmark, ocean front property, call Mr. Udvar-Hazy’s realtor, Joe Smith at Monarch Beach Realty 949-489-1100. Make him an offer. We have heard that Mr. Udvar-Hazy is a motivated seller.

Thanks to one and all for all of your help and support as we work to SAVE the BOOM – Forever!!!

Best regards,

Fred Karger
www.SAVEtheBOOM.com
949-494-4750

SAVE the BOOM!!! -- UPDATE

2009-04-23T23:53:00.000-07:00

State Could Help SAVE the BOOM!!! And First Anniversary of AIG Demonstration

LAGUNA BEACH, CA – Please read Cindy Frazier’s excellent front page column (below) from this week’s Laguna Beach Coastline Pilot on what’s happening in our efforts to SAVE the BOOM!!! There is a state fund, California Infrastructure and Economic Development Bank (I-Bank) whose “mission is to finance public infrastructure and private development that promote economic growth, revitalize communities and enhance quality of life for Californians.” Sounds like bringing back the gay and lesbian community to Laguna Beach might qualify us for some assistance.

We will keep you posted on our efforts.

FROM CANYON TO COVE:Dream of a new ‘Boom’ still alive
By Cindy Frazier
Friday, April 3, 2009

Laguna’s gay activist Fred Karger may be entitled to a little “schadenfreude” — translation, enjoyment of another’s misfortune — in the AIG mess.That’s because Karger’s nemesis, Steven Udvar-Hazy, is a major shareholder at AIG and his airplane leasing division — formerly the proverbial “cash cow” of the company — is now cash poor and may be going begging to stay in business.And Karger has a deal for him: make some quick bucks by selling the Coast Inn and Boom Boom Room.Karger has been fighting to save the iconic — now shuttered — gay bar where Rock Hudson hung out with other celebrities in the closeted ’50s and ’60s. The bar was around since the 1920s and is believed to have been the oldest continuously operating gay bar in the state, if not west of the Mississippi.Udvar-Hazy purchased the site and Coast Liquor, with its Gay Mart nearby, as well as a residential property, a couple of years ago when the real estate market was over-the-top.

The Boom Boom Room — already on its last legs — was closed a year later, and the last major piece of Laguna’s historic gay area went bye-bye. You can find most of it relocated to the desert at Palm Springs — where the famed Dinah Shore lesbian confab swings into high gear this weekend — but it’s just not the same as the ocean-breeze-filled Boom.Apparently, Udvar-Hazy has set his sights on purging Laguna of its gay identity: He closed the Boom, never opened anything else there, announced that his plans for the property will definitely NOT include a bar or restaurant — and to add insult to injury his son donated $1,000 to the campaign for Proposition 8, the same-sex marriage ban.At some point, Udvar-Hazy put the property back on the market after a meeting with city officials didn’t end with support for some ambitious redevelopment plan.

Karger says he brought Udvar-Hazy well-qualified — translation: well-heeled — suitors willing to fork over enough to buy the place outright. But the bazillionaire (or former bazillionaire) hemmed and hawed and eventually declined to sell to these parties — who promised to reopen the Boom as a gay establishment.One thing (fighting to save the Boom) led to another (fighting the same-sex marriage initiative), and Karger, a “retired” Republican political consultant, is now leading the charge against the Mormon Church’s support for Proposition 8. Somehow, Karger got hold of some secret high-level Mormon documents and is in the process of blowing the lid off what he sees as a possible conspiracy by the church to secretly buy the election in violation of Fair Political Practices Commission rules. “Mormongate,” as the affair is being called due to its “deep throat” characters, is a twisted tale of coverups and religious zealotry that will make a good read when it can be reported.

But I digress.Plans for a beautiful restoration of the historic Coast Inn are slowly wending their way through the city bureaucracy. They were sent back for revisions in October and there’s no telling when the plans will be approved.Enter Karger with a new, and improbable, funding source: the State of California.The resourceful Karger has discovered a pot of money dispensed under the jurisdiction of the secretary of Business, Transportation and Housing. The California Infrastructure and Economic Development Bank has millions sitting around waiting for worthy projects, including historic restorations, to benefit communities.And why not use some of it to benefit Laguna’s gay community and restore the city’s preeminence as a gay resort?

He’s already made contact with the secretary, who indicated interest, and if he can get city officials on board, the Coast Inn and Boom Boom Room could be restored using the very plans now in the process of revision. Of course, there would be one caveat: a gay bar would be part of the project.The Boom could revitalize a neglected but lucrative segment of the visitor population to Laguna Beach, which was snubbed last summer by our own Conference and Visitors Bureau, which declined to promote the city as a same-sex wedding destination despite the obvious benefits.A gay and lesbian cultural center in Laguna Beach would provide a way station for visitors and keep the historic culture of the city intact, and there’s no better place for it than the Boom Boom Room.“Dinah” west, anyone?

One Year Since AIG Demonstration in Los Angeles

It seems like no one had heard of AIG just a year ago, as several dozen of us made our way up to Los Angeles for our noon-time demonstration to seek AIG’s help to SAVE the BOOM!!! We delivered a letter to then AIG Chairman of the Board, Martin Sullivan asking his help to get Steven Udvar-Hazy to donate or greatly reduce his asking price of the historic Coast Inn and the Boom Boom Room which was closed on September 3, 2007. Mr. Udvar-Hazy purchased the property in 2005 and heads the International Lease Finance division of AIG. We created a lot of excitement in Century City that day and received a lot of news coverage. We even got a nice letter from AIG that you can read below.

Los Angeles Times

Orange County Register

Laguna Beach Independent

KTLA Television

Reuters News Service

The Boom Boom Room Is Back

2008-10-30T00:49:00.000-07:00

No on Prop 8 Fund-Raiser Fills the House!!!

LAGUNA BEACH – If you were lucky enough to be at the gay landmark Boom Boom Room last Saturday night for the Halloween Party and Fun(d)-raiser for No on 8, you know all about it. If not, there are lots of pictures below of all you missed. It was just like the good old days, packed, fun and just what the doctor ordered. Thousands of dollars were raised, the speeches were short and the incredible dj spun til closing.

Special thanks go out to Laguna Beach Democratic Club Headquarters Manager and Party Chair Audrey Prosser, who ran the party like a well oiled machine, Event Promoter Glen Kasper who made this the party of the year, and all the volunteers who decorated, bartended, kept running out to buy more supplies – literally the dozens of people who worked so hard to make this event such a huge success. Let’s keep the Boom open for more special events instead of the empty storefront that it has been for over a year. It’s good for the ecconomey and good for Laguna.

Lots of people came in from San Diego, LA, Long Beach and even Palm Springs for the fund-raiser. It was so great to see so many Boom regulars. It definitely reinvigorated me to continue our campaign to SAVE the BOOM – Forever!!!!

Here are lots of photos from last Saturday for your viewing pleasure:

Audrey and Harpo Marx

Volunteer Bartenders Ryan, Steve and Reid

Father Fred with Sarah Palin and John McCain

Even the Boom Dancers Were Back at the Boom!

Andrew and Friends Making Mary!

Joe the Plumber (Glen) On Break with Save the Boom Treasurer & Fighter Pilot Shane

And the Winners Are, Missy and Dede Devine

Jeremy and Phil Back at the Boom!

Incredible Decorations Were Everywhere. Thank you Glen and Company!!!

Steve and Ryan Toasting the Night

Two Cute Cats!

Hmmmm, King Kong Meets Another Monster

Evan and Steve Bringing Home the Soda

It Got Pretty HOT at the Boom as the Night Wore on for the Men and Women Behind the Bar

Patrick Took a Break From Putting Out Fires to Help Keep the Mood Festive

Even Though the Owners Took the Rainbow Flag off the Roof, It’s Proudly Flying Back at the Boom Again!!!

AJ and Chris Came in for the Party. Wait, Where’s Chris??

The Girls Were Out in Force. She’s a Good Witch!

Now That’s Scary!

Josh is Not Wearing a Costume, but Was Very Popular None-the-less…..

And the Boom-Spangled Banner, Was So Gallantly Streaming

Well Be Back! SAVE the BOOM—Forever!!!

-- the end --

Halloween Party at the Boom Boom Room -- 2008

2008-10-22T19:44:00.000-07:00

Boom Party Weekend Parties Parties Parties

2008-10-12T23:52:00.000-07:00

NEWS UPDATE October 13, 2008 Contact: Fred Karger 949-494-4750

Parties at the Boom Boom Room Friday and Saturday Nights
Club Bounce (the old Main Street) Packed Both Nights

LAGUNA BEACH, CA – Friday’s fund-raiser for No on Prop 8 and another big party at the Boom on Saturday for the Laguna Beach Democratic Club were standing room only and fun, fun, fun. Here are some photos for you to enjoy in case you missed the festivities.

Looks like Glen Kasper and Laguna Muse are hosting a No on Prop 8 Halloween fund-raiser at the old Boom through the Democratic Club on Saturday night, October 25th. If you have never been to a Glen Kasper Halloween party, you are in for a treat!
Dan and Bobby -- Friday Night Out
Set Her Up Joe, I Mean Julie
A New Generation Enjoying the Boom
Saturday’s Band, Back at the Boom
Big Mike and Little Mike Bartending Across the Street at the Always Fun Club Bounce

Max and Patrick Taking a Break

The Dance Flor Was Packed

If you Haven’t Been Yet, Check it Out! 1460 S. Coaast Hwy.

Boom Boom Room Reopens

2008-09-17T11:39:00.000-07:00

1401 S. Coast Highway is Open for Business

LAGUNA BEACH – If you have been driving down the Coast Hwy. lately you would have seen people, lines, the paper off the windows, and the lots of activity. It is not an illusion; it is the new headquarters for the Laguna Beach Democratic Club. Here are some photos to bring back lots of great memories.

Ahhhhhh, the old place looks good

Bartender, or Rather Super Volunteer Lagunan Audrey Prosser Pouring

Yeah, the Rainbow Flag is Back!!! Looks Like a No on 8 Sign, too!

Wow, Even the Stage is Back Where the Dreamgirls Used to Perform Every Wednesday Night

And I Had to Walk Down to -- What is Now One of the Most Famous Gardens in California – (Font Page Stories in both the Orange County Register and the Los Angeles Times!), Michel Martenay’s Garden of Peace and Love – It Looks So Beautiful.

Special thanks to all the volunteers who maintain the Garden and especially to Glen Kasper and everyone at Laguna Muse who spearheaded the drive to restore it.

We will keep you posted on what happens next……

Best regards,

Fred Karger
Founder
www.savetheboom.com
949-494-4750

2008-09-09T02:31:00.000-07:00

dear friends – I am not sure if you saw this incredibly moving story on the front page of Sunday's Los Angeles Times by Susannah Rosenblat, She came to our Saturday cleanup of the garden a few weeks ago that was sponsored by Laguna Muse. The Garden of Peace and Love has been around for two decades, and serves as a memorial to all those who lost their lives to HIV / AIDS. Muse has been organizing many events in Laguna over the summer and has now taken over the responsibility of maintaining the Garden of Peace and Love. Muse also publishes a bi monthly newsletter that you are probably familiar with.

I hope that you will take a few minutes to read this heroic story about Michel Martenay and his stuggle with HIV / AIDS, the very disease that he has memoriazed in the garden that he created just below the old Boom Boom Room.

here's the link and the full story is also below:

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-gardener7-2008sep07,0,5206093.story?page=1

Cultivated for AIDS victims, Laguna Beach garden is missing its keeper

Joe Nygaard waters the Garden of Peace and Love for his neighbor Michel Martenay, who has been tending to the plot on a Laguna Beach bluff for more than 20 years. The groundskeeper is now being cared for at a hospice in Anaheim.

The man who tended to a plot that became the resting place of many in the once-thriving gay community is himself fighting the disease.

By Susannah Rosenblatt, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
September 7, 2008

The small patch of flowers serves as a reminder. It commemorates lives lost and souls remembered. The ashes of 50 or so are scattered or buried there.

But the freshly turned topsoil and budding sweet alyssum in the modest garden on the Laguna Beach bluff are deceiving: The gardener is missing.

Michel Martenay nurtured this little spot for more than 20 years, tugging weeds and planting perennials on his own time with his own money. He installed stone cherubs and lined the dirt with heart-shaped rocks gathered from the beach below.

Now, the man who cultivated this memorial to those struck down by ailments such as AIDS, which ravaged the city's once-vibrant gay community some two decades ago, is himself battling the disease.

"Every time I cry, because I would like to take care of it again, see my garden," Martenay says, his so-blue eyes brimming, his head in his hands. Instead, he spends most days in an Anaheim hospice. The 25 pills he's supposed to swallow every morning make him sick; he sheds pounds from his hollowed-out frame. Unable to work, he worries about money but tries to stay positive about the future.
He spends his days feeding the songbirds and chasing cats and pigeons from a birdbath in the hospice courtyard. The fuchsia bougainvillea climbing the iron fence is no substitute for his Garden of Peace and Love.

Finding his calling

The native Parisian first visited Laguna Beach more than 25 years ago. He'd broken up with a boyfriend. A neighbor had suggested the pretty city hugged by canyons and waves. He was smitten.

Martenay walked everywhere, through town, along the sand. He stumbled upon a forlorn tangle of weeds, rubbish and beer bottles where he was told the ashes of two strangers were buried.

"This garden, nobody take care," says Martenay in his thick French accent, puffing on the Marlboro Lights he loves. "I feel sorry for them." Thirty-nine trash bags later, he'd found his calling.

"People ask me why I do that. I say, because there is two guys buried there," Martenay says. "I do that with my heart."

A landscaper by trade, Martenay would visit the garden in the mornings and evenings, bringing all kinds and colors of donated and purchased flowers.

For several years he led a Christmas Eve candlelight vigil, honoring the memory of the dead. It drew crowds: "The people was coming crying, laughing, smoking joints." A heartbroken man bought a cherub statue to honor his dead lover. The garden became a touchstone for those who had lost loved ones, particularly to AIDS.

Next door to the former home of the storied gay nightclub the Boom Boom Room, the garden blossomed at the center of Laguna's gay culture.

A treasured spot

Former Laguna Beach Mayor Robert Gentry recalls when AIDS first hit the city in the 1980s: "Everybody was scared to death. People were wearing masks." He was ushered into businesses' back rooms when he discussed the disease.

"Laguna Beach is different today because of HIV," said Gentry, who was mayor from 1982 to 1994. During that time, he lost his partner to AIDS. Laguna "lost dozens and dozens of community leaders and activists and upstanding citizens, and that changed the city."

Los Angeles City Councilman Bill Rosendahl, who also lost a longtime partner to AIDS, considers the garden a "sacred spot." He met his late partner on that very block and used to spend weekends in Laguna's historic gay core.

The Garden of Peace and Love, as Martenay dubbed it, "had great significance to many of us who've been through the AIDS epidemic," Rosendahl said. "I would go there and pray literally in my meditative way, and remember people who have passed on.

"I'll never overcome it," he said of his loss, one that's shared by many others. "It will always be in my heart forever -- the pain and suffering we went through as a people."

The city recognized how meaningful the patch of blooms had become to the community, gay and straight. People would stop there to reflect, leave mementos, or scatter or bury the ashes of those they'd lost. The city's HIV committee provided access to a city water line to sustain the garden after the Boom would no longer allow use of its water supply.

"Michel was doing the city a favor," said Jim Spreine, a former Laguna Beach police chief who chaired the committee. "You know he does this because he loves his fellow man."

Martenay became a fixture, always puttering on that seaside bluff, talking to homeless people wandering by or rich couples meandering down the hill. He was a social maven, a tour guide, a devoted groundskeeper.

Eventually, a plaque went up at the garden honoring those afflicted by AIDS. But the gardener says the spot is for everyone, "poor, rich, whatever." With flowers always blooming and constant visitors, Martenay says, those resting there are never alone.

Community effort

About five months ago, Martenay grew weak. The 48-year-old found out he, too, had AIDS. He was in and out of the hospital. Visits to the garden tapered off. He was no longer strong enough to haul flats of flowers down the steep stairs or water vigilantly. He moved to Anaheim, where he could receive nursing care; with no car, he was separated from the plot of land he loved.

Friends stepped in. Jimmy Graesser's home overlooks the Garden of Peace and Love. He knew how much Martenay would worry about his beloved plants, so Graesser started watering when he could. Another neighbor, Joe Nygaard, pitched in, weeding and watering, clearing out dead stalks.

"I've adopted it, it's adopted me," Nygaard said of the spot. Digging in the dirt is "my way of encouraging him not to give up on his life." He treasures the pair of clippers Martenay gave him on a recent trip back; friends bring Martenay to the garden for occasional visits.

Community members organized a cleanup effort over the summer, planting dazzling maroon and gold day lilies, white iceberg roses and red geraniums, all to the back beat of the Beatles and the roaring surf. In clearing the soil, they unearthed plastic bags and canisters of ashes, plus a dirt-caked angel and stuffed bear; the discoveries were tucked carefully back underground.

"Why let his legacy go down the tubes?" asked John Madison, owner of Madison Square & Garden Cafe in Laguna, sweating with effort, as he helped plant the flowers he'd donated.

The community has rallied "to pick up where he left off," longtime Laguna resident Patrick Stanton, 50, said as he cleared out the undergrowth from around a favorite bench. "There's a lot of pain and a lot of tears, also a lot of love and a lot of smiles" in this patch of earth, he said, adding, "It's fitting that it should be beautiful."

A Labor Day fundraiser pays for weekly visits from a professional gardener. Another fundraiser and cleanup day, and beautification measures such as new signs, are planned for the fall.

And yet, for Martenay, the outpouring of help is bittersweet.

"It's very good. I'm very happy," he says wistfully. "But it's too bad -- because it's not me."

Instead, he shuffles between bed and chair and courtyard at the hospice, sleeping often and missing his garden. Sometimes, if he stands outside at night, he can see the fireworks at Disneyland.

On his nightstand sits a single magenta orchid that just lost its exotic bloom. Lately he's planted mums and begonias in the courtyard outside his room. The two-day effort left him worn out the rest of the week. He hopes to return to Laguna Beach, to the garden, while there's still time.

And after that, he has a particular spot in mind: at the foot of one of the garden's little angels, overlooking the sea.

-- end --

Garden of Peace and Love Cleanup

2008-08-10T22:01:00.000-07:00

On Saturday, August 9th Laguna Muse http://www.lagunamuse.com/ organized a very successful cleanup of the Garden of Peace and Love located on the bluff on the way down to the beach at the end of Mountain Avenue just below the Boom.

Michele Martinay started this living memorial to those who have passed away from HIV AIDS, and he has taken care of this special garden for the last 18 years. Now Michele's own battle with the disease has made it no longer possible for him to maintain the garden.

So 20 volunteers organized by Laguna Muse founder, Glen Kasper showed up with tools, gloves and a desire to help restore the garden back to the way Michele has kept it for all these years.

Jon Madison, owner of Laguna's magnificent Madison Square donated tons of flowers, plants, bushes and trees and all pitched for hours to do Michele proud.

Now MUSE is raising money to hire a gardener to take care of this sacred
spot so that it will live on forever. Visit their web site to help out: http://www.lagunamuse.com/

Glen tells us that he will also be organizing other cleanups in the near future.

Special thanks go out to all the volunteers who gave up a Saturday and to Laguna Beach Mayor Jane Egly who came by to support the effort. It was quite an emotional and fulfilling day!

PHOTOS:
Jon Madison (right)of Madison Square flanked by other volunteers
Scott Allen, President of the Laguna Beach HIV AIDS Advisory Committee Steve clearing lots of the weeds and grass that had accumulated Laguna Muse Founder, Glen Kasper at the Cleanup It takes some water to make a Garden of Peace and Love Laguna Beach Mayor Jane Egly came by to thank all the volunteers. Here she is with Laguna resident and Muse writer Andrew Reynolds Looking Good!

Saving the Boom Hollywood Premiere + No on 8 Endorsement

2008-07-17T23:40:00.000-07:00

NEWS UPDATE Contact: Fred Karger 949-494-4750 July 25, 2008
BRAD and GEORGE ATTEND SAVING THE BOOM PREMIERE

AND LAGUNA BEACH FIRST CITY TO OPPOSE PROPOSITION 8!

LAGUNA BEACH – It’s been quite a couple of weeks. Last Tuesday, the Laguna Invasion of LA took place with several dozen Lagunans, who stared in the movie, coming up to Hollywood to see the World Premiere of John Keitel’s Saving the Boom documentary at the Outfest Film Festival. And there were two surprise guests at the Premiere, Brad (Pitt) and George (Clooney) who arrived on the red carpet and posed for photos with Premiere guests. Brad had flown in from Nice, where just days earlier Angelina had given birth to their twins. And George flew in from the set of his new fall comedy for HBO “The Fall of Bob.” He had gained 40 lbs for his new role and looked a little different.

The stars loved John’s movie and who knows; maybe they will buy the Coast Inn and SAVE the BOOM!!! once and for all. Brad, John, Fred and George at the Director’s Guild Theater last week for the World Premier of John Keitel’s Saving the Boom Documentary

Here some more pictures from that amazing night. Lagunans Andrew, Michael (Mr. March) and Eric with the stars Calendar Model Russ (Mr. June) and Chris Meeting Brad and George Calendar Model Mr. February Gustavo Made the trip up from the OC pictured with world renowned bagpiper Lorne Cousin from our AIG Demonstration in Century City on April 1st

AND THEN THE AFTER PARY AT FALCON
Where guests were greeted by four searchlights in front and several hundred people celebrated the success of John Keitel’s Documentary Save the Boom Treasurer Shane, with Gustavo, Russ, Carlos and Calendar Contestant Coordinator Brian Filmmaker Extraordinaire John Keitel and his family at Falcon
It was a very fun and exciting night and special thanks go out to our sponsors, Skyy Vodka, Red Bull and Out Magazine. Film stars Ryan and Ty with Save the Boom Founder Fred Karger

LAGUNA BEACH BECOMES FIRST CITY TO OPPOSE PROPOSITION ON NOVEMBER BALLOT
After very emotional testimony and Council comments, the Laguna Beach City Council unamamously voted to oppose the anti gay marriage constitutional amendment -- Proposition 8 on the November ballot. Many residents testified and many more witnessed history being made as Mayor Jane Egly, Mayor Pro Tem Cheryl, Kinsman, and Council Members Elizabeth Pearson, Toni Iseman and Kelly Boyd all listened, discussed and lead the state by being the first city in California to formally oppose Proposition 8.

Here are links to the news coverage by Susannah Rosenblatt for the LA Times and Kelli Hart for the Orange County Register. And an excellent editorial also from the LA Times:

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-marriage24-2008jul24,0,4080471.story
http://www.ocregister.com/articles/council-members-proposition-2102086-opposition-audience

http://opinion.latimes.com/opinionla/2008/07/first-for-gay-m.html

For everyone attending Tuesday’s City Council Meeting, it was a night that we will never forget.

A heartfelt thanks goes out to our outstanding City Council. They are leading the way for equality and making lives better through their action and their words.

We will keep you posted on our ongoing efforts to SAVE the BOOM – Forever!!!!

Thanks to one and all!

2008-07-11T01:18:00.000-07:00

NEWS UPDATE July 9, 2008 Contact: Fred Karger 949-494-4750

Record Numbers Flock to Laguna Beach

Over the Fourth Weekend (Photos up Soon)

LAGUNA BEACH – There were record numbers of gays and lesbians at West Street Beach and throughout Laguna over the three day holiday weekend. It was the first July 4th without the Boom Boom Room in 61 years, but Laguna was busy with parties, parties and more parties to fill the void. Promoter Extraordinaire Will Gorges put on his annual IndepenDance at two incredible venues. Friday night was Club W, at the Woman’s Club and Saturday night at the amazing event space seven degrees in Laguna Canyon.

Thanks go out to some of the many party hosts: Jack Corwin, Brad Harvey, Peter Montgomery and Michael Scales & Tom Panno and Tony Maquet. And Glen Kasper staged the first fun(d) raiser for his non profit Laguna Muse http://www.lagunamuse.com/ on Thursday night to kickoff the weekend at his beautiful home – see pics. Muse staged a fashion show and musical review all MC’d By Miss Dede Devine on a specially built stage over Glen’s swimming pool. There was a Scotch Tasting sponsored by Glenfiddich, a vodka bar sponsored by xzo Vodka, great decorations, food and a very fun crowd.

Czech in Here – holding up a copy of the new Laguna Muse

Models at Glen’s Party --- the “Revue”

Art Gallery owner Diana, Mr. March, Michael, his

boyfriend Andrew and Save the Boom treasurer Shane

Here are some other pictures from the weekend of fun in Laguna Beach

Colton (right) and Warren (left) at Brad Harvey's Party

Twin Bartenders Craig (left) and Greg (right) at Peter & Michael’s on the Fourth

Here I am at Marisa and Steve Robbins New House. Wow!

Loving the Ocean View at 5 Camel Point

Super Model and 30 year Laguna resident Scott at Tom and Tony’s

One Sad Note

After 61 years of gay history, the owner and operators of the Boom Boom Room and the Coast Inn removed the rainbow flag from the spot where it has flown for decades. The stars and stripes are flying but the gay rainbow flag is gone.

Several phone calls to management to find out what happened went unreturned. We hope that it will be back soon, but I have heard that because they are renting out the rooms they did not want the flag to remain.

We are hopeful that a buyer will come in and buy the Boom and Coast Inn and make it the most beautiful gay destination hotel and club in the U.S. Then the rainbow flag can fly proudly over our landmark Boom Boom Room again

end6

2008-06-25T21:25:00.000-07:00

For Immediate Release June 16, 2008 Contact: Fred Karger 949-494-4750
“Saving the Boom” Tickets Go On Sale Today
World Premier Set for Tuesday, July 15th

HOLLYWOOD, CA – John Keitel’s amazing documentary, “Saving the Boom” will be having its World Premier at Outfest, the prestigious Los Angeles Gay & Lesbian Film Festival on Tuesday, July 15, 2008. The Premier will take place at the Directors Guild Theater (DGA) Two, 7920 Sunset Blvd, Hollywood 90046 The DGA Theatre Complex is recognized throughout the entertainment industry as one of the preeminent screening and film premiere facilities in the United States. There will be plenty of parking directly below the theater.

“Saving the Boom” will begin at 7:15 pm (see flyer below) and runs 32 minutes, and is in the short documentary category. Following “Saving the Boom,” Academy Award winning director, Debra Chasnoff’s North American Premier of “It’s STILL Elementary” (48 minutes) will screen. So it will be quite a night.

THEN at 9:30 pm there will be a “Saving the Boom” Premier After Party at Beige at the trendy Falcon Restaurant and Bar, 7213 Sunset Blvd, Hollywood 90046 (1/2 mile east of the Directors Guild Theater) between Fairfax and LaBrea.

Lots more information on the After Party will be coming out soon.

Tickets for the Premier go on sale today, Monday, June 16th at 11:00 am. Tickets are $12 each. To order: call 213-480-7065 or email boxoffice@outfest.org or go to: http://www.outfest.org/tixSYS/2008/filmguide/title-detail.php?AlphaRange=SS&ShowShorts=&ShowPast

The ticket order will say it's for "It's STILL Elementary," but your ticket purchase will include "Saving the Boom" as well!

The theater is going to sell out, so order yours today!

Come show your support for the historic Boom Boom Room and Coast Inn, and have a fun, emotional and entertaining evening.

Any questions, call me at 949-494-4750

See you at the movies!

Best regards,

Fred Karger, Founder
www.savetheboom.com
World Premiere

Tuesday, July 15, 2008 7:15 pm

Directors Guild, Theater 2

7920 Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90046

IN COLLABORATION WITH: FAMILY SERVICES PROGRAM, LAGLC

Directed By: John Keitel

The true story of the fight to save the oldest gay bar in the Western United States, the landmark Boom Boom Room in Laguna Beach, CA

For ticketing information, please phone 213-480-7065 or email boxoffice@outfest.org

Memorial Weekend a Sell Out in Laguna Beach

2008-06-07T02:13:00.000-07:00

News Update June 2, 2008 Contact: Fred Karger 949-494-4750
The Beach, Club Bounce and Parties Galore

Laguna Beach, CA – Despite weather forecasts of doom and gloom, the sun shined bright last weekend in Laguna. The town was packed with visitors from all over California and the world. There were lots of house parties and Club Bounce (1460 S. Coast Hwy. across from the old Boom 949-494-0056) was at capacity every night. Mike Boone, Shaun Rosendahl, Chad Hudson, Jack Corwin and Jordan Kyle and several others had big parties over the 3 day weekend.

Laguna Muse

Plans are underway for lots of activities during the summer of ’08. For up to the minute news and information (and more great photos) go to Laguna Beach resident, Glen Kasper’s newsletter on line: http://web.mac.com/gkasper/Site/Muse_Welcome/Muse_Welcome.html
Check it out early and often. Thank you Glen and team for putting this incredible newsletter together and for all the activities and events that you are planning this summer.

Going, Going Gone!

The for sale signs (2) are still up and there are reports that interested buyers are looking at the Coast Inn and the Boom Boom Room. The real estate market has slowed down and commercial lenders tell us that financing is more difficult than it was a year a go when Mr. Udvar-Hazy first put the property up for sale. So make him an offer, buy the building, remodel it and get ready for a grand reopening. The New Boom could be the finest gay resort destination in the world. Ocean front in magnificent Laguna Beach.

Operation Post Card a Success

Our main volunteer activity over the last 4 months was to flood Coast Inn and Boom Boom Room owner, Steven Udvar-Hazy’s Century City office with hundreds of yellow SAVE the BOOM!!! post cards. The cards asked him to drastically lower his asking price or consider donating the building to the gay community. We sent him at least 1500 post cards! Thanks to all who participated in this grass roots effort. Mr. Udvar-Hazy did his first sit down interview with a reporter on this subject, and there has been discussions with his representatives re bringing back the historic Boom Boom Room as a gay bar and hotel like it had been for 61 years until it closed last September.

Apollo Theater

I recently had the privilege of visiting and touring the historic Apollo Theater in Harlem while in New York. It had fallen on hard times and was about to close. It was saved, restored and this beautiful theater reopened for all to enjoy. They are currently undertaking a $95 million capital campaign to expand and further renovate this property. We will have more to report on this in the near future. By the way there are three bars (one on each floor) in the Apollo.

That’s our News Update. Thank you for your continued support and help as we work to SAVE the BOOM – Forever!!!

Best regards,

Fred Karger
Founder
www.savetheboom.com

Memorial Weekend 2008

2008-05-26T20:20:00.000-07:00

Parties, The Beach, Parites, Parties, Parties The sky's cleared and the Laguna was packed with men and women from all over the world this past weekend. Check out all the photos. Special thanks to party hosts Jordan Kyle, Mike Boone, Shaun Rosendahl, Chad Hudson, Glen Kasper, Will Gorges, Jack Corwin and all the others who hosted during this fun weekend in beautiful Laguna Beach. It was very strange with no Boom Boom Room. This was the first summer kickoff weekend in 61 years without it. But Marks Restaurant is reopening in the Canyon in 2 to 3 weeks and lots going on on the SAVE the BOOM!!! front. Calendar Model Cover Guy, Caleb SAVE the BOOM!!! Treasurer, Shane (right) and Friends Andrew, Shane and Birthday Boy Jordan Ryan and Rich Celebrating Paul, Mr. March Michael and Stephanie Colin and Leif Scarf Down the Subs at Jordan's Party Glen and Andrew Striking a Pose Sascha (Visiting from Germany), Brian, Jordan and Jeff on the Stairs Brian, Blanding, Fred, Jordan, Leor and Shane Get Ready for the Cake Jordan's Sister. Stephanie Brings on the Masterpiece Good Job Jordan. Now Let Them Eat Cake! Bartending at Jack's Monday Beach Party Leor and John on the Most Beautiful Day of the Year Justin, Preston, Rich and Ryan Soaking Up the Sun and Margaritas Peter and Dede Making Their Entrance Host Jack and Guests

2008-05-10T14:14:00.000-07:00

NEWS UPDATE May 9, 2008 Contact: Fred Karger 949-494-4750

“Saving the Boom” Documentary Accepted at Outfest
26 Minute Film Will Screen In LA in July

LOS ANGELES – John Keitel’s amazing documentary, “Saving the Boom” was invited to join many other exceptional films at the 2008 Outfest http://www.outfest.org/

Outfest is in its 26th year, and is the largest and most prestigious of any Gay and Lesbian Film Festival in the world. John Keitel received a letter yesterday form the programming Committee. Below is a portion of the letter:

Dear John:

It is our pleasure to invite SAVING THE BOOM to Outfest 2008: The
26th Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Film Festival. The festival will be
held July 9-21, 2008 at the Directors' Guild of America in West
Hollywood and selected theaters throughout Los Angeles.

Our 26th anniversary, Outfest 2008 promises to be the biggest and
most exciting festival in our history. Outfest is unique among LGBT
film festivals for the high quality programming we offer, the
outstanding press coverage we attract, and our sensational parties
and receptions, which connect filmmakers with motion picture industry
professionals. We have been proud to premiere an extraordinary
selection of films over the years, including C.R.A.Z.Y., SHOW ME
LOVE, LAW OF DESIRE, FIRE, THE OPPOSITE OF SEX, AIMEE & JAGUAR, and
HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCH. OUTFEST additionally features a juried
competition with awards for excellence in narrative and documentary
filmmaking.

After we receive your Confirmation Form, you will receive additional
information regarding your participation in Outfest 2008. At the end
of May, you will be contacted by Filmmaker Hospitality. Included in
this correspondence will be procedures for attending the festival
(obtaining tickets, accreditations, etc.).

We are thrilled to present your work at Outfest 2008.

Best Regards,

Kimberly Yutani
Director of Programming

Matt Anderson
Shorts Programmer

Lisa Kettle
Programming Department Manager

To see the short version of John’s film - it’s easy. Just go to Current TV’s web site. They have been nice enough to post the mini doc for all to see. It has already received thousands of views. Feel free to leave a comment after you view this fun, emotional and sexy short film: http://current.com/items/88880536_saving_the_boom

NPR’s -- The California Report

Last month we were unable to access the wonderful story on SAVE the BOOM!!! produced by Stacey Vanek – Smith for National Public Radio. A longer version ran throughout California one week before it ran nationally. We now have the link to take you there. It is an excellent piece that aired on April 18, 2008 on all PBS / NPR radio stations California. It ran on “Marketplace” nationwide one week later on April 25, 2008. Here is the link to California Report:

http://www.californiareport.org/archive/R804181630/e

Thank you for your help and support as we work to SAVE the BOOM – Forever!!!

2008-04-29T01:41:00.000-07:00

News Update April 27, 2008 Contact: Fred Karger 949-494-4750

NPR’s “Marketplace” Covers SAVE the BOOM!!!
Also on NPR’s “California Report”

Below is the link to and the coverage that we received Friday on “Marketplace” hosted by Kai Ryssdal on NPR: http://marketplace.publicradio.org/display/web/2008/04/25/gay_bars/ Check out the streaming audio on their web site.

This is our first national radio coverage, and we have received calls and emails from all over the county from people who heard the report. Thank you Stacey Vanek--Smith who came to Laguna to do this story.

The previous Friday, April 18th the segment also ran throughout California on the “California Report.”

“Men of Laguna Calendar” on Gayborhoodtv.com

If you haven’t checked out and then posted a comment on our new mini documentary short film by John Keitel, please do. It is incredible and a mere 6 minutes long. It was produced out of hours and hours of coverage of the Men of Laguna Beach Calendar Contest, and it serves as our pilot for the reality show that we will pitch. Thanks to the amazing brand new portal on gayborhoodtv.com you can watch it from your very own computer, iPhone, iPod or iTooth: http://www.gayborhood.tv/lgbtube.cfm?view=video&id=376
It is currently the Most Watched video with over 1750 views! So check it out and forward the link around to your friends. Thank you!

Marketplace
TEXT OF STORY Friday, April 25, 2008
KAI RYSSDAL: At this point in the recession, or slowdown, or whatever you want to call it, you're probably familiar with the term "business cycle." Business and businesses have life cycles just like everything else. Demand creates new opportunities, and then when that demand dries up businesses die.
Every year, Fortune Magazine releases a list of 10 businesses it thinks are facing extinction. Some of this year's casualties? Record stores, crop dusting and telemarketing. Oh, and gay bars, too. That one caught our eye because gay business in general is booming.
Stacey Vanek Smith has more.
________________________________________
STACEY VANEK-SMITH: It's a busy weekend night at a gay bar in Los Angeles. . .
Actor Jason Dottley says gay bars don't just cater to a gay clientele anymore. The scene has become a lot more mixed.
Jason Dottley: It's an indication of open-mindedness. I think it's a sign of progress.
But that progress has a left some older gay bars sounding like this . . . [sound of ocean waves crashing].
The Boom Boom Room opened in Laguna Beach in 1947. It used to be a favorite hangout of Rock Hudson's. But today the windows of the white, art-deco facade are papered over.
Fred Karger started coming here in 1973.
Fred Karger: It's a magical place. It had a little, kind of loungey bar, and it had pool tables. They'd have this wonderful cabaret show on Wednesday nights.
The new owner plans to tear down the Boom Boom Room and build a luxury hotel.
Gay bars all over the country have met similar fates: New York's Roxy, The Avalon in Boston, The Pendulum in San Francisco. But here's the weird thing: Gay business is booming. Gay spending power in the U.S. is worth an estimated $750 billion.
So why are gay bars having so much trouble? Marketing expert Jerry McHugh says part of it is generational.
Jerry McHugh: Generation X people and Generation Y people are less concerned about gay-exclusive socialization, and they're more interested in a more-diverse environment.
McHugh says for gay boomers, bars used to function like community centers.
McHugh: When I came out it was the early 90s, and it was really helpful to go to these places.
Boston Globe writer Robert David Sullivan says a few years ago he noticed the number of gay bars in Boston had been cut in half. He says it was strange because they had been such a cornerstone of the gay social scene.
Robert David Sullivan: It was sort of structured that you could meet people that way, and you could say things and not censor yourself.
Sullivan says today young, gay men and women use the Internet, not bars, to meet people. And the older generation has graduated from late-night bar hopping to a mellow meal out.
Of course, a lot of gay bars aren't disappearing, they're just becoming more mixed. Take The Abbey in West Hollywood. It's an institution on L.A.'s gay scene. But on a weekday afternoon, there are as many straight neighborhood families as there are single gay men. Owner David Cooley says the gay-bar business model worked 10 years ago, but not anymore.
David Cooley: If you would say to me, "David, let's open up a gay bar." I wouldn't be investing.
Cooley is investing in gay-friendly bars. He's opening an Abbey in Chicago and plans to expand to other cities. He says all of the spots will be mixed -- that's where the future is.
Cooley: Once in a while, I'll get a customer say: "The Abbey's becoming so straight." And my response is: "Isn't that wonderful? Isn't that what we've been working for all these years?"
Bar owners George Butler and Randall Lambright disagree. They own the Savoy Orlando and Paradise Orlando in Florida. Butler says a mixed scene might work in places like New York and San Francisco, but in most of the country, the need for gay bars still exists.
GEORGE BUTLER: I don't think we're quite at the point where the gay clientele is comfortable sitting in a chain restaurant or bar where they can still hold hands or kiss.
Co-owner Randall Lambright says many of the older gay bars have closed because they just don't meet the high standards of gay customers anymore.
Randall Lambright: I can remember when gay bars were basically back-alley -- dark and not very inviting. And I think the clubs that are around are definitely more upscale.
Lambright says if the quality's there, the market for gay bars is still strong. He says the demand for exclusively gay spots hasn't gone away, it's just evolved.

2008-04-16T11:47:00.000-07:00

NEWS UPDATE April 14, 2008 Contact: Fred Karger 949-494-4750

Wait Until You See This Video!!!
Another Incredible Short, From Filmmaker John Keitel
http://www.gayborhood.tv/lgbtube.cfm

Well, Great News! Many of you followed the Men of Laguna Beach Calendar Contest from the open casting last summer, to the launch parties and calendar signings throughout the fall. Well, our incredible Documentarian, John Keitel and his team at Shelter Productions have done a 6 minute film called “Men of Laguna Calendar.”

It was made as the pilot for a reality show that we have been pitching for the 2009 Calendar Contest. We have been very fortunate to have another angel out there in cyberspace. Thank you, Jeff Keirns! Jeff is an independent producer for the brand new web network Gayborhood TV. They have posted the “Men of Laguna Calendar” on their web network. Simply click on this link to view John’s short video: http://www.gayborhood.tv/lgbtube.cfm?view=video&id=376
or go to Gayborhood’s site: http://www.gayborhood.tv/lgbtube.cfm You will see the Men of Laguna Calendar on their home page. Just click Men of Laguna there under featured videos, latest videos or most watched – it’s everywhere. You will get to see this incredible 6 minute film.

It has already gotten over 1000 views and lots of positive reviews (feel free to leave a review after you see it). If you missed the open casting last summer, you will get to see it, as well as some of the photo shoots and all 12 of the great looking Calendar Guys doing their thing.

Gayborhood TV was just launched April 1st by Stiletto Entertainment http://www.stilettoentertainment.com/ Stiletto produced MTV Networks / Logo Series "Jacob & Joshua: Nemesis Rising and are leaders in entertainment, financial management, theatrical production, television production, music publishing, e-commerce and internet services and international tour management and bookings.

If you still haven’t taken the 10 minutes to see John’s other short called, “Saving the Boom,” it is a must see. Go to Current TV and you will laugh, cry and love this film! Click on this link: http://current.com/items/88880536_saving_the_boom

For Sale Signs Still Up

Just checked again this morning and there are still two for sale signs up in the window of the Boom Boom Room. Interested parties are asked to call Joe Smith at Monarch Bay Realty 949-489-1100. Make them and offer and remodel this incredible property and watch the business soar. The New Boom, right on the Pacific Ocean, could be the finest gay destination property in the world. And you will help preserve the over 100 years of gay and lesbian history in Laguna Beach.Taken Monday, April 14, 2008

Check out our Blog, lots of new photos up: http://savetheboom.blogspot.com/

Thank you very much for your interest and support as we work to SAVE the BOOM – Forever!!!

Operation Post Card

We are pleased to report that as of today we have sent in 1,200 of our yellow post cards to Coast Inn and Boom Boom Room owner, Steven Udvar-Hazy. Thanks to all those who have helped make this campaign such a success. We are asking Mr. Udvar-Hazy to help us SAVE the BOOM!!! by reducing his asking price or donating the property to the gay community. If you would like to help on Operation Post Card, please call 949-494-4750 or email savetheboom@aol.com. Thank you for your help!

In the News

Here are some more links to some of national and financial news coverage that SAVE the BOOM!!! received from our demonstration to appeal to Martin J. Sullivan, President and CEO of American International Group (NYSE: AIG)

MSN.com http://news.moneycentral.msn.com/ticker/article.aspx?Feed=PR&Date=20080204&ID=8136876&Symbol=AIG

AOL Money News http://money.aol.com/news/articles/qp/pr/_a/los-angeles-demonstration-set-at-aig/rfid86611602

-- end --

The Making of the Documentary

2008-04-10T21:23:00.001-07:00

The Making of "Saving the Boom" PHOTOS

John at the Boom on Closing Night Filming the Open Casting for the Men of Laguna Beach Calendar Contest Calendar Cover Model Caleb's Photo Shoot Adam and Sarah in Laguna on Location Sarah and Adam at the Boom filming dancer, Giovanni Out on the Bluff Talking to Laguna Resident, Andrew Talking to Volunteer Coordinator, Jeff On His Way to Get Those Petitions Signed! The Fun and Crazy Lane Twins(Gary and Larry)in Front of AlbertsonsJohn Inteviewing Los Angeles City Councilman and SAVE the BOOM!!! Co-Chair, Bill Rosendahl in the Garden of Peace and Love Just Below the Coast Inn Talking to former Laguna Beach Mayor and SAVE the BOOM!!! Co-Chair Bob Gentry about the Importance of Laguna's Gay History Super Volunteer and Long Time Lagunan Max Talking About the Petition Drive Laguna Beach City Councilman and the Owner of the Marine Room Kelly Boyd "Putting on His Mike"

Thanks to one and all who helped on the incredible documentary "Saving the Boom. To view the mini-doc, go to this link at current: http://current.com/items/88880536_saving_the_boom

Check Out "Saving the Boom"

2008-04-10T20:12:00.000-07:00

Mini DOCUMENTARY DONE!!! – “Saving the Boom” is on Current Television / Current.com

Here is the Link: http://current.com/items/88880536_saving_the_boom

Thank you Film Maker Extraordinaire, John Keitel, amazing Editor Tyler Gillett and their team at Shelter Productions. You have made an absolutely incredible film. It’s fun, very moving and sexy. I wish the world could see your documentary, wait a second, now it can! Special thanks go out to Sarah Evershed, Outreach Associate at Current -- our mini--doc (documentary) is now posted for all to see. Thank you Sarah, who came to Laguna to shoot some of the film, and is a true angel. Film Maker, John Keitel (lower right) shooting Photographer, Cris Lapp (upper right) shooting Michael – Mr. March -- for the 2008 Men of Beach Laguna Calendar

Please take just a few minutes to view this short documentary and pass the link along to your email lists. Help us spread our story as we work to SAVE the BOOM – Forever!!! http://current.com/items/88880536_saving_the_boom John filming SAVE the BOOM!!! Treasurer, Shane Miller in downtown Laguna

Click on the link: http://current.com/items/88880536_saving_the_boom John and Sarah filming outside the Boom

And feel free to add a comment just below where you watch the film. Thanks very much.

Happy Viewing!

Fred Karger
Founder
www.savetheboom.com

Visit our Blog for lot more photos of: “The Making of ‘Saving the Boom’” (lots of apostrophes’)

http://savetheboom.blogspot.com/

We Will Not Give Up

2008-04-09T00:48:00.000-07:00

News Update April 6, 2008 Contact: Fred Karger 949-494-4750

AIG Demonstration a Huge Success
Lots of People, Press, Music and Fun
Plea to AIG CEO To Help SAVE the BOOM – Forever!!!

Laguna Beach, CA – 35 supporters of SAVE the BOOM!!! from Orange County and Los Angeles descended on the AIG (NYSE: AIG) Tower in Century City on Tuesday, April 1st at our lunch-time demonstration. World famous Bagpiper, Lorne Cousin played to cheers of SAVE the BOOM!!! SAVE the BOOM!!! AIG – SAVE the BOOM!!!
Calendar Models Ryan Liddell (July) and Gustavo Marzolla (February) handed out Men of Laguna Beach Calendars to some of the lucky passerby’s on their way to lunch. Other yellow T-shirted men and women gave away Boom Bananas and Tangerines along with flyers and other information on our nearly two year effort to save our landmark bar and hotel. Lots of car horns were honked and thumbs up given to all of us during the hour long demonstration. Over 200 post cards were signed addressed to Boom Boom Room and Coast Inn owner, Steven Udvar-Hazy asking him to drastically reduce the asking prince for the property or consider donating it the gay community.

There was great television, radio, newspaper and web coverage of the event. Save the BOOM!!! Founder, Fred Karger even appeared live on the Michael Jackson Radio Show on KGIL – AM 1260 during the 9:00 am hour. Check out the links below for just some of the stories on the demonstration. And be sure and go to our blog for lots of great photos from Tuesday. http://savetheboom.blogspot.com/

Thank you so much to all who turned out for this uplifting and fun demonstration.

We have lots more planned, and will keep you posted on our activities to SAVE the BOOM – Forever!!!

SAVE the BOOM BLOG: http://savetheboom.blogspot.com/

Los Angeles Time Web Site by Robert Green:

KTLA – TV Los Angeles by Bill Smith: http://ktla.trb.com/

Orange County Register by Christa Woodall: http://www.ocregister.com/articles/boom-bar-hazy-2009940-karger-aig

Laguna Beach Independent: http://www.lagunabeachindependent.com/news/2008/0404/news/071.html

KVOA – TV Tucson: http://www.kvoa.com/default.asp

Reuters: http://www.reuters.com/article/pressRelease/idUS191530+28-Mar-2008+PRN20080328

-- end --

L A Demonstration Big Success

2008-04-01T22:02:00.000-07:00

Thanks to one and all who made it up to Los Angeles and our LA friends who came to demonstration at the AIG Tower in Century City today. We had fun and got a lot of attention from the thousands of passerbys who honked their approval, got Men of Laguna Beach Calendars, enjoyed some Boom Bananas, and signed hundreds of post cards to Coast Inn owner Steven Udvar-Hazy. We got some great coverage which will be posted on our blog soon. Here are some of the photos from the lunch-time demonstration. Lots of Enthusiastic Demonstrators
Looking Up at the AIG Tower SAVE the BOOM!!! Treasurer, Shane Miller Seeking Insurance Giant AIG's Help Billy and Michael Came Out for the Lunch-Time Action Michael Enjoying the Music The LAPD Was There to Keep the Peace Along With Volunteer Muriel Visiting From Paris
Former Boom Cafe Server Violet and Friends SAVE the BOOM!!! Founder Fred Karger and Lorne Cousin Take a Break Busy Corner Asking AIG's Help Madonna's Bagpiper, Lorne Cousin Getting on KTTV - Channel 5 Men of Laguna Beach Calendar Models Gustavo (February) and Ryan (July) Lorne & Gustavo Fred With a Bunch of the BOOMERS

2008-03-31T13:27:00.001-07:00

Media Advisory March 31, 2008 Contact: Fred Karger 949-494-4750

LOS ANGELES DEMONSTRATION SET AT AIG TOWER
Tuesday, April 1st – 12:30 pm (No April Fools)
Will Appeal to AIG CEO to Help Reopen Landmark Gay Bar

LAGUNA BEACH, CA -- Supporters of the historic Boom Boom Room in Laguna Beach will appeal to Martin J. Sullivan, President and CEO of American International Group (NYSE: AIG) tomorrow Tuesday, April 1, 2008 at 12:30 pm. Demonstrators from Laguna Beach and Los Angeles will gather in front of the AIG / SunAmerica Tower, 1999 Avenue of the Stars (corner of Avenue of the Stars & Constellation Blvd.), Los Angeles, CA 90067. The demonstration is expected to last from approximately 12:30 to 1:00 pm.

SAVE the BOOM!!! www.savetheboom.com has been working for nearly two years to try and convince property owner, Steven Udvar-Hazy to save the landmark gay bar. Udvar-Hazy heads up International Lease Finance Corporation, a division of AIG and is the 83rd richest American, according to the latest Forbes Magazine. His net worth is listed at $3.1 billion. Udvar-Hazy bought the Boom Boom Room and Coast Inn in which it is housed in the fall of 2005. The Boom Boom Room closed after 61 years last September. It had been the oldest gay bar in the Western United States.

“We will be releasing a letter to Martin J. Sullivan, the CEO of Mr. Udvar-Hazy’s parent company asking him to help resolve this situation,” said Fred Karger, Founder of SAVE the BOOM!!! “As the head of AIG, the world’s largest insurance and financial services company, Mr. Sullivan has the absolute power to conciliate this situation. We are extremely hopeful that he will help save our gay landmark in Laguna Beach.”

-- end --

2008-03-31T13:14:00.000-07:00

VOLUNTEER ALERT March 31, 2008 Contact: Fred Karger 949-494-4750

Los Angeles Demonstration Set Tomorrow, April 1st
Supporters of SAVE the BOOM!!! – WE NEED YOU!!!

** REMINDER REMINDER REMINDER REMINDER REMINDER **

We need your help from 12:00 noon to 1:00 pm tomorrow to appeal to Martin J. Sullivan, the President and CEO of American International Group (NYSE: AIG) to help convince Steven Udvar-Hazy, the Boom Boom Room owner to give us back out landmark gay bar.

We have already received lots of media coverage all over the world (see below). Please join us for only 1 hour to help preserve over 100 years of gay heritage in Laguna Beach.

Thank you!!!

PLEASE FORWARD THIS TO YOUR EMAIL LIST!!!

***Special Appearance by world famous bagpiper Lorne Cousin, who just returned from a world tour with Madonna! http://www.lornecousin.com/index.html

LOOK AT ALL THE PRESS COVERAGE THAT THE DEMONSTRATION HAS ALREADY RECEIVED!!!

AOL Money News
15,635,000 Visitors/day
http://money.aol.com/news/articles/_a/los-angeles-demonstration-set-at-aig/n20080328140309990026?cid=2369

Bizjournals.com, Inc.
111,000 Visitors/day
http://www.bizjournals.com/prnewswire/press_releases/California/2008/03/28/DC17887

Bolsamania (Web Financial Group)

http://www.bolsamania.com/internacional/noticia.php?origen=feed_prnews.noticias&id=DC1788728032008-1&isin=

Breitbart.com

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=prnw.20080328.DC17887&show_article=1

Earth Times

http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/los-angeles-demonstration-set-at-aig,330425.shtml

East Bay Business Times
111,000 Visitors/day
http://www.bizjournals.com/eastbay/prnewswire/press_releases/California/2008/03/28/DC17887

Forbes.com
256,000 Visitors/day
http://www.forbes.com/prnewswire/feeds/prnewswire/2008/03/28/prnewswire200803281359PR_NEWS_USPR_____DC17887.html

Houston Chronicle

http://markets.chron.com/chron?GUID=5026392&Page=MediaViewer&ChannelID=3197

Los Angeles Times
53,000 Visitors/day
http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=LATENT.story&STORY=/www/story/03-28-2008/0004782037&EDATE=FRI+Mar+28+2008,+01:59+PM

MarketWatch

http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/los-angeles-demonstration-set-aig/story.aspx?guid=%7B9E0C2E6D%2D6722%2D4A4E%2D9CFF%2D483596554095%7D

PR Newswire
53,000 Visitors/day
http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/03-28-2008/0004782037&EDATE=

RBC Dain Rauscher Inc. (fka Dain Rausche

https://sites.stockpoint.com/dain/newspaper.asp?site=D&Mode=Insurance&Story=20080328/088p0436.xml

RCR Wireless News

http://studio-5.financialcontent.com/crain?Account=rcrnews&GUID=5026392&Page=MediaViewer&ChannelID=3197

Sacramento Business Journal
111,000 Visitors/day
http://www.bizjournals.com/sacramento/prnewswire/press_releases/California/2008/03/28/DC17887

San Francisco Business Times
111,000 Visitors/day
http://www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/prnewswire/press_releases/California/2008/03/28/DC17887

San Jose Business Journal
111,000 Visitors/day
http://www.bizjournals.com/sanjose/prnewswire/press_releases/California/2008/03/28/DC17887

Soapdom.com
53,000 Visitors/day
http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=SOAPDOMENT.story&STORY=/www/story/03-28-2008/0004782037&EDATE=FRI+Mar+28+2008,+01:59+PM

State House News Service (Affiliated New
53,000 Visitors/day
http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=SHNSPOL.story&STORY=/www/story/03-28-2008/0004782037&EDATE=FRI+Mar+28+2008,+01:59+PM

US Politics Today
53,000 Visitors/day
http://prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=ind_focus.story&STORY=/www/story/03-28-2008/0004782037&EDATE=FRI+Mar+28+2008,+01:59+PM

2008-03-28T01:44:00.001-07:00

2008-03-28T01:33:00.000-07:00

Media Advisory March 27, 2008 Contact: Fred Karger 949-494-4750

DEMONSTRATION SET AT AIG TOWER
Century City Demonstration -- Tuesday, April 1st – 12:30
Will Appeal to AIG CEO to Help Reopen Landmark Gay Bar

LAGUNA BEACH, CA -- Supporters of the historic Boom Boom Room in Laguna Beach will appeal to Martin J. Sullivan, President and CEO of American International Group (NYSE: AIG) on Tuesday, April 1, 2008 at 12:30 pm. Several dozen demonstrators from Laguna Beach and Los Angeles will gather in front of the AIG / SunAmerica Tower, 1999 Avenue of the Stars (corner of Avenue of the Stars & Constellation Blvd.), Los Angeles, CA 90067 on Tuesday, April 1, 2008
(3 hour free parking in the Century City Mall directly behind AIG). The demonstration is expected to last from approximately 12:30 to 1:00 pm.
SAVE the BOOM!!! www.savetheboom.com has been working for nearly two years to try and convince property owner, Steven Udvar-Hazy to save the landmark gay bar. Udvar-Hazy heads up International Lease Finance Corporation, a division of AIG and is the 83rd richest American, according to the latest Forbes Magazine. His net worth is listed at $3.1 billion. Udvar-Hazy bought the Boom Boom Room and Coast Inn in which it is housed in the fall of 2005. The Boom Boom Room closed after 61 years last September. It had been the oldest gay bar in the Western United States.
“We will be releasing a letter to Martin J. Sullivan, the CEO of Mr. Udvar-Hazy’s parent company asking him to help resolve this situation,” said Fred Karger, Founder of SAVE the BOOM!!! “As the head of AIG, the world’s largest insurance and financial services company, Mr. Sullivan has the absolute power to conciliate this situation. We are extremely hopeful that he will help save our gay landmark in Laguna Beach.”

2008-03-28T01:29:00.000-07:00

VOLUNTEER ALERT March 27, 2008 Contact: Fred Karger 949-494-4750

Los Angeles Demonstration Set for Tuesday, April 1st
Supporters of SAVE the BOOM!!! – WE NEED YOU!!!

We need your help next week to appeal to the President and CEO of American International Group (NYSE: AIG) to help convince the Boom Boom Room owner to give us back out landmark gay bar.

SAVE the BOOM!!! www.savetheboom.com has been working for nearly two years to try and convince property owner, Steven Udvar-Hazy to save the landmark gay bar. Mr. Udvar-Hazy heads up International Lease Finance Corporation, a division of AIG. He bought the Boom Boom Room and Coast Inn in which it is located in the fall of 2005. The Boom Boom Room closed after 61 years last September. It had been the oldest gay bar in the Western United States.

We will be releasing a letter to Martin J. Sullivan, the CEO of Mr. Udvar-Hazy’s parent company to ask him to help resolve this situation. As the head of AIG, the world’s largest insurance and financial services company, Mr. Sullivan has the absolute power to conciliate this situation. We are extremely hopeful that he will help save our gay landmark in Laguna Beach.

This will be a fun, friendly, lunch-time demonstration in Century City. We will all meet at 12:00 noon in front of the AIG Tower, 1999 Avenue of the Stars (corner of Avenue of the Stars & Constellation Blvd. -- see flyer attached and below). Plenty of free parking in the Westfield Mall right behind the AIG Tower.

We will have music, food and surprises. Thank you very much!

PLEASE FORWARD THIS TO YOUR EMAIL LIST!!!

2008-03-19T09:21:00.000-07:00

NEWS UPDATE March 19, 2008

Contact: Fred Karger 949-494-4750

West Hollywood Mayor and City Councilman Urge Owner to Save Laguna Beach Gay Landmark
750th Post Card Mailed in to Steven Udvar-Hazy

LAGUNA BEACH – SAVE the BOOM!!! www.savetheboom.com today announced that West Hollywood Mayor John Duran and City Councilman John Heilman became the 749th and 750th signers to mail yellow post cards to Mr. Udvar-Hazy.

“We are overwhelmed with the amount of support for our effort to save the landmark Boom Boom Room and Coast Inn in which it is housed,” said SAVE the BOOM!!! Founder, Fred Karger. “These two highly respected political leaders and great men who live 60miles to the north know the importance of historic preservation and we are very grateful for their support.”

Lots of men and women gay and straight have sent these yellow cards off to Mr. Udvar-Hazy asking him to either dramatically reduce his sale price or consider donating the building to the city of Laguna Beach or a newly created trust.

At the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) Dinner in Los Angeles last weekend, two other supporters come up with an innovative way to sign their post cards when there is not a table in sight.

SAVE the DATE

We will be announcing an important SAVE the BOOM!!! event that will occur in Los Angeles on Tuesday, April 1, 2008 – and this is no April Fools. We will send you the details early next week. The event will start at 12 noon for about an hour. It will be fun and interesting and will greatly help our fight to SAVE the BOOM – Forever!!!

Thank you for all your help and support.

Best regards,

Fred Karger
Founder
www.savetheboom.com

©SAVEtheBOOM,Inc® 2008

2008-03-12T14:14:00.000-07:00

NEWS UPDATE March 12, 2008

Fred Karger 949-494-4750

Hundreds of News Stories Worldwide on SAVE the BOOM!!!
New Bloomberg.com Story Leads the List

Laguna Beach, CA – what a week, and it’s barely half over. Bloomberg News, the world’s leading business news organization, came out with a really comprehensive story by Daniel Taub on Monday. I wanted to send it out then, but I have been scouring the internet the past two days and have literally found hundreds of major news outlets from Shanghai, China to Montgomery, Alabama that have covered our David vs. Goliath efforts as well. We are trying to persuade multi-billionaire property owner, Steven Udvar-Hazy to lower the asking price or even consider donating the landmark Boom Boom Room and Coast Inn to a trust for the benefit and use of the gay community.

Thanks to Bloomberg and so many other news organizations, plus all the blogs and individuals the story of our nearly 2 year old campaign to SAVE the BOOM!!! www.savetheboom.com is spreading worldwide, and support for our cause is growing. Our Post Card campaign to Mr. Udvar-Hazy has generated over 600 hundred of the yellow cards into his Century City office.

Scroll down the list below to view just some of the regional, national and international coverage that we have received in the past week.

And finally a great letter to the editors of the Laguna Beach Coastline Pilot and the Laguna Beach Independent by Thomas Miller, a real estate agent, questioning Mr. Udvar-Hazy’s new plan which appears to make no economic sense.

Happy reading and thanks to one and all for all your help and support as we work to SAVE the BOOM – Forever!!!

Best regards,

Fred Karger
Founder
www.savetheboom

Bloomberg.com
Billionaire Udvar-Hazy Is Urged to Revive Gay Hollywood Getaway
By [bn:PRSN=1] Daniel Taub []

March 10 (Bloomberg) -- Supporters of a beachside nightclub that catered for half a century to Hollywood's gay stars are hitting its owner with a blizzard of yellow postcards urging that the shuttered bar be reopened.
The Boom Boom Room in Laguna Beach, California, closed in September when its lease expired. Supporters are trying to sway the development plans of owner Steven F. Udvar-Hazy, chief executive of International Lease Finance Corp., after he aborted a nine-month effort in February to sell the oceanfront Coast Inn that houses it for $14.9 million.
For decades, the Boom Boom Room served as a getaway where Hollywood gays could mingle discreetly, away from photographers and gossip columnists. Actors Rock Hudson and Robert Reed, star of the television show ``The Brady Bunch,'' were among stars who would drive an hour south from Los Angeles to relax at the Boom Boom Room in the '70s and '80s, said Laguna Beach resident Fred Karger.
``This really is a gay community going back to the 1930s and 1940s,'' said Karger, 58, who had frequented the club since 1973 and is leading the campaign to reopen it. ``That is what we're fighting to preserve.''
The inn no longer is for sale and the plan is to redevelop the building ``as an upscale small boutique hotel,'' Udvar-Hazy wrote in an e-mail. He gave no further details. Real estate agent Joe Smith of Monarch Beach Realty said last month that he had three potential buyers for the property.
The hotel opened in 1927. By the mid-1970s, the Boom Boom Room had become an exclusively gay bar, Karger said. Udvar-Hazy bought the Boom Boom Room and the Coast Inn in 2005 for about $13 million.
Save the Boom
``There was a little more freedom than there would have been in Los Angeles,'' said Robert Hofler, author of ``The Man Who Invented Rock Hudson: The Pretty Boys and Dirty Deals of Henry Willson,'' a 2005 book about gay actors of the 1950s and 1960s. (Carroll & Graf, 325 pages, $26.95).
Save the Boom, a group Karger formed before the bar closed, is urging Udvar-Hazy to preserve the Boom Boom Room ``or donate it to the city or to a trust that will continue to operate it as a gay establishment.''
Supporters, including ``Brady Bunch'' co-star Florence Henderson and former National Basketball Association player Dennis Rodman, have sent about 500 yellow postcards emblazoned ``SAVE the BOOM!!!'' to Udvar-Hazy's Los Angeles office, Karger said.
Laguna Beach has had a reputation as being gay-friendly since the late 1930s, Karger said. Former Laguna Beach Mayor Robert Gentry was one of the first openly gay U.S. mayors.
Hudson's Manager
``There was a pianist, and we all sat around and sang,'' said Mark Miller, 81, who was Hudson's manager, recalling a visit to the Boom Boom Room in the 1970s with Hudson and singer- comedian Martha Raye. ``Lots of show business people came down there.''
Forbes Magazine ranked Udvar-Hazy 79th on last year's list of the U.S.'s richest people, with a net worth of $4.1 billion. A Hungarian immigrant, he sold his company, the world's largest purchaser of commercial aircraft, to American International Group Inc. for $1.3 billion in 1990.
The pink-and-white Coast Inn is perched along the Pacific Coast Highway, spilling down a cliff to the beach. Its 25 rooms are being rented on a month-to-month basis, Karger said. Brown paper covers the windows of the Boom Boom Room, which sits empty.
Morris Skenderian, an architect who has worked with Udvar- Hazy, said a redevelopment plan may include restoring the inn's façade and turning the Boom Boom Room into an art gallery, the Orange County Register reported. Skenderian didn't return telephone calls seeking comment.
Mayor's Backing
A boutique hotel worries Karger, who said that might be a difficult fit alongside an occasionally rowdy bar, ``unless you had incredibly understanding guests, because you have a fair amount of noise coming from there.''
Boom Boom Room supporters have approached Laguna Beach officials to help keep a gay bar at the property. The city will consider any proposed building permit it receives, said Mayor Jane Egly.
``Everyone on the council would love to see a Boom return,'' Egly said. ``There's nothing we can do except encourage the developer to consider that.''
To contact the reporter on this story: Daniel Taub in Los Angeles at dtaub@bloomberg.net.
Last Updated: March 10, 2008 01:00 EDT

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Letter to the Editors
Laguna Beach Independent March 7, 2008

Is Udvar-Hazy crazy?

Editor:
I read with great interest a story in the OC Register re: the Coast Inn in Laguna Beach. I was very curious because I am a licensed real estate agent pretty familiar with the commercial market here in Southern California.
Now, I am sure the Mr. Udvar-Hazy is a very smart man. You don’t become a multibillionaire unless you are a smart businessman, but I have to tell you that his plan for the Coast Inn and the Boom does not make any sense to me.
He is trying to sell the building for $14 million and let’s say will spend another $6 million to fix it up. And he is going to cut the number of rooms in half to make them bigger, so that will leave about 11 or 12 hotel rooms.
12 rooms at $20 million equals close to $1.7 million per hotel room. This would make Mr. Udvar-Hazy’s hotel about the most expensive price per room of any hotel in the world. Seems like he would have to charge $5,000 per night per room if he ever wants to get his money back. Makes the Montage at $800 a night seem like a bargain.
And then, I read that there won’t be a restaurant on the ground floor, but instead an art gallery or a salon. Well, the rent for this space will have to be $100,000 per month and that is a lot of haircuts. I have never seen a successful hotel big or small without a bar or restaurant as an anchor.
It appears to me that Mr. Udvar-Hazy is just proceeding with this poorly thought out new plan to spite the gay community and all our friends in Laguna Beach who used to so love the Boom Boom Room.
Why not make everybody happy and donate the building back. If I had $3.1 billion that is what I would do!! We can redo the bar in airplane theme in his honor. We could use the wings of a plane for the bars, a landing strip on the dance floor, space drinks -- it would be amazing!!
Thomas Miller
Los Angeles
-- end --

2008-03-04T22:35:00.000-08:00

NEWS RELEASE March 4, 2008

Contact: Fred Karger 949-494-4750

Basketball Stars Send Post Cards to Steven Udvar-Hazy
Hope to Get Billionaire to Help SAVE the BOOM!!!

LAGUNA BEACH, CA – SAVE the BOOM!!! www.savetheboom.com today announced that it mailed off its 500th yellow post card to Coast Inn and Boom Boom Room property owner Steven Udvar-Hazy.

Two of the yellow cards were signed by basketball greats Dennis Rodman and John Amaechi. They are the latest celebrities to voice their support to save the landmark gay bar in Laguna Beach. Actresses Florence Henderson and Fran Drescher earlier had signed and mailed in post cards to help save the landmark gay bar.

Fred Karger, Founder of SAVE the BOOM!!! said, “we are incredibly excited about the outpouring of support for our cause. On behalf of all of us involved in the effort, I want to thank Dennis Rodman and John Amaechi for their help. They are two of professional basketball’s greatest players ever, and we are so happy to mail in our 499th and 500th post cards to Mr. Udvar-Hazy signed by these two American Heroes. “

Rodman led the NBA in rebounds for a record seven consecutive years. He played for the Detroit Pistons, San Antonio Spurs, Chicago Bulls, Los Angeles Lakers and the Dallas Mavericks. He was a 5 time NBA Champion (1989 & 1990 -- Detroit, 1996, 1997, 1998 -- Chicago) and now lives in Newport Beach, CA.

Amaechi, 6 ft 10 in, 270 lb played for the Cleveland Cavaliers and then played in Europe before signing with the Orlando Magic, Chicago Bulls, Utah Jazz, New York Knicks and the Houston Rockets. In February 2007, Amaechi publicly announced that he is gay and became the first player associated with the NBA to come out. Since then he has been very active in many gay organizations and causes. Amaechi lives in Los Angeles, CA.

“We will fight for our 61 year old landmark and hope that Mr. Udvar-Hazy do the right thing and reopen these businesses. The postcards are addressed to the Airplane Tycoon at in Los Angeles office and ask him to help us by either reducing his asking price or consider donating the building that he owns to the City of Laguna Beach or to a newly created trust,” said Karger. The Coast Inn and the Boom Boom Room are located at 1401 S. Coast Highway in Laguna Beach, CA. “He could donate the property and we could keep it as a gay bar, hotel and restaurant and even include a gay and lesbian community center in the historic building. We have an operator all lined up if Mr. Udvar-Hazy is willing to do this. And If the building were remodeled it could become the finest gay resort destination in the world and become a huge money maker for its owner,” said Karger.

Steven Udvar-Hazy is the CEO of International Lease Finance Corporation (ILFC) in Los Angeles, and he was ranked the 83rd richest American on the 2007 Forbes list with a net worth of $3.1 billion. ILFC is a wholly-owned division of American International Group, Inc. (NYSE: AIG), the world's largest Insurance and Financial Services Company.

The yellow SAVE the BOOM Post Cards are in stores around Laguna Beach and have been signed by hundreds of people both gay and straight from all over the world. Anyone interested in getting post cards should email savetheboom@aol.com or call 949-494-4750

“We are going to keep up our campaign to save our landmark bar for as long as it takes,” concluded Karger.

-- end --

2008-03-01T21:41:00.000-08:00

NEWS UPDATE February 29, 2008

Dear Friends – well, it has been a crazy week and you can see why by all of the media coverage. There was an in depth story about our continuing fight to save our landmark Coast Inn and the Boom by Candice Baker in the Laguna Beach Coastline Pilot.

Coast Inn owner, Mr. Udvar-Hazy finally met the press for the first time in the 2 years of our campaign to SAVE the BOOM!!! this week. I have included the story which is a revised version of the one that I sent you last Saturday by Christa Woodall of the Orange County Register.

Also, a wonderful story by Margaret Foster with well respected Preservation Magazine based in Washington, DC about our preservation fight right here in Laguna Beach.

And more national coverage about the Boom and our Post Card Campaign to Mr. Udvar-Hazy on MSNBC and the Wall Street Journal Online!

If you have time, try and read these stories, you will see that there are still many opportunities to save our landmark bar and over 100 years of gay history in Laguna Beach along with it.

Thank you so much for all or your interest and support as we work to SAVE the BOOM – Forever!!!

Best regards,
Fred Karger
Founder
www.savetheboom.com

Updated: Feb 28,
http://www.coastlinepilot.com/articles/2008/02/29/news/cpt-boom022908.txt

Fight for Boom not over, activist says
Despite reports that redevelopment of site is imminent, Fred Karger is still campaigning to save iconic gay bar.
By Candice BakerReader Feedback - Currently No comments posted. Comments
Whether the Boom Boom Room and Coast Inn are heading into redevelopment or not, Fred Karger isn’t giving up the fight to keep Laguna’s gay center from disappearing.The owner of the emblematic center of Laguna Beach’s gay community has reportedly reverted back to his original plan to turn the site into a boutique hotel, following its quiet withdrawal from the real estate market Feb. 1.“It’s not over,” said Karger, founder of Save the Boom, who has been waging a highly public campaign to keep the 80-year-old bar afloat.Karger said “for sale” signs remained in the windows as of Sunday and that prospective buyers were recently touring the property.The nearly 19,000-square-foot property was pulled from the market by billionaire Steven Udvar-Hazy less than six months after the “for sale” signs went up, according to real estate agent Joseph Smith.“He doesn’t want to be bothered with [the sale],” Smith said.Smith said the property wasn’t posted on a listing service, but was made available on a more informal, informational basis from September 2007 through January 2008, with an asking price of $20 million to $20.9 million.He added that aviation tycoon Udvar-Hazy has retained Laguna architect Morris Skenderian to resurrect an original plan to bring the Coast Inn, built in 1924, back to its historic heyday.Udvar-Hazy is working with Skenderian on the project in order to prevent the investment from staying “stagnant,” Smith said.Udvar-Hazy’s Emerald Financial LLC paid nearly $13 million for the 24-room hotel, its restaurant and bar in April 2005.He also bought a beachfront house and the Coast Liquor store, as well as the nearby Gay Mart, in the shopping spree for a reported grand total of $25 million.Thought by many to be the oldest gay bar in the western United States, the Boom catered to movie star celebrities like Rock Hudson and everyday patrons alike.Bar operators were given a one-year reprieve in August 2006; the establishment closed last year on Labor Day.The closure echoed that of Woody’s at the Beach, a gay restaurant, formerly the Little Shrimp piano bar. Woody’s closed last February.The Boom’s threatened closure sparked grassroots efforts by local resident Karger and his Save the Boom campaign, including petition collection and the sale of a Men of Laguna Beach calendar.Karger’s mission was fueled by celebrity gossip from the beginning.Rumors that Udvar-Hazy was in cahoots with actors George Clooney and Brad Pitt to renovate the property took wing as quickly as they were shot down.Most recently, Karger recruited celebrities including Florence Henderson of “The Brady Bunch” and “The Nanny” Fran Drescher in a postcard-writing campaign.But despite continued publicity, many viewings and proclamations of interest, the property never changed hands.“Obviously, if there was anyone serious, it would be sold,” Smith said.“These are not the easiest of times when it comes to real estate.”

http://www.ocregister.com/news/boom-skenderian-gay-1986041-property-hazy

Thursday, February 28, 2008
Restoration planned for Boom Boom Room property
Former home of landmark Laguna Beach gay bar to be renovated to 1940s-style boutique hotel.
By CHRISTA WOODALL
The Orange County Register
Comments 5 Recommend 17
LAGUNA BEACH - The Coast Inn, which housed longtime gay landmark the Boom Boom Room, will be restored to its 1940s style under a plan by the inn's owners.
The restoration plans virtually dash hopes in the gay community that their longtime watering hole will reopen in its location within the Coast Inn.
Emerald Financial LLC, of which aviation mogul Steven Udvar-Hazy is a partner, took down the for sale sign Feb. 1.
"We're trying to restore it back to what it looked like in the early '40s," said architect Morris Skenderian.
Despite Hazy's offer of an extended, month-to-month lease, Boom owners Patrick O'Loughlin and James Marchese opted to close the bar in September 2007.
In the face of strong opposition from the gay community, Emerald Financial had put the land and two nearby parcels for sale after its April 2005 purchase with an asking price of more than $20 million.
Emerald Financial had entertained offers to sell the properties, but August's subprime real estate crisis became a roadblock for interested buyers who couldn't get loans or afford the down payment.
When no good offers had surfaced by January, Hazy decided to move ahead preserving the inn.
"They've (prospective buyers) had a window of opportunity to present alternate plans, and those didn't come forth," Hazy said. "I don't want to let it sit there as a dilapidated building – I think it's better for the community and the city if we develop it, bring in tax revenue and upgrade the safety of the neighborhood."
Save the Boom activist Fred Karger, who continues to work toward reviving the bar, said he's hopeful that Hazy might reconsider his plans and donate the property to the gay community or reduce the price.
"There's so much history that we're not prepared to walk away from," Karger said. "There's a tremendous amount of gay money out there that I'm hoping to tap to take over his property, but in the meantime, I'll do everything in my power to hold onto what was ours for 61 years."
With Coast Inn's four beach-facing levels, razing and rebuilding a new structure was never an option, Hazy said.
"We wouldn't be able to replicate that today," he said. "It creates a lot of intrinsic value. If we tore that down, we would never replace four levels, even with the best of intentions."
Spanish-style arches and balconies would return to the building's entrance as it had been before a '60s-era fire.
Facing Coast Highway, what was once the Boom Boom Room could be an art gallery or a salon, Skenderian said.
Across Mountain Street, the liquor store nicknamed the Gaymart would become a market and deli that caters to locals, tourists and beach-goers.
A food facility within the hotel was considered but likely will be elminated.
"Right now it's so dilapidated in there and there's so much work to bring it up to code," Skenderian said. "There are so many restaurants in that area now ... "
Construction for the project may take a year and a half after getting approval, which likely would take another year and a half, Skenderian said.
All groups will be welcomed to the inn, Hazy said.
"It's a big project, but I feel the end result will be a high-quality structure with desirable accommodations," he said. "Once we're open, we're open to all people who can afford that type of upscale accommodation."
Meanwhile, Karger is working to flood Hazy's Los Angeles office with yellow "Save the Boom" protest cards. To date, he knows of at least 200 cards that have been sent, including ones signed by "The Brady Bunch" actress Florence Henderson and Fran Drescher of "The Nanny" fame.
Contact the writer: cwoodall@ocregister.com or 949-454-7391

http://www.nationaltrust.org/magazine/archives/arc_news_2008/022508.htm

Group Asks Billionaire To Spare 1920s InnStory by Margaret Foster / Feb. 25, 2008
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(savetheboom.com)
Supporters of what's being called the oldest gay bar in the country—the oceanfront "Boom Boom Room," which opened in Laguna Beach, Calif., in the 1940s—have hope this month that the building's new owner might want to offload the controversial property rather than raze it for a new hotel.
Steven Udvar-Hazy, who bought the building in 2005 for $12.9 million, took it off the market on Feb. 1, worrying some locals. But the "for sale" signs are still posted, and two potential sellers viewed it last week, according to Fred Karger, who is leading a grassroots effort to save the club.
"Some people are discouraged, but a lot of people have new hope that good will will prevail, that he will come around and do the right thing," says Karger, who last month launched "Operation Postcard," a asking Hazy to lower his price of $20 million or donate the building to the city. "I'm not suggesting he'd take a loss, but I'm hoping he'll be more reasonable in light of the history of this bar."
Hazy bought the 24-room inn and two nearby properties, planning to bulldoze them and build an 11-room boutique hotel on the site. In 2006, he extended the Boom Boom Room's lease for one year, but it finally closed last September.
"This is a commercial property and not a trophy for one group," Hazy told the Laguna Beach Independent.
Opened as the Coast Inn in the 1920s, the bar was a military hangout and later, in the 1970s, a gay bar. Now known as "the Boom," the building is now the city's second-oldest hotel.
"It needs work. The previous owners did not main it at all," Karger says. "It could be a very beautiful place to restore."
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Wall Street Journal
http://online.wsj.com/public/article/PR-CO-20080204-905476.html?mod=crnews

-- end --

2008-02-25T09:58:00.000-08:00

News Flash!!! February 23, 2008

STEVEN UDVAR-HAZY PULLS BOOM BOOM ROOM OFF THE MARKET
O C Register Story Below

Dear Friends – This just came out last night and is in the Orange County Register’s online edition. It is a really interesting story by Christa Woodall on Mr. Udvar-Hazy’s sad new plan for the historic Coast Inn and Boom Boom Room. Read the story, and please give us your feedback. Email what you think of his and his architect’s plans. Would love to put them on our SAVE the Boom!!! blog: http://savetheboom.blogspot.com

email your reactions to: savetheboom@aol.com

One thing is crystal clear in this article, Messrs. Udvar-Hazy and Skenderian clearly have thumbed their noses at the 6,000 signers of our SAVE the BOOM!!! petitions and all of our other supporters across California and the U.S. They have announced among other things, that they will not have any kind of bar or restaurant where the Boom resided for 61 years. The landmark Boom Boom Room was the oldest gay bar in the western United States. This is a major reversal from the plans that Mr. Udvar-Hazy submitted to the city one year ago.

Sure there will be lots more on this late breaking development, stay tuned.

Thank you for all of your help and support!

Best regards,
Fred Karger
Founder
www.savetheboom.com

RESTORING COAST INN: Coast Inn owner Steven Udvar-Hazy is moving ahead with plans to restore the hotel to an earlier, retro look, as seen in this 1954 photograph. The inn's building was home to landmark gay bar The Boom Boom Room until it closed Labor Day 2007.
*COURTESY OF MORRIS SKENDERIAN AND ASSOCIATES

Friday, February 22, 2008
Boom Boom property's future comes into focus
Owner pulls land from market, plans to restore inn and add art gallery, deli.
By CHRISTA WOODALL
The Orange County Register

RESTORING COAST INN: Coast Inn owner Steven Udvar-Hazy is moving ahead with plans to restore the hotel to an earlier, retro look, as seen in this 1954 photograph. The inn's building was home to landmark gay bar The Boom Boom Room until it closed Labor Day 2007.
*COURTESY OF MORRIS SKENDERIAN AND ASSOCIATES

The owner of the building that housed the Boom Boom Room, the iconic bar hugely popular with the gay community in Laguna Beach, has announced plans to renovate the structure.
The proposal all but dashes the hopes of Boom Boom Room supporters and essentially quashes the idea that somehow the facility would remain at its existing location.
Owner Steven Udvar-Hazy pulled the property from the market on Feb. 1, said real estate agent Joseph Smith.
Hazy bought the property in April 2005, planning to make it a boutique hotel. In the face of strong opposition from the gay community, the three properties went up for sale with an asking price of $20 million.
The Boom Boom Room, which is considered by some to be the oldest gay bar in the western United States, was among the last gay landmarks left standing after the closures of icons like the Little Shrimp and Woody's.
The Boom served its final round of drinks on Labor Day 2007. Owners Patrick O'Loughlin and James Marchese opted to close the bar despite Hazy's offer of an extended, month-to-month lease.
Activist Fred Karger, who continues to work toward reviving the bar, said he's hopeful that Hazy might reconsider his plans and donate the property to the gay community or reduce his asking price.
If the project advances, it will mark another step toward the end of an era for the gay community, which has long looked to Laguna Beach as a gathering place.
"There's so much history that we're not prepared to walk away from," Karger said. "There's a tremendous amount of gay money out there that I'm hoping to tap to take over his property, but in the meantime, I'll do everything in my power to hold onto what was ours for 61 years."
At the core of Hazy's plan for the property is a historically restored Coast Inn, said architect Morris Skenderian.
"We're trying to preserve the building," Skenderian said. "We're trying to restore it back to what it looked like in the early 40s, so we're gathering all sorts of historical photographs."
The Spanish-style exterior would be similar to what's there now, with the addition of arches and balconies to the building's entrance as it had been before a '60s-era fire.
Within the restored façade, many of the hotel's 20 to 25 rooms would be combined to create fewer but more spacious rooms, Skenderian said. The building would be brought into compliance with the ADA with the addition of ramps and elevators.
The plans will try to incorporate a spa for the hotel guests and a little workout area, bringing it up to the current market standard for oceanfront property. A food facility within the hotel has been considered, but Skenderian said it is likely to be eliminated.
"Right now it's so dilapidated in there and there's so much work to bring it up to code," he said. "There are so many restaurants in that area now with (Casa) Del Camino, El Ranchito and Sapphire that you don't need it."
Underground parking for about 15 cars would be provided through an excavation, although the narrow space may pose a challenge, Skenderian said.
Facing Coast Highway, what was once the Boom Boom Room would be an art gallery, which follows with the movement of art groups to midtown, Skenderian said.
Across Mountain Street, the liquor store nicknamed the Gaymart would be renovated to keep its same look while converting the interior to a market and deli that caters to locals, tourists and beachgoers.
Construction for the project may take a year and a half after getting approval, which likely would take another year and a half, Skenderian said.
Where Coast Inn once catered to the gay community, the restored hotel will welcome anybody who is willing to patronize it, Skenderian said.
Meanwhile, Karger is working to flood Hazy's Los Angeles office with yellow "Save the Boom" protest cards. To date, he knows of at least 200 cards that have been sent, including ones signed by "The Brady Bunch" actress Florence Henderson and Fran Drescher of "The Nanny" fame.
Contact the writer: cwoodall@ocregister.com or 949-454-7391

Lots of News Newsletter

2008-02-12T05:23:00.000-08:00

Newsletter – February 10, 2008

It has been quite a week in Laguna Beach. There has been lots of interest in our Post Card Campaign to try and persuade Mr. Udvar-Hazy to reduce his asking price for the Coast Inn or consider donating it. It seems to be the “shot heard ‘round the world.” There has been extensive coverage at home, around the U.S and the world through CNNmoney.com, Yahoo News and other News Services. Let’s start with a wonderful column by Laguna Beach Coastline Pilot Editor, Cindy Frazier. She discusses a wide range of issues affecting the gay community and the city at large. Then enjoy an incredible Valentine cartoon by Lukash that also appeared in this week’s Coastline Pilot.

There are links to some of the coverage that we received from CNN to several business and gay publications. And there are other stories in the works.

And finally, the New York based Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) weighed in quite strongly regarding Mr. Udvar-Hazy’s insensitive quote in last week’s Laguna Beach Independent. He said in discussing the landmark 80 year old Coast Inn that was home to the 61 year old Boom Boom Room, “This is a commercial property not a trophy for one group.” Well, GLAAD President Neil Giuliano had this to say in response to his statement.

“Mr. Hazy’s comments clearly show his lack of understanding about thevibrant history of this landmark property. This is much more than a building. It’s an identity for a community so often marginalized by society.”

The Post Card campaign has been very successful. We have hundreds of signed card that are being sent into Mr. Udvar-Hazy’s office up in Los Angeles. We are collecting post cards from all over and they are readily signed. There have even been offers from store owners in Laguna to distribute them to their customers. We are eternally grateful for everyone’s help on this project. And we will keep you updated as we work hard this winter to SAVE the BOOM – Forever!!!

Thank you for your interest and support!

Fred Karger
Founder
www.savetheboom.com

February 7, 2007LUMBERYARD LOGS:Greed trumps gay identity
By Cindy FrazierReader Feedback -
The struggle over the future of the defunct Boom Boom Room — and by proxy Laguna’s gay-friendly identity — continues to roil.Great umbrage has been taken over comments made in the heat of a Laguna Beach City Council meeting regarding a restaurant’s hours, which are being construed as disrespectful to the gay community.Proponents of additional hours at Sapphire are accused of calling that restaurant a more desirable business than Woody’s at the Beach or the Boom, both gay establishments that are no more.I wasn’t at the meeting in question but find it hard to believe comments of that ilk were intentionally made by any of the persons so accused. It seems more likely that comments about the high traffic level and lack of parking at the Boom and Woody’s may have been made in an effort to contrast those nightspots with the Sapphire operation.Whether the reasoning is right, the hurt is real.Feelings about the fragility of Laguna’s gay community have been ripped raw by the closure of the Boom in September and Woody’s last year — and the real loss is just now starting to hit people.Now, comments attributed to the current owner of the historical Boom property are reportedly attracting attention from GLAAD, the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, a national activist group.The purported statement in a local paper by Boom owner Steven Udvar-Hazy — one of the world’s wealthiest men — that “the property is a commercial property and not identified with any one group” is being seen as not only insulting but insensitive.But who’s really been insensitive to the gay community in Laguna?Both of these properties were sold by their gay-friendly owners for wads of cash. We have it on good authority that the owners of the Boom property, including the adjacent hotel and ocean view residence, bought the place for $2 million and sold it for $9 million to the current owner.Oh yes, they were weeping all the way to the bank and tearing out their hair over the demise of Laguna’s “gay zone” and the “insult” to the 80-year-old gay community here. The owner of Woody’s also made a bundle turning over that long-standing gay establishment — beloved for years as Little Shrimp, a piano bar — to an upscale Mexican restaurant chain. Talk about selling out a community!It seems the former owners of these spots had no qualms about turning over these gay bedrocks to “commercial” interests.Woody’s owner has decamped for Palm Springs, where he has other business interests that apparently took precedence over Laguna’s.We understand the Boom owners sought a “gay” operator for a year who would keep the place a gay icon before the current owner offered to more than quadruple their investment.But is it reasonable to believe that no gay buyer came forward, or is it more believable that no billionaire gay buyer came forward with an astronomical amount of money to plunk down in order to keep the community from insult?Now it seems this insult to Laguna’s gay identity is spreading far and wide.Out-of-towners are murmuring that Laguna’s traditional welcome mat to gays and lesbians has been rolled up. The city is being accused of “gay unfriendliness,” and we are hearing “the word is out” on Laguna that gays are no longer welcome here. This adds injury to insult and is simply unsupported by anything we have gleaned from those in the know or on the street.I asked former Mayor Wayne Peterson whether he felt Laguna was losing its gay-friendly quality, and he looked downright puzzled.I asked him whether gays were leaving the city in large numbers as is rumored, and the former mayor shook his head “no.”The population is changing, perhaps, and baby boomers no longer rely on places like the Boom to socialize, but gays and lesbians are very much here.But something is missing — the gay bar scene that used to predominate is no more.The question is how to get it back — if indeed that would be the key to reviving the gay-friendly identity.When asked if the city needs a gay and lesbian community center like the one in West Hollywood, Peterson demurred, but noted there are gays in Laguna “with more money than God.” No doubt. Donate the Boom?In the midst of this insult-fest, Fred Karger of Save the Boom is upping the ante and hoping to pressure the corporate owner of Udvar-Hazy’s airplane leasing firm, American International Group Inc., to persuade him to donate the Boom property to a gay-oriented owner.This might sound laughable, but Karger thinks it is possible Udvar-Hazy could make out nicely by taking a tax loss on the property that he can’t sell at a modest profit of a million or so.AIG, one of Fortune magazine’s top-10 ranked businesses, owns scads of insurance companies but is at the bottom in terms of gay and lesbian issues on the Human Rights Campaign list.HRC, which tracks progress in gay/lesbian issues in the corporate world, also tracks charitable giving, and Karger believes a gift of the Boom Boom Room property to a trust or to the city of Laguna Beach would go a long way toward raising its status on this list. The trust could put the Boom Boom Room back in business — and save AIG’s face in the gay community. How a bar and nightclub — of any sexual persuasion — could be considered appropriate for a city or a nonprofit to operate is another story.But perhaps the Human Rights Campaign would like to weigh in on who sold out Laguna’s gay community.
CINDY FRAZIER is city editor of the Coastline Pilot. She can be reached at cindy.frazier@latimes.com

MORE COVERAGE FROM AROUND THE GLOBE

Connexion -- http://www.connexion.org/newsstory.cfm?id=12412&returnurl=index.cfm

yahoo news --http://news.yahoo.com/s/usnw/20080204/pl_usnw/steven_udvar_hazy_asked_to_save_gay_bar

CNN http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/prnewswire/DC1327904022008-1.htm

Trading Markets http://www.tradingmarkets.com/

http://savetheboom.blogspot.com/2008/01/billionaire-asked-to-save-boom.html

seaqua seattle, wa http://seaqwa.com/blogs/qnews/default.aspx?PageIndex=2

IW Industry Watch http://www.industrywatch.com/pages/iw2/Story.nsp?story_id=114279353&ID=iw2&scategory=Insurance%3AProviders&VNC=hnall

queensspeech http://queensspeech.com/conversations/google-gay-news/steven_udvar_hazy_asked_to_save_gay_bar_cnnmoney_com

patty hose http://queernetworks.typepad.com/pattyhose/2008/02/05/index.html

Living in Mobile http://bluedogmobile.livejournal.com/

Billionaire Asked to Save the Boom

2008-01-29T10:43:00.001-08:00

Below is the News Release announcing our new program to help SAVE the BOOM – Forever!!!

Today we are officially launching Operation Post Card. This is a winter long effort to ask the property owner of the landmark Coast Inn and Boom Boom Room, Mr. Steven Udvar-Hazy, to either drastically reduce his asking price, or just donate it!

You can help by signing a post card when you see a volunteer around town, or email us at savetheboom@aol.com or just write your own note to Mr. Udvar-Hazy. The post card is at the end of the News Release with the message that we want to convey and his office mailing address in Los Angeles .

Please forward this email and the News Release to everyone in your address book.

Thanks for your help and support!

For Immediate Release Contact: Fred Karger
January 28, 2008 949-494-4750

Billionaire Asked to Save Gay Bar
Operation Post Card Launched

LAGUNA BEACH, CA – SAVE the BOOM!!! http://www.savetheboom.com/ today kicks off its 2008 offensive to save the landmark Coast Inn and Boom Boom Room. A winter long campaign gets underway today to appeal to Mr. Steven Udvar-Hazy to either sell his property to a buyer who will keep it as a gay establishment, donate it to the city of Laguna Beach or donate it to a newly created Trust that will administer the property.

“Thousands of yellow post cards have been printed and we hope to fill his Los Angeles office with them. We will be getting as many people to sign and mail them to Mr. Udvar-Hazy as we can until this historic property returns to the way it has been for over 60 years,” stated Fred Karger, Founder of SAVE the BOOM!!!

The Coast Inn and the Boom Boom Room in which it is located was put up for sale by Mr. Udvar-Hazy in May 2007. There have been scores of interested buyers in discussions with Mr. Udvar-Hazy and his real estate representative, Joe Smith of Monarch Bay Realty, but no sale has taken place. This property could become the finest gay destination resort and club in the world.

Steven Udvar-Hazy is the CEO of International Lease Finance Corporation (ILFC) in Los Angeles , and he was ranked the 83rd richest American on the 2007 Forbes list with a net worth of $3.1 billion. ILFC is a division of AIG, the world’s largest Insurance and Financial Services Company. AIG is ranked #9 on the Fortune list of biggest companies in the US .

“The Coast Inn has 24 rooms and houses the oldest gay bar in the Western United States ,” added Karger. “Our efforts to save our landmark building have been going on for close to 2 years. Mr. Udvar-Hazy is a very generous man. He donated nearly $70 million dollars to the Smithsonian to create The Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center of The National Air and Space Museum . This incredible museum is located near Washington Dulles International Airport , and opened in 2003. Now we sincerely hope that he will consider donating the historic building that he owns in Laguna Beach .

“The donation of the Coast Inn located at 1401 S. Coast Highway could be an excellent federal and state tax deduction for him. He would be a hero to millions of gays and lesbians across the country who support our cause," said Karger. “Real Estate values are down in Orange County from what they were 2 years ago when he bought the property, and financing is hard to come by. We hope that he will either drastically lower the asking price or be a true hero and donate the property.”

Developers donate real estate to cities and other governmental entities all the time. Donald Bren and his Irvine Company donated a significant amount of land that he owned in Laguna Canyon to the City of Laguna Beach .

“I have sent him several qualified buyers to no avail. Now the Boom Boom Room has been closed for nearly five months, and lots of gay and lesbian residents and our friends are thinking about moving away. The City has a long history with the gay community going back more than 100 years when the first 40 artists moved to beautiful Laguna Beach between 1903 and 1917. We helped shape this City and we want to stay and be involved with the Laguna where we live and work for the next 100 years. The Boom Boom Room has been our club for over 60 years.

“We don’t have a lot of landmarks in our civil rights movement,” said Karger. “Our clubs and our bars have long been our gathering places. They take on a far greater significance. And nothing is more significant in gay history than the Boom or Laguna Beach .”

“Many gay firsts have taken place in Laguna Beach -- both good and bad. Bob Gentry was the first openly gay mayor in the United States . Under his 12 years on the City Council, so many historic laws were passed ranging from domestic partnership, anti discrimination to HIV / AIDS.

“Over the last 25 years, the gay community has lost so many of our ranks to the scourge of AIDS. Laguna Beach lost more of its citizens to AIDS per capita than any city in America . Now, we do not want to lose the heart and soul of the gay community in Laguna, and we will fight this battle as we have fought them all.

“So, today, we will launch “Operation Post Card,” our post card campaign to Mr. Udvar-Hazy to appeal to his sense of fairness and kindness and generosity to help us SAVE the BOOM – Forever!!!,” concluded Karger.

Anyone interested in helping Operation Post Card, please email savetheboom@aol.com or call 949-494-4750

POST CARD COPY

More Boom Coverage

2008-01-14T13:30:00.000-08:00

Well, I wanted to deliver the January issue of the ultra exclusive Riviera Magazine right to your computer, iPhone or blackberry. Writer Arrissia Owen Turner did a wonderful job interviewing Men of Laguna Beach Calendar Cover Model, Caleb King as a feature story for their “The Radar Now” section (page 38). The latest Riviera Magazine just hit newsstands this week.

Caleb did an incredible job telling why a straight guy wants to help save a gay landmark in Laguna Beach . The story and photo are below. The Men of Laguna Beach Calendar has been getting world wide attention, and we just shipped off copies to London -- hand carried by one of our supporters and is now available on a third continent. http://www.menoflagunabeach.com/

And special thanks to a wonderful artist and great friend of SAVE the BOOM!!! Bill Atkins for creating some art work and free advertising for our cause. Bill designed some really clever graphics to cover the boring brown paper that currently adorns the windows of the Boom. Check it out. Great improvement. Someone doing a virtual drive by will hopefully see the signs and call realtor Joe Smith who is representing Mr. Udvar-Hazy who is trying to sell the Coast Inn and Boom Boom Room. If you or anyone else wants to buy the building, remodel it and keep it as a gay establishment, call Joe at Monarch Bay Realty 949-489-1100

Close up of first panel:

Have a wonderful weekend and get ready for “Operation Post Card.” Details to follow soon.

Year End Update

2008-01-09T11:19:00.000-08:00

Just wanted to send you some of the year end news coverage that SAVE the BOOM!!! (www.savetheboom.com) has been receiving. The Boom’s temporary closure has been compared to the Hollywood Writer’s Strike. The movie and TV business is closed for now, but when the strike is settled, everyone will be back to work. Well, when the Boom is sold to a buyer who will remodel it and create the New Boom, then life can get back to normal in Laguna Beach . And the gay residents and our friends in Laguna and throughout Orange County will get their Community Center back, and all of the travelers from all over the US and the world will return to Laguna to enjoy our magnificent city with all it has to offer. There have been reports that business is down in Laguna Beach over the last 4 months compared to the same period in 2006. Plus the sales tax revenue that the Boom and Coast Inn generated for the city is certainly missed. There are a lot of options within an hour or two drive that are now capturing more of the gay travel dollar. Palm Springs , San Diego , Long Beach and Los Angeles are profiting at Laguna’s expense.

So as 2008 gets underway, all of us at SAVE the BOOM!!! will continue to work overtime to find a buyer of Mr. Udvar-Hazy’s property and at 1401 S. Coast Highway . He has asked that all inquiries on the Coast Inn and the Boom be directed to his real estate agent Mr. Joe Smith with Monarch Bay Realty 949-489-1100. Please refer any interested buyers to Joe and you can help Save the oldest gay bar in the Western United States , the Landmark Boom Boom Room.

Below are the stories as well as the links to the latest coverage on the Boom and our efforts. Thanks to Suzie Harrison at the Laguna Beach Independent, the Laguna Beach Coastline Pilot and Marcus Andrews at the Blade.

And stay tuned for our next grassroots project coming soon to a laptop, blackberry or iPhone near you!

Thank you one and all for your interest and support as we work to SAVE the BOOM – Forever!!!

Laguna Beach Independent December 28, 2007

Top 11 News Stories of 2007

By SUZIE HARRISON

The most significant news stories in 2007 read like plot developments in a well-paced novel, including mayhem, mystery, intrigue, loss and defeat, as well as victory, heroes, unity, leadership and action. And while part of the community becomes disbanded another reunites.

Gay Culture in Decline

The gay and lesbian community was hit hard with the loss of two popular Coast Highway hangouts a block away from each other. Woody’s at the Beach played its last gay anthem on Feb. 3 while the iconic Boom Boom Room’s “Last Dance” went on to the wee hours of Sept. 4.

Thousands gathered for the Boom’s final party weekend, marking the end of a six-decade era. Loyal patrons danced, shared stories and memories and even cried.

The hangouts held down two corners of a stretch of Coast Highway known as the gay triangle, for its history of gay-owned and operated businesses and bars that were a safe haven for the gay community.

The rainbow flag still waves in the area, though its intensity is markedly diminished.

Laguna Beach Coastline Pilot December 28, 2007
http://www.coastlinepilot.com/articles/2007/12/27/news/cpt-ninestories28.txt

Closure of Boom Boom Room and Woody’s

Laguna Beach lost two of its landmark gay establishments in Woody’s and the Boom Boom Room, located within two blocks of each other on South Coast Highway .

Woody’s at the Beach was at the corner of Cress Street and South Coast Highway for 10 years and the location had been gay-oriented for about 50 years.

Owner Joel Herzer sold the restaurant, and the last day was Feb. 3. An Avila ’s El Ranchito restaurant now occupies the space.

The Boom Boom Room, housed in the historic Coast Inn for more than 60 years, saw its last day after a Labor Day weekend of parties.

Airline mogul Steven Udvar-Hazy bought the hotel, bar and adjacent gay liquor store in 2006 with plans to redevelop the ocean view site and gave the bar a one-year lease extension.

In the intervening year, a grass roots effort was organized by local gay activist Fred Karger. The group — Save the Boom — organized fundraising events and actively sought buyers to preserve the watering hole.

A “for sale” sign now hangs in the window as Udvar-Hazy has put the property back on the market. Karger and Save the Boom activists are still optimistic they will find a buyer who will keep the bar as it was.

The Blade January 2008
http://gayblade.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=177&Itemid

One Night Stands & Standards in O.C.
Written by Marcus Andrews

Compared to West Hollywood, the LGBT Orange County nightlife seems to offer few options for its residents. What some people don't realize is that the Boom's closure doesn't mean an end to going out in Orange County .

In 2006, the closing of Ozz Supper Club presented the end of an era for gay clubs. With the loss of Hamburger Mary’s in early 2007 and the Boom Boom Room — the oldest and arguably most iconic gay bar in the Western United States — which closed on Labor Day, there’s a feeling that the club scene here has all but evaporated.

Have all the promoters disappeared and taken their clubs to Los Angeles? Perhaps they have decided it’s not worth throwing clubs in Orange County anymore because it’s not worth the financial risk.

From Laguna Beach to Buena Park , gay clubs flourished for many years but it seems that these clubs have had their day. It also came to the attention of most owners that they were sitting on gold mines and decided to take the money and run. A variety of community figures came out of the woodwork and decided to jump-start the gay Orange County club scene. The only problem is they are not promoters, they are not DJs and they may not know how to keep the scene alive for longer than a few years — if that.

However, people are talking about a few places. Some promoters have picked up the slack to create valuable clubs and bars in Orange County .

There are many reasons to go to gay clubs – to meet up with friends, celebrate a birthday or other special occasion – but in the past, one primary reason to visit clubs was that they offered the only real venue for meeting other LGBT people.

Today the men of Orange County go online every day to create relationships with people they have never met and then wonder where all the men are when they go out to clubs. As the gays coming out in Orange County continue to get younger every year, complaints can be heard about the “kids” at all the clubs.

Many promoters like DJ Zach from Boy U have been trying to give the young gay crowd a place to party in Orange County . After working with Tigerheat in Los Angeles , he came to Orange County to present the young gay population a chance to party with the best in Top 40 music and beats that make young and old alike want to move at Club Thrust.

“The city vibe came to Orange County ,” DJ Zach says. However, while creating Thrust he ran into problems when the owners of Quan’s Rockin’ Sushi lost their liquor license and patrons kept getting harassed at the Tuesday night event.

He decided after years of building a dedicated clientele and improving themes to go on hiatus and come back with Club Stiff. Once again the young gay crowd had nowhere to go on Tuesday nights.

What most promoters think about now are the money and how much they can make. “I prefer more specific events rather than a location,” DJ Zach says. “It’s hard to get people out in Orange County , since L.A. has all these bars.”

People think that it’s easy to be a club promoter and that it’s a glamorous lifestyle. This simply isn’t true; it also has a very dark side. Promoters must pay dancers, DJs, bartenders and security. Everyone wants a piece of the action and it’s unclear if they are friendly only because they want to get in for free or maybe get free drinks, which promoters can’t spare because they still have to make money. One problem for Orange County clubs is that there are no promoters presenting these clubs — just people expecting and hoping to make something for the gay community. That’s a nice sentiment, but it’s not good for the club business.

Archer Altstaetter, the front man of Boinkevents.com, has come onto the scene like a whirlwind and taken the Orange County gay scene from dull to exciting in one year. An accomplished dancer and great entertainer all around, he nonetheless experiences a lull from time to time at his club Friction. He’s one of the few who have sustained a night with entertaining shows and resident DJs in Orange County .

Another man trying to save the gay club scene in Orange County is Fred Karger, who created the Save the Boom organization. Karger thought the gay club scene in Orange County was fading and decided to call upon the community to save a beloved venue. Save the Boom is currently seeking someone to buy the property, which was placed on the market again.

“I’m funding the campaign myself,” Karger says. He says the opportunity for the young gay community to buy one of the mainstays of Orange County ’s gay club scene is out there. The possibilities are limitless for this venue, but it seems like a fleeting dream for many in the community. Karger says the previous owners of the Boom were not really bar people, and they sold the bar to the highest bidder.

One of only two exclusively gay dance clubs left in Orange County is Bounce in Laguna Beach . The venue is small but striking enough to bring a crowd that crams into the two-story club/bar. James Nelson, owner and resident DJ on Saturday nights, makes a determined effort to keep the gays coming for a good time every weekend. Given the scarcity of clubs that are gay every night of the week, Nelson not only appreciates his new patrons but also values the ones who have been there from day one. This makes his establishment something of an anomaly because not many people get someone who truly loves the art in creating a fun night for gays. An artist by trade, Nelson is not a promoter — and makes no claim to be. All he wants is for people to have a good time, which is the service that he provides.

DJs have always been a topic of scrutiny in clubs. Patrons can be demanding about what kind of music they want to dance to, with nary a thought about the rest of the crowd. When they don’t get what they want, they’ll complain or go to a different venue. DJ Fernando, who spun for Club Asia in Orange County , is no stranger to this situation. He knows the crowd and watches what they want. He never gets a request unless it is for One Night Only from the Dreamgirls soundtrack. “Lesbians, gays and drag queens don’t always mix,” DJ Fernando says. “The way to go is with video clubs. People are visual, and it’s a good conversation starter.” Spinning for Club Asia wasn’t always a breeze, but he found that the House movement wasn’t dead and played everything from the ’90s to the present. He could tell how pleased his crowds were just by how they were moving.

As with other weekly or monthly clubs, Club Asia closed due to constant changes in dates. Being monthly reduced Club Asia’s impact. DJ Fernando says it’s because the crowd and promoters did not work together to know what clubgoers want. “Promoters come and go,” DJ Fernando says. “But the ones that last are very few, like Anthony Lopez. A lot of promoters don’t even want the twinks, because they don’t buy liquor — so what’s the point? A lot of promoters aren’t even real promoters and they fail.”

By the time most people discover a club in Orange County it has already had a stroke of bad luck and not brought in the numbers. This is not what the gay community in Orange County needs. We need venues that we own that have reputable promoters and great DJs, so that the masses can look our way and want to come into town to party for the night. It is up to us as the patrons of these clubs and bars to make sure they survive and continue to bring us the entertainment that we so deserve. We are the ones that need to make Orange County the club Mecca that we want it to be. The Internet is a great tool to make new friends but next time you want to meet real people go to a club and see who is out there.

IN Los Angeles Magazine December 26 to January 9, 2008

And here is the link to the amazing coverage that IN Magazine gave to our Men of Laguna Beach Calendar and SAVE the BOOM!!! The link was not up when I sent the story around last week, but it’s up now. In case you didn’t pick up a copy, check it out on line and please foreword it around. We are down to our last 150 calendars, but there is one with your name on it. Just go to www.menoflagunabeach.com and order away. We are doing 2 for 1 for the month of January. So if you order 1 for $14.95 + shipping and handling we will ship you two – one for home and one for work! That's less than a penny a day! Link to IN Magazine: http://www.inlamagazine.com/1023/

Holiday Update

2007-12-10T17:16:00.000-08:00

well, all is not quiet on the Laguna Beach front this holiday season. There is an excellent story by Richard Andreoli in the current issue of IN Los Angeles Magazine. IN and its sister publication Frontiers have done an incredible job of covering our efforts to SAVE the BOOM!!! www.savetheboom.com over the past 22 months. In fact it was IN columnist Dana Miller who broke the story back in February of 2006. I have attached Richard’s story below as well as the link which is: http://inlamagazine.com/1021/features/1021_lag.html

There is movement on a buyer for the Coast Inn and the Boom Boom Room and we may have some encouraging news soon. Note the comments in the IN story from Mr. Udvar-Hazy’s real estate agent, Joe Smith.

Our documentarian, John Keitel has almost finished editing an absolutely award winning “mini-doc” of our SAVE the BOOM!!! campaign. John has shot over 30 hours (!) of footage of literally everything that we have done. He is producing the first documentary for Current TV (Al Gore’s television company). This mini-doc will be 10 minutes long in anticipation of a much longer documentary to be out next year. And it looks like the mini-documentary will be shown at Slamdance film festival http://www.slamdance.com/ in conjunction with the Sundance Film Festival in late January!!! Many of you were interviewed for this documentary, and it should be available for viewing soon. I have seen the rough cut and it is so beautifully done. You will very moved when you see it.

And the Men of Laguna Beach Calendar has been a big success. There are still several hundred available for purchase, but they are going fast. Go to our web site www.menoflagunabeach.com to order yours for only $14.95 each. Order plenty as they make a great gift for the holidays.

IN Los Angels is doing a COVER STORY on the Men of Laguna Beach Calendar featuring 3 of our Calendar Models: Caleb King, Ryan Kollock and Russell Mason. They shot the photos for the cover on Tuesday in LA. Caleb, Ryan and Russell should be featured plus interviews with each guy in the December 29th issue. And the ultra exclusive Riviera Magazine is doing a feature on our Cover Model Caleb King for its January 2008 issue, which comes out in a few weeks.

So that is the latest as we are all hard at work to SAVE the BOOM – Forever!!!

Happy Holidays to all.

December 1, 2007

The Boom Boom Room sits dark and empty, and the once thriving gay resort town continues to hemorrhage gay and lesbian residents. Are Laguna Beach’s gay days over?

By Richard Andreoli

Laguna Beach has long been considered a vacation destination for LGBT travelers, but through the years, interest has waned. Even Southern California queers, who live within an hour’s drive, rarely speak of the area’s sexy sunbathers and festive parties, opting instead for more popular haunts across the globe. Then came the recent closure of Laguna’s popular gay nightclub, the Boom Boom Room, and the death of this gay resort town seemed imminent.

“It was a very symbolic closing,” observes Bob Gentry, who served as mayor of Laguna from 1982-1994 and was the first openly gay mayor in the United States . “The Boom’s closing was symbolic of a change in the dynamic of the community.”

To understand that change, one must look at Laguna Beach ’s progressive roots, which began in the early 1900s. Painters from San Francisco journeyed south to form the city’s first artist colony, and their sensibility shaped Laguna’s formation. In the ’30s, ’40s and ’50s, Hollywood stars escaped the public’s prying eyes by vacationing here, and while the surrounding cities turned more conservative, Laguna remained socially liberal and a haven for homosexuals.

“It’s always been this great, tolerant, understanding place,” says Fred Karger, founder of the Save the Boom (www.SavetheBoom.com) campaign. Karger first visited Laguna in 1973 then moved here in 1995, but in the last 10 years he says the demographics have changed. “As property values have gone through the roof, a lot of older gay couples cashed out and moved. The other thing that’s changed is younger men and women don’t have to live in Laguna anymore. If they want to buy a home, they go to Aliso Viejo or Mission Viejo . They come to Laguna to go to parties or bars or restaurants, but that necessity of a gay couple having to live in Laguna is [gone].”

Gentry agrees, adding that the AIDS epidemic also killed many residents and gay leaders who would have generated a strong gay presence in town. Likewise, he says that local governments need to communicate that their community is welcoming of and safe for gay people. This happens through sponsoring events, spending money on advertising and outreach and through pro-gay legislation, such as when Gentry instituted domestic partner registration, an AIDS task force and non-discrimination policies toward people with AIDS during his tenure.

“Those are the kinds of things that have not occurred in Laguna over the last number of years,” he says. “And in the meantime, other destination resorts like Fort Lauderdale and Palm Springs have done a lot of proactive outreach to [LGBT travelers], and it’s worked.”

This isn’t to say that Laguna is devoid of queer life. The gay beach is still located two miles south of downtown near Aliso Beach . Club Bounce has taken over the night scene, though most young denizens prefer driving to Long Beach or West Hollywood during winter months, and various businesses now host gay happy hour, karaoke and drag nights; the website www.lagunamuse.com was even launched to provide local news and event information, though as of press time it hadn’t been updated since September. But for long-time residents like Karger, the Boom is still Laguna’s gay focal point.

“The Boom was the epicenter for 60 years and that’s where everybody would go, young or old, to dance or just chat,” he says. “We don’t have a lot of landmarks in our civil rights movement and I think it’s important that we fight for our history, particularly in preserving it for the future.”

The man who purchased the Coast Inn, which houses the Boom Boom Room, as well as the liquor store and Gay Mart locations across the street, is Steven Udvar-Hazy. According to a May 2007 article in the New York Times, Hazy is a billionaire three-times over who owns and leases commercial airplanes to companies like Cathay Pacific, Air France and American. The intensely private businessman originally intended to build a high-end retail space a la Rodeo Drive , but that may be changing.

“He’s developing it, but [the properties are] also for sale,” says Joe Smith, Hazy’s realtor from Monarch Beach Realty. “ Laguna Beach is not like a normal place to build because they have so many restrictions. It’s a very challenging piece of property. I would think the chances of selling it are 90 percent, because we have several interested parties that we’re entertaining offers from right now.”

Due to those restrictions from both city government and the California Coastal Commission, the scenario most locals envision is that new owners will refurbish and reopen the property rather than tearing down the structures and building something new. This doesn’t mean that the space will necessarily become an LGBT establishment—and Karger openly admits he’ll fight any attempts to do otherwise—but it is clear from the support he has gotten that Laguna Beach isn’t ready to forget its gay roots.

Going..Going...one. Worldwide.

2007-11-20T13:30:00.000-08:00

Men of Laguna Beach Calendars Going Fast Going, Going, Gone… Worldwide

The Men of Laguna Beach at a recent Calendar Signing in West Hollywood . January (Joe) thru December (Daniel) were represented

LAGUNA BEACH, CA -- With the holiday shopping season officially starting this Friday after Thanksgiving, we wanted to remind you of the perfect gift for everyone on your holiday list this year – the Men of Laguna Beach Calendar for 2008. It’s easy and it’s Green. No running around to malls, just go to http://www.menoflagunabeach.com/ and order away. Your calendars will be delivered by the U S Postal Service and you won’t have to spend $3.50 per gallon for gas. So help prevent global warming and BUY YOUR CALENDARS TODAY! You can charge you purchase to your credit card or use pay pal:

And if you are traveling around the country or the world, the Men of Laguna Beach can now be found at fine stores and bookstores all over. In Laguna Beach there are several outlets carrying the calendar. Among those are: Stylistic Intervention, Laguna Beach Colony Company, Latitude 33 Bookstore, Gay Mart and Club Bounce (see Mike at the bar). If you find yourself in Washington , DC the calendar can be found at Lambda Rising Book Store on Connecticut Avenue . In Los Angeles at A Different Light Bookstore in West Hollywood. And we are very excited to announce that the Men of Laguna Beach Calendar can be purchased in Sydney , Australia at The Bookshop Darlinghurst on Oxford Street .

Feel free to forward this email to your friends, family and co-workers to help them with their holiday gift giving. All proceeds from the sale of our calendar goes to The Laguna Beach Resources Center, the Laguna Beach AIDS Advisory Committee and Save the Boom.
Thank you very much for your help as we work to SAVE the BOOM – Forever!!!

Happy Holiday to all!!!

LA Invasion

2007-11-08T07:18:00.000-08:00

Well, just recovering from a very successful Los Angeles Invasion by the Men of Laguna Beach Calendar Models. Seven out of twelve months in the Calendar were represented. They took the 405 up for the Calendar Signing at A Different Light Bookstore in West Hollywood followed by a jammed packed After Party at the super hot Hollywood restaurant and night club, Falcon which on Tuesday night is called Beige. Lots of Calendars were sold at both events and the buzz even in LA was “let’s get the Landmark Boom Boom Room reopened soon! “
We found more allies in our effort to help find someone to Buy or Lease the 60 year old bar and the Coast Inn in which it is housed. There definitely has been increased interest in the property, and SAVE the BOOM!!! http://www.savetheboom.com/ continues its search for a buyer or lessee to come in and Remodel the historic property and turn it into the finest gay resort and club in the world -- the New Boom!

Below are photos from Tuesday’s two events.

No Searchlights in front of this Calendar Event, instead future Calendar models Brad and Lucas help out by handing out flyers in to passerby’s. Thank you Brad and Lucas!

Hard to hold a cocktail and a Calendar at the same time, but this After Party Pair figured out the trick.

Chris (September) and Contestant Coordinator Brian greeting guests, or is it bidding farewell to guests at the entrance to Beige at Falcon. It was a packed house Tuesday night for the Men of Laguna Beach Calendar After Party. Thanks to all the models, volunteers and everyone who came to support our LA invasion!!!
Gustavo and Daniel (top row) join in with Chris, Ryan, Joe, Caleb and Michael getting ready for the LA Calendar Sale and Signing at A Different Light Bookstore.

Reality TV Stars Daniel (Mr. December) here with co-star Rachael who came by to support Daniel and buy some calendars for Holiday Gift Giving at the Bookstore. They both are currently on VH1’s highly popular show America’s Most Smartest Model. Tune is Sunday nights to see who the winner will be!

January (Joe) thru December (Daniel) responded to the crowd’s request for a Calendar- like pose before heading out the After Party at Beige. Thanks guys! Calendars can be ordered on line at http://www.menoflagunabeach.com/

Chris (September) and Contestant Coordinator Brian greeting guests, or is it bidding farewell to guests at the entrance to Beige at Falcon. It was a packed house Tuesday night for the Men of Laguna Beach Calendar After Party. Thanks to all the models, volunteers and everyone who came to support our LA invasion!!!

Cover Model, Caleb (second from left) with some tall friends and fans, David, Rob and Derek.

It was Raining Men of Laguna Beach Calendars. Sean checking out the paper stock….

Hard to hold a cocktail and a Calendar at the same time, but this After Party Pair figured out the trick.

Star Water Polo Player and former Water Polo Calendar Model, Ryan (left) and ½ of the hit Band Nemesis Rising, Jacob at the After Party looking for Jacob’s twin brother Joshua.

On sale now:
Men of Laguna Beach 2008 Calendar
http://www.menoflagunabeach.com/ordercalendar.html

All proceeds go to: SAVE the BOOM!!!, The Laguna Beach Resources Center and the Laguna Beach HIV Advisory Committee.

LA Calendar Party

2007-10-30T09:29:00.000-07:00

Well, let the Calendar Sales and Parties Continue. Just in time for holiday giving, we are bringing the Men of Laguna Beach Calendar Models up to L. A.! SAVE the Boom!!! http://www.savetheboom.com/ is sponsoring 2 BIG events on Tuesday, November 6, 2007. This follows our very successful Launch Party in Laguna Beach on October 20th. Here is the schedule for Los Angeles.

Tuesday, November 6th 5:30 to 7:00 pm

Calendar Signing at the Famous A Different Light Bookstore http://www.adlbooks.com/ in the heart of West Hollywood. Come meet the models and get your 2008 Men of Laguna Beach Calendars signed and have photos with the models. This will not be your typical “signing” event. It will be lots of fun and there will be surprises.

8853 Santa Monica Blvd.West Hollywood, CA 90069Phone: 310-854-6601

Then join the Men of Laguna Beach at the After Party at Beige http://www.beigehollywood.com/ This will be co-sponsored by SAVE the BOOM!!! along with Rusty and Victor of Beige. Beige is held every Tuesday night at Falcon, and is LA’s premier night out celebrating its 8th anniversary.

Tuesday, November 6th 10:00 pm til 2:00 am
After Party at Beige, located at Falcon Restaurant and Bar

Falcon
7213 Sunset Blvd. (between Fairfax and LaBrea)
Los Angeles, CA 90046
323-850-5350

All proceeds from the sale of our 2008 Men of Laguna Beach Calendar go to support The Laguna Beach HIV Advisory Committee, the Laguna Beach Resources Center and SAVE the BOOM!!!

Please join us at one or both events a week from Tuesday, November 6th
5:30 to 7:00 pm @ A Different Light Bookstore
10:00 pm to 2:00 am at Beige at Falcon

If you can’t wait until next Tuesday, or have an important conflict, we understand. You can order your calendars on line. Simply go to http://www.menoflagunabeach.com/ and order away. All major credit cards accepted.

Thank you very much for your support as we fight to SAVE the BOOM – Forever!!! Look forward to seeing you on the 6th!

More Party Pics

2007-10-29T16:25:00.000-07:00

Thought that you would be interested in Suzie Harrison’s front page story from this week’s Laguna Beach Independent re the sale of the Boom Boom Room and Coast Inn. It also explains what is happening with Mr. Udvar-Hazy’s other properties on Coast Highway and Mountain. Very interesting story.

You will also find some more photos from our Men of Laguna Beach 2008 Calendar Launch Party http://www.menoflagunabeach.com/ that was held last Saturday night at Stylistic Intervention in downtown Laguna Beach. These wonderful pictures are courtesy of professional photographer, David Lundin http://www.sonappareil.com/ Thank you, David!

We will keep you posted on our upcoming Los Angeles Calendar Party – happening soon!

New Direction Ahead for Gay Landmark
By SUZIE HARRISON
A for sale sign propped inside the Boom Boom Room this week confirms that Beverly Hills billionaire Steven Udvar-Hazy is ready to unload the historic Coast Inn and 60-plus-year gay landmark that closed Sept. 3.

The sign raises hope for Boom fans who desire to see the gay beacon reopen, but Udvar-Hazy’s architect says seeing the disco ball glimmering again is highly improbable in the near future. The asking price is $14 million, according to one person.

“Quite honestly I don’t think it’s likely,” said local architect Morris Skenderian, who has been working with the property’s owner in recent months.

“I know Fred has a drive to preserve the Boom,” said Skenderian, referring to Fred Karger, the Laguna Beach resident who initiated a campaign nearly two years ago to preserve the gay landmark with his Save the Boom campaign. To bring the bar and adjacent Coast Inn to current building codes alone would be monumental without considering other issues, such as lack of parking. “It may not even be feasible,” he added.

Skenderian’s initial focus is reworking plans of a previous architect whose work on an adjacent beach-front home had been rejected by the Design Review Board as too ambitious. “Once we get approval we’ll switch gears to the hotel and liquor store,” said Skenderian. “The likelihood of the liquor store staying is good and the hotel staying is good. Whether the restaurant will be incorporated is unknown.”

The general direction for the hotel is toward refurbishing rather than starting over, said Skendarian, also the architect behind the recent renovation of the historic Pottery Shack into a vibrant commercial center.

Karger, who remains perpetually optimistic, said Hazy’s broker, Joseph Smith of Monarch Beach Realty, is in negotiations with potential gay buyers. “He’s been in touch with me to help find a buyer. I’ve sent several,” Karger said. Neither Hazy nor Smith returned calls seeking comment.

Hazy is seeking $14 million for the Coast Inn and the Boom, $6 million for the Liquor Mart, Gay Mart and parking lot, according to Karger, based on prices in July. Skenderian didn’t seem to indicate Udvar-Hazy is selling the house, valued at $8 million. Karger says definitively he isn’t.
Former co-owner of the property and current lessee Patrick O’Loughlin is seemingly in the dark about the sign. “I’m not sure what the sign means; it’s not for sale; it doesn’t say that it’s for inquiries contact…a slight nuance one from the other.”

To see the Boom booming again would be O’Loughlin’s wish. “I’m willing to sign a multi-year lease. I’m interested in overseeing the club again.” If the bar reopened, it would impact the hotel’s business. He’s working on transferring the liquor license to Udvar-Hazy.

In the meantime the hotel is self-sufficient and is used for monthly rentals. “It’s good seeing life at the hotel,” he said.

O’Loughlin, who originally was to close Labor Day weekend in 2006, received a one-year lease extension, which ended Sept. 3, and is now on a month-to-month lease.

He was told Skenderian was looking at the possibility of redevelopment plans. “There are not any great secrets. I think Udvar-Hazy likes to think of realistic possibilities.”

The only gay bar left in town is benefiting from the Boom’s closure. Bounce bartender Gabby Huerta said tips are up 30 percent and business has nearly quadrupled, but he still misses the Boom and Woody’s.

Here are Kate and Caleb with “The Facts of Life” star Mindy Cohen aka Natalie Green (left). Mindy came to support SAVE the BOOM!!!

SAVE the BOOM!!! documentarian John Keitel (left) enjoying the Launch Party with Michelle and Steve.

Cover Model, Caleb with volunteer extraordinaire, Carolyn Morris.

Checking out the calendar while checking out at Stylistic Intervention.

Caleb and Kate drumming up sales!

Ryan, Michael, Russ, Joe, Chris, Caleb and Caleb helping sales during the live auction. And encouraging everyone to help 3 great causes and buy calendars. It’s so easy to order on line.
Just go to: http://www.menoflagunabeach.com/

Calendar Party a Success

2007-10-23T13:27:00.000-07:00

An overflow crowd of over 300 guests packed Stylistic Intervention in downtown Laguna Beach last night to officially kick off the Men of Laguna 2008 Calendar at our Launch Party. Guests were greeted by 3 searchlights and treated to Laguna Man-Tinis made with Skyy Vodka (our official Vodka Sponsor – Thank You SKYY!!!) lots of delicious hors d’oeuvres and mini deserts made lovingly be Maggie Hempen and her crew from “Such a Great Party”. Stylistic Intervention owner Sondra Piorek and manager, Judy Wilson were the perfect hosts.

How Many Chefs Does it Take to Cut the Brownies? They were so good!!! Maggie on the phone.

The Bartenders serving Laguna Man-Tinis and lots of champagne.

All the models attending including Mr. September, Chris (left) and January Joe signed calendars all night long.

Mr. August, Ryan and his beautiful wife Teresa (due next week!) taking a break.

Cover Model (and Mr. November) Caleb helping to auction off the donated Wyland Print as Auctioneer Kate gets top dollar from a generous guest.

Mike (shirt on) bought the giant poster of the Calendar and then the guys literally gave the shirts off their backs to help raise more $$ for SAVE the BOOM!!!, The Laguna Resources Center and the Laguna Beach HIV Advisory Board.

Special thanks to everyone who participated in the making of this first Men of Laguna Beach Calendar:

Cris Lapp – Exclusive Photographer http://www.cristopherlapp.com/ Brad Mayo – Calendar Graphic Designer, http://www.dayonecreative.com/ Shane Miller – Open Casting Promoter, Kathy Lucker - Promotional Graphics, Brian Wilson – Production Coordinator, D.D. Devine – Open Casting Mistress of Ceremonies, Kenneth Hill, Managing Editor AOL’s http://www.queersighted.com/ and the Laguna Beach Coastline Pilot.

And at the Launch Party: David Lundin, Photographer, Sande St. John and her wonderful volunteers; Connie, Carolyn and Bill Morris, Eliseo and Steve and Marion and all of the models, especially the Final 12 who are such great representatives of Laguna Beach!

If you missed the party you can go on line and easily order calendars for only $14.95 at: http://www.menoflagunabeach.com/

And thanks to you for all of you support and encouragement as we work to SAVE the BOOM – Forever!!!

Calendar Launch Party This Saturday Night

2007-10-17T16:22:00.000-07:00

Men of Laguna Beach Calendar Launch Party
Set for This Saturday Night – Public Invited

Wyland Art to be Auctioned Off

LAGUNA BEACH, CA – This coming Saturday, October 20, 2007 from 7:00 pm to 10:00 pm the official Men of Laguna Beach 2008 Calendar Launch Party will be held. It is sponsored by Stylistic Intervention, SAVE the BOOM!!! and Skyy Vodka and is being held to kick-off the sales campaign for this fund raising calendar.

Stylistic Intervention Owner, Sondra Piorek (second from right) and friends holding up Calendar Cover Model, Caleb King are getting ready for the big Men of Laguna Beach Launch Party this Saturday 10/20/07

Nearly all of the Final 12 Calendar Contest winners will be present at the Party. The Launch Party will be held at Laguna’s beautiful home, style, gift and art store: Stylistic Intervention, 381 Forest Avenue, in downtown Laguna Beach 92651 (http://www.stylisticintervention.com/).

Models attending will include first place winner, Caleb King and second place finisher, Gustavo Marzolla and they will be joined by nearly all of the men representing the other months of 2008.

“Our calendar is showcasing one of Laguna’s best natural resources, its great looking men,” said calendar producer, Fred Karger. “We are extremely proud of how well it came out, especially because it was an all volunteer effort. ALL proceeds from the sales of the Men of Laguna Beach Calendar go to support our efforts to SAVE the BOOM – Forever!!! http://www.savetheboom.com/ , The Laguna Beach Resources Center and the Laguna Beach HIV Advisory Board.
Over 50 people volunteered their time and talent to make this first-ever calendar possible. The result is the hottest all male calendar on the market for 2008. The Final 12 were selected from the 35 men who tried out at an open casting of gay and straight men back on July 7th. The field was narrowed down to 20 Finalists and then to the Final 12. All 20 Finalists appeared on AOL’s QueerSighted.com, which has had 1.5 million page views and 540,000 votes cast, as well as a vote in the Laguna Beach Coastline Pilot Newspaper. A panel of judges then picked the 12 men, one for each month, and awarded the top finishers cash prizes. Caleb King, was the 1st place finisher and won $1000.00 and is featured on the cover of the calendar. 2nd place went to Gustavo Marzolla and there was a five way tie for 3rd place.

The calendars will be on sale Saturday night and the Models will be autographing copies with every purchase. The calendars are also on sale at select stores in Laguna Beach and around the country. The calendar retails for only $14.95 and will make the ideal holiday gift – one that keeps on giving for the next 12 months!
There will also be a live auction during the evening, where a beautiful print entitled “Dreaming of Paradise” (see below) donated by Laguna’s own Internationally famous artist, Wyland will be sold to help raise funds along with other donated items including the “Art of Wyland” book also donated by the artist.

“Special thanks go out to everyone who helped put this calendar together,” concluded Karger. “Over 50 volunteers were involved from start to finish, but we at SAVE the BOOM!!! want to give special thanks to celebrity photographer Cris Lapp http://www.cristopherlapp.com/ who took all of the amazing photos, to our Graphic Designer extraordinaire, Brad Mayo http://www.dayonecreative.com/ who did the incredible design work on our calendar and to all the Models who volunteered their time and themselves to help SAVE the BOOM!!!”

Here is the link to buy calendars on line: http://www.menoflagunaeabch.com/

“Dreaming of Paradise ” by Wyland will be up for sale Saturday night.

Buy the Boom! Campaign Kicks Off

2007-10-16T09:14:00.000-07:00

SAVE the BOOM!!! Kicks off Campaign to

BUY the BOOM!!!

LAGUNA BEACH, CA – The organizers of the 1½ year old grassroots effort, SAVE the BOOM!!! leaped into action today encouraged by the appearance of For Sale signs that went up over the weekend in the windows of the historic bar. It will now start its new campaign: BUY the BOOM!!!

The Boom Boom Room closed down on September 3, 2007 and the City and the Gay Community lost it’s 60 year old landmark bar and hotel. The building owner, Beverly Hills Billionaire, Steven Udvar-Hazy told a reporter in August that he was trying to sell or lease his property at 1401 South Coast Highway as well as separate properties he owns across the street.

”This is the best possible news,” said Save the BOOM!!! founder, Fred Karger. “We had hoped that Mr. Udvar-Hazy was serious in his desire to unload the Coast Inn and Boom Boom Room, and seeing the For Sale signs go up gives us renewed hope to find a buyer who will keep the Boom the way it has been for the last 60 years. We will soon begin an advertising and PR campaign locally and in the national gay media to find someone to BUY the BOOM!!! who will keep it as a gay establishment”

There is also an effort underway to find someone to lease the bar while it is being sold.

SAVE the BOOM!!! is just beginning to sell its Men of Laguna Beach 2008 Calendar www.menoflagunabeach.com that it produced to raise funds and awareness as it works to SAVE the BOOM – Forever!!!

The Calendar Launch Party is being held this Saturday, October 20, 2007 from 7:00 to 10:00 pm at Stylistic Intervention, 381 Forest Avenue, in downtown Laguna Beach. The public is invited to meet the calendar models who appear on this first-of-its-kind calendar. There will be free cocktails, hors hors d'overes, a live auction and surprises for all those attending.

Meet the Models Party

2007-10-11T10:20:00.000-07:00

Men of Laguna Beach Calendar Launch Party Set

Everyone is Invited to Join Calendar Models at Party

LAGUNA BEACH, CA – On Saturday, October 20, 2007 from 7:00 to 10:00 pm most of the Final 12 Calendar Contest winners will be present to help kick off the first-ever Men of Laguna Beach Calendar (www.menoflagunabeach.com) at the official Launch Party. The party will be held at Laguna’s beautiful home, style, gift and art store: Stylistic Intervention, 381 Forest Avenue, in downtown Laguna Beach 92651 (www.stylisticintervention.com).

Many of the models will attend including first place winner, Caleb King and second place finisher, Gustavo Marzolla and they will be joined by lots of men representing the other months of 2008.

“Our calendar is showcasing one of Laguna’s best natural resources, its great looking men,” said calendar producer, Fred Karger. “We are extremely proud of how well it came out, especially because it was an all volunteer effort. ALL proceeds from the sales of the Men of Laguna Beach Calendar go to support our efforts to SAVE the BOOM – Forever!!! www.savetheboom.com , The Laguna Beach Resources Center and the Laguna Beach HIV Advisory Board.

Over 50 people volunteered their time and talent to make this first-ever calendar possible. The result is the hottest all male calendar on the market for 2008. The Final 12 were selected from the 35 men who tried out at an open casting of gay and straight men back on July 7th. The field was narrowed down to 20 Finalists and then to the Final 12. All 20 Finalists appeared on AOL’s QueerSighted.com, which has had 1.5 million page views and 570,000 votes cast, as well as a vote in the Laguna Beach Coastline Pilot Newspaper. A panel of judges then picked the 12 men, one for each month, and awarded the top finishers cash prizes.

Caleb King, was the 1st place finisher and won $1000.00 and is featured on the cover of the calendar. 2nd place went to Gustavo Marzolla and there was a five way tie for 3rd place.

The calendars are now on sale on line at our new web site: www.menoflagunabeach.com and are on sale at select stores in Laguna Beach. The calendar retails for only $14.95 and will make the ideal holiday gift – one that keeps on giving for the next 12 months!

“Special thanks go out to everyone who helped put this calendar together,” added Karger. “Over 50 volunteers were involved from start to finish, but we at SAVE the BOOM!!! want to give special thanks to both celebrity photographer Cris Lapp www.cristopherlapp.com who took all of the amazing photos, and to our Graphic Designer extraordinaire, Brad Mayo www.dayonecreative.com who did the incredible design work on our calendar”

Here is the link to buy calendars today: www.menoflagunabeach.com

Calendars for Sale

2007-09-23T11:25:00.000-07:00

Men of Laguna Beach on Sale Now!!!
Calendar Done and For Sale on the Internet

LAGUNA BEACH, CA – The wait is over. The much anticipated Men of Laguna Beach 2008 calendar is printed and can be purchased on line effective today at http://www.menoflagunabeach.com/ It looks incredible!

Cover Model, Caleb King

“Our calendar is showcasing one of Laguna’s best natural resources, it’s great looking men,” said calendar producer, Fred Karger. “We are extremely proud of how well it came out, especially because it was an all volunteer effort. ALL proceeds from the sales of the Men of Laguna Beach Calendar go to support our efforts to SAVE the BOOM – Forever!!! http://www.savetheboom.com/ and to local Laguna Beach charities.
Over 50 people volunteered their time and talent to make this first ever calendar possible. The result is the hottest all male calendar on the market for 2008. The Final 12 were selected from the 35 men who tried out at an open casting back on July 7th of gay and straight men. The field was narrowed down to 20 Finalists and then to the Final 12. All 20 Finalists appeared on AOL’s QueerSighted.com, which had 1.2 million page views and 350,000 votes cast in 3 weeks, as well as a vote in the Laguna Beach Coastline Pilot Newspaper. A panel of judges then picked the 12 men, one for each month, and awarded the top finishers cash prizes. Caleb King, was the 1st place finisher and won $1000.00 and is featured on the cover of the calendar. 2nd place went to Gustavo Marzolla and there was a five way tie for 3rd place.

The calendars will initially be sold on line, and will be sold at some in stores in Laguna Beach soon. A launch party is planned for later next month to officially kick off the Christmas and Holiday’s sales blitz. The calendar retails for only $14.95 and will make the ideal holiday gift – one that keeps on giving for the next 12 months!

“Special thanks go out to everyone who helped put this calendar together,” added Karger. “Over 50 people were involved from start to finish, but we at SAVE the BOOM!!! want to give a huge thank you to both celebrity photographer Cris Lapp http://www.cristopherlapp.com/ who did took all of the amazing photos, and to our Graphic Designer extraordinaire, Brad Mayo http://www.dayonecreative.com/ who did the incredible design work on our calendar”

Here is the link to buy calendars today: http://www.menoflagunaeabch.com/

Get a Sneak Peak at the Calendar

2007-09-16T16:43:00.000-07:00

SNEAK PEEK AT THE MEN OF LAGUNA CALENDAR

Lots of activity again this week. We crowned the King of our Men of Laguna Beach Calendar contest yesterday. Caleb King was the choice for 1st place by the panel of judges. Caleb was presented the grand prize of $1000.00 by Calendar Producer and Save the BOOM!!! http://www.savetheboom.com/ founder, Fred Karger in a small ceremony in front of the landmark Boom Boom Room on Saturday, September 15th.

Caleb King (left) receives a giant check and a real one from Fred Karger (right) of SAVE the BOOM!!! in front of the landmark bar on Saturday. The additional $500.00 came from long time Laguna Resident Peter Montgomery who matched the original 1st place prize money and thus doubled Caleb’s winnings to a cool grand. Thank you Peter!!!

And special thanks to Brad Mayo, graphic artist extraordinaire. Brad’s calendar design was just completed and will be at the printer tomorrow. Brad volunteered his services and that of his new company, Day One Creative http://www.dayonecreative.com/ and designed the best looking 2008 calendar on the market. You will be able to order the Men of Laguna Beach Calendar on our new web page http://www.menoflagunabeach.com/ very soon.

Here is a sneak peek at the back page with the Final 12 pictured in living color for your viewing pleasure.

And 1st Place Finisher Caleb gets the cover:

Below are some links to recent articles that have run in Laguna Beach, on line and around the country about the Calendar and the closing of the Boom Boom Room.

We will keep you posted on our search to find a buyer or someone to lease the Old Boom and transform it into the new and greatly improved New Boom!!!

Thanks for your help and interest as we work around the clock to SAVE the BOOM – Forever!!!

Our Recent News Coverage

Katherine Volin , Washington Blade

Christa Woodall, Laguna News Post

Josh Aden, Laguna Beach Coastline Pilot

Suzie Harrison, Laguna Beach Independent

Janine Kahn, OC Weekly

James Mills, Frontiers Magazine

Ryan Kollock Newsletter

Calendar Winners -- Laguna Beach Coastline Pilot

Calendar Winners -- Laguna Beach Independent

Winners Announced in Calendar Contest

2007-09-12T07:34:00.000-07:00

Winners Announced in Men of Laguna Beach Calendar Contest

LAGUNA BEACH, CA – SAVE the BOOM!!! http://www.savetheboom.com/ today announced 1st, 2nd and 3rd place winners in its first Calendar Contest.

1st Place - Caleb King

2nd Place - Gustavo Marzolla

3rd Place -- there was a FIVE way tie!!!!!

Russell Mason

Chris Dezinno

Ray Cook

Russell Brodmerkle

Ryan Liddell

The panel of judges considered a variety of results before this decision was reached.

Calendar Open Casting Promoter and SAVE the BOOM!!! Treasurer, Judge Shane Miller said, “This was one tough choice. First we had to pick the Final 12 -- very difficult, and then to pick the top three was a really tough call. I now have great respect for all judges of every major pageant in the world from Miss Universe on down. All 35 men who tried out, the 20 Finalists, the Final 12 and now our 7 prize winners were all incredible and deserve a huge debt of gratitude from all of us at SAVE the BOOM!!!”

Special thanks go out to all the volunteers involved in the contest and particularly to celebrity photographer, Cris Lapp http://www.cristopherlapp.com/ who took thousands of photos and came up with these great shots that will adorn our first ever Men of Laguna Beach Calendar. Special thanks go out to Graphic Designer Extraordinaire, Brad Mayo and his company Day One Creative http://www.dayonecreativ.com/ for the incredible look of our calendar. And thank you Peter Montgomery and Michael Scales for doubling the original 1st place prize money to a grand!

And a huge thank you from everyone involved with the Men of Laguna Beach Calendar goes out to Kenneth Hill, Managing Editor of AOL’s Queersighted.com http://www.queersighted.com/ who’s site has helped promote our calendar by creating a portal that has seen over 1 million page views in less than 3 weeks and as of today there have been over 350,000 votes recorded for the 20 Finalists. And thanks go to everyone at the Laguna Beach Coastline Pilot who’s full page color spread of all 20 Finalists led to a big response in their on line poll as well. These two polls were considered, but the panel of 4 judges was responsible for making its decision, and that decision is final.

Calendar Producer and SAVE the BOOM!!! Founder, Fred Karger stated, “We will have the hottest all male calendar for 2008 on the market and 100% of the proceeds will go to help SAVE the BOOM!!! and to local Laguna Beach charities. I hope that everyone who supports our 1½ year effort to SAVE the BOOM – Forever!!! will go on line and buy lots of these amazing calendars. They make an ideal Holiday gift and will be fun to slap on your wall for all to admire.

We will be announcing our web address soon for purchasing these collector item calendars on line.

Caleb King will be presented the grand prize of $1000.00 at a small ceremony this weekend in Laguna Beach. All 6 runners up will be mailed their checks this week. 1st place prize is $1000.00, 2nd place $250.00 and 3rd place winners will each receive $100.00.

Thanks to one and all!

Impromptu After the Beach Party

2007-09-06T08:32:00.000-07:00

Last Sunday, Bi Coastal Laguna homeowner Steve Wozencraft invited a group of friends up to his mountain top estate to watch the sunset and sip champagne and cocktails. The views from Steve's many decks as well as inside the house were all spectacular. Thank you, Steve!

Closing Night Memories from the Old Boom Boom Room - September 3, 2007

2007-09-06T08:04:00.000-07:00

Thousands of partiers and lots of media descended upon the landmark Boom Boom Room over the long Labor Day Weekend. Here are lots of pictures from the night the Boom closed those famous corner doors on Coast Highway and Mountain for a while. The bar ownership of the last 7 years is gone and we're expecting brand new owners will be coming in soon to open up the remodeled New Boom.

Calendar Contest Results!

2007-09-06T07:43:00.000-07:00

The Final 12 Announced in Men of Laguna Beach Calendar Contest

LAGUNA BEACH, CA -- In NCAA Basketball there is the Sweet 16, the Elite 8 and the Final 4. Well, in the Men of Laguna Beach Calendar Contest there is the Final 12 (one for each month). The 12 winners were selected today by a panel of judges and SAVE the BOOM!!! (http://www.savetheboom.com/) is pleased to announce the results:

In alphabetical order the Final 12 are:

Caleb, Chris, Daniel, Gustavo, Joe, Michael, Ray, Russell B., Russell, M., Ryan K, Ryan L, and Ryan W (see the Final 12 below with photos and attached).

The first ever Men of Laguna Beach Calendar will now go into production and will be available soon in Laguna Beach, on line and around the world.

“It probably should be called the Ryan’s and Russell’s of Laguna Beach Calendar, with 5 of the Final 12 men named that. The panel of judges has come up with 12 great looking guys both gay and straight who will be excellent representatives of Laguna. They will greatly help in our continuing efforts to Save the Boom – Forever!!!,” stated Fred Karger, founder of Save the BOOM!!! and Producer of the calendar. “This was an incredibly difficult decision to narrow the field down from the 20 Finalists to just 12. Our sincere thanks go out to everyone who was involved in this first ever effort of its kind.”

Several factors were considered to help determine the final results: AOL’s QueerSighted.com’s www.queersighted.com/laguna on line gallery, which since it launched 3 weeks ago has received over 1,000,000 (yes million!) page views. Site visitors have cast over 231,000 votes! And conducting a poll of its readers was the Laguna Beach Coastline Pilot http://www.coastlinepilot.com/laguna_beach_calendar These two on line sources, plus lots of feedback and comments were reviewed by the judges to help decide the outcome. In approximately a week the top 3 winners will be announced and the prize money including $1000.00 to the first place winner will be announced.

The fight to save the landmark Boom Boom Room has kicked into high gear with the recent announcement by property owner Beverly Hills Billionaire, Steven Udvar-Hazy that all his holdings on Coast Highway and Mountain are for sale. SAVE the BOOM!!! is searching the globe for a buyer who will remodel and keep the Landmark Boom Boom Room right where it has been for the last 60 years.

“They just reopened the 131 year old St. Vibains Cathedral in Los Angeles which was supposed to have been demolished. It took Tom Gilmore 11 years to Save that important landmark and we at SAVE the BOOM!!! will work just as hard and fight for as long as it takes to Save our landmark gay bar in Laguna Beach,” said Karger.

“Now that the old management is out and the bar is closed we are reaching out to a buyer or even a lessee to get the Boom open again ASAP,” concluded Karger.

We have attached some links to several more stories about our efforts to SAVE the BOOM – Forever!!!

Thank you very much for your interest and support.

The Final 12 in Alphabetical Order:

Caleb

Chris

Daniel

Gustavo

Joe

Michael

Ray

Russell B.

Russell M.

Ryan K.

Ryan L.

Ryan W.

News Stories
Laguna Beach Coastline Pilot – Josh Aden
http://www.coastlinepilot.com/articles/2007/09/04/business/cpt-boomboom31.txt

towelroad blog
http://www.towleroad.com/2007/09/laguna-beachs-h.html

QT Magazine -- Duane Wells
http://www.qtmagazine.com/article.cfm?section=22&id=16232

OC Weekly – Erin DeWitt
http://blogs.ocweekly.com/heardmentality/painting-the-town-red/the-boom-boom-room-is-closing/

Connexion
http://www.connexion.org/newsstory.cfm?id=11061&returnurl=news.cfm

by Erin DeWitt
http://blogs.ocweekly.com/heardmentality/painting-the-town-red/the-boom-boom-room-is-closing/

http://www.365gay.com/Newscon07/09/090407labo.htm

End of an Era

2007-09-04T08:28:00.000-07:00

Dear Friends – Well, it has been quite a weekend and the Boom Boom Room and Coast Inn have officially closed their doors for now. It’s been four nights of parties and a sad, yet hopeful final night last night. Lots of Boom regulars, old timers and quite a few first timers were there til the 2:00 am closing. It seems like everyone there tonight had a very fun and certainly memorable time.

Among the first timers were television reporters and crews representing 4 Los Angeles TV stations: KCBS – 2, KCAL – 9, KTTV – 11, KCOP – 13, along with KFWB News Radio and several Orange County and Laguna Beach newspapers. And capping off the all the mainstream media was a big assortment of gay publications that were at the Boom throughout the closing weekend.

Stay tuned to our fight to keep the Boom Boom Room right were it has been for the past 60 years.

You can view the TV coverage from last night’s closing night at the Boom at the links below:

http://www.myfoxla.com/myfox/pages/News/Detail?contentId=4254084&version=1&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=VSTY&pageId=3.2.1

http://cbs2.com/local/local_story_246173416.html

Here is the link to a great story by Christa Woodall and Heather Ignatin from yesterday’s Orange County Register in the front section, page A 3! They also have published some great Boom memories as a part of their story.

http://www.ocregister.com/news/boom-gay-friends-1837632-laguna-bar

Monday, September 3, 2007
One last toast at the Boom Boom Room

The Boom Boom Room is set to close Tuesday morning.

By HEATHER IGNATIN and CHRISTA WOODALL

The Orange County Register

In a matter of hours the Boom Boom Room will serve its last drink, play its last song and turn off the lights.

The popular gay bar – for decades a landmark in Laguna Beach – will close its doors at 2 a.m. Tuesday.

"I'm devastated. It's the most special place in the world to me. It's where I found safety and new beginnings," said Eric Grich, 37, of Reno , who has been a patron at the Boom since the late 1980s. "I was able to go there and be myself. The friends I met there 20 years ago I still know today."

Since 2006, a grass-roots effort led by Fred Karger had tried to keep the bar open – gathering thousands of signatures, lobbying the City Council and even reaching out to Hollywood celebrities.

But in the end, it was the establishment's owners, Patrick O'Loughlin and James Marchese, who decided to turn down a month-to-month lease through spring 2008 for the properties that house the bar and Coast Inn because they felt there was no future.

The bar has been an icon in the gay community. It was nationally known for the best high-energy dance music and being one of the few places gay men could let loose.
An underlying sadness has crept into the bar's energetic atmosphere during its final weeks, Karger said.

"It's melancholy inside those walls," he said. "I'm sad this chapter is ending but optimistic that the next chapter we're entering … will lead to a happy ending. … It's been a landmark for six decades, and we will not rest until it returns as a gay landmark."
Memories

"I recall back in 1998, having just moved to the West Coast, running into someone at the Boom Boom Room one summer evening who would turn out to be my partner for six wonderful years. The place has a magic about it and its location is legendary, something that will be difficult to replicate." – Christopher Heywood of New York

"My memory goes back to the 1980s when my boyfriend, Geoff, and I used to visit Laguna three or four times every year for 11 years. We would come down early Saturday morning because we could only afford one night in a hotel and stay through Sunday night. It was always Saturday night at the Boom Boom Room. We would run into friends from L.A. and found it so easy to make new friends here in Laguna. It was always the perfect vacation bar to go to. Lots of other visitors and the locals were the best and the lucky ones."– Fred Karger of Laguna Beach

"For many of us who grew up in the O.C., the Boom was our home away from home. I am no exception. When I crawled out of the closet in 1996, I was living in Newport Beach . I had just graduated from UC Irvine, and I was still trying to fit into the straight surfer scene on the Peninsula . Then one boring night at Malarky's, I heard a Tri Delta talking about 'Faguna' and the Boom. I had no idea a gay community existed in the O.C. and so close to me. The revelation was mind-numbing. Soon thereafter, I found myself at the bar, drunk and spilling my heart to a beautiful bartender from Chicago . My first crush was born … and my first gay friends emerged. And as soon as I could, I got a job at the Boom as a doorman where I worked for many years. Needless to say, the loss of the Boom is the loss of my gay adolescence. My heart aches for its loss, but (I'm) proud of the memories that will last forever."– Omar A. Sandoval of New York

"It's a place where people put their shoulders down and act like normal people. They come with a good open attitude for having fun and relaxing. It's also way more laid back and cooler than Newport . I've been going there for 15 years. I think the owner should renovate it and keep it gay. He should spend some of his money and resources on doing a study. He'd find out that gays spend a lot of money on expensive travel. He could make more money targeting gay business, rather than straight business. He could be a hero." – Thomas Miller of Los Angeles

"The Boom was a great place to hang out on the weekends. It was your friendly neighborhood bar like my parents had in Chicago , but for the gay community. I have many great memories of being there playing pool, hanging out with friends, watching the sunset, and listening to '80s music. It was a safe place for me to discover myself and to share happy times with my friends. Whenever I remember Laguna Beach , I remember the Boom. They are synonymous to me."– Robert L. Mlodzik of Holly Springs, N.C.

"I was the head DJ at the Boom during 1985 and 1986. This was shortly after the longtime gay owner, Sid (if memory serves), died. I spent many nights in that DJ booth, which I remodeled and rewired, and occasionally spent the night in the hotel when I didn't want to drive home after a long shift."– David Troup of San Francisco

"Me and my first lover, Paul, had many great weekends there from 1981 through 1986 and I still would go many weekends until 1990. It was a socially comfortable place where folks had a good time and could be themselves. I consider it a historical site of Laguna Beach , like Trader Vic's in Hollywood . It has lots of history. In the '80s I danced for hours at a time. The DJs always had the best new wave and disco music then. I now live further away (near L.A. ), but it would be nice to be able to go there and party again. Also, my best friend (known as Drew Blood) who passed from AIDS in 1997 had his ashes spread on the beach down the stairway outside the Boom."– Rob Brooks of Whittier

"My aunt owns The Surf & Sand, and I was fortunate enough to visit Laguna Beach every summer growing up in the 1970s and 1980s. Gay culture was so prominent, normal and accepted there that it was a wonderful change compared to my hometown of Phoenix . It was a real treat to return as an adult lesbian and finally visit the Boom Boom Room in the 1990s. What a great, friendly bar. It's sad to hear that Laguna is losing its prominent gay culture and the Boom Boom Room. Now, I have little reason to visit Laguna anymore."– Erin McDowell of San Francisco

"I went to the Boom Boom for the first time more than 16 years ago during Labor Day weekend. I was just coming out and met several guys there and had the best experiences and week of my life. Today I still have those friends in my life, and they are my best friends. I return to Laguna once a year now just to go to the Boom Boom Room to meet new friends and celebrate my current friends. I tell all my friends they have to go to Laguna Beach and the Boom. It's one of the most amazing places, and it would be a tragedy to lose something so important to the gay community, not to mention my yearly trips."– Eric Grich of Reno

Contact the writer: 949-454-7335 or hignatin@ocregister.com

Thanks for your interest and help as we work to SAVE the BOOM -- Forever!!!

Best regards,
Fred Karger
http://www.savetheboom.com/
949/494-4750

Parties, Parties, Parties....

2007-09-02T17:52:00.000-07:00

Parties, Parties, Parties....

There are parties galore in Laguna over Labor Day 2007. Here are some select photos of a few of the hundreds of guests at Mike Boone's incredible Ocean Front Estate from Saturday night. Mike's party was attended by a lots and lots of visitors and locals alike. Even the McLoughlin Twins, Jon and Lucas. Can you tell them apart??

The Boom -- It Is a Wild and Crazy Closing Weekend

2007-09-02T17:45:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures from Friday and Saturday night at the Landmark Boom Boom Room which was packed. Very fun times at the old Boom. Look for the opening of the New Boom -- a new and vastly improved Boom Boom Room coming soon!

SAVE the BOOM!!! Storms the National Lesbian and Gay Journalist's Association (NLGJA) Annual Conference

2007-09-02T17:18:00.000-07:00

Founder Fred Karger, Treasurer, Shane Miller and leading Calendar Contest Model Ryan Whitacre made a road trip to San Diego last Thursday for the opening night trio of receptions and to meet the 650 attendees from all over North America who were kicking off their annual gathering at the Westin Hotel. We met hundreds of reporters, producers, directors, and executives from all over. Most were very familiar with our campaign to SAVE the BOOM!!! having covered the story, but those who had not heard of us, can't say that anymore. Thank you Ryan for attending to give the media an in person look at a Men of Laguna Beach Calendar Contest Finalist. If you want to see Ryan and the other 19 Finalists, go to: www.queersighted.com/laguna to view and vote for your favorites.

Calendar Contest Judges Set to Pick Final 12

2007-08-30T14:48:00.000-07:00

Calendar Contest Judges Set to Pick the Final 12

Photo Gallery to be Showcased on AOL’s QueerSighted.com Indefinitely

LAGUNA BEACH, CA -- The panel of judges in the first Men of Laguna Beach Calendar Contest will be announcing the 12 winners of its contest next week following the Labor Day Holiday. The current field of 20 finalists will be narrowed down to the Final 12.

The calendar will go on sale in September. Proceeds from the sales will go to benefit the ongoing efforts of SAVE the BOOM!!! www.savetheboom.com as it continues its campaign to save the legendary gay bar and keep it as it has been for the last 60 years as well as several Laguna Beach charities.

Meanwhile, an online photo gallery of the calendar models has been running on AOL’s QueerSighted.com for the last two weeks. The gallery has logged over 750,000 page views, and visitors have cast 200,000 votes! “That exceeded all expectations by about 190,000 votes,” said calendar producer and SAVE the BOOM!!! founder, Fred Karger. “Everyone involved with this effort is shocked and awed by this overwhelming response. We just heard that there have been over 750,000 page views on the gallery site over the first 2 weeks that it has been up – just incredible numbers. And all these visitors are reading about our campaign to SAVE the BOOM – Forever!!!.”

In addition to AOL, the Laguna Beach Coastline Pilot has been featuring the calendar contest in a full page color newspaper spread and on its web site.

Contestants may be viewed at:

www.queersighted.com/laguna and

http://www.coastlinepilot.com/laguna_beach_calendar/

Now as the Boom Boom Room and Coast Inn in which it is housed are set to close their doors on September 4th, we will reach out to the building owner, Steven Udvar-Hazy to help us reopen the New Boom ASAP. This will be a brand new redone bar and hotel that we can all be proud of.

Be sure and come back to the blog for all the latest news and lots of photos from the Boom, Labor Day Parties, the Beach and around Laguna.

Behind the Scenes - Calendar Contest

2007-08-30T14:44:00.001-07:00

Here are a few behind the scenes photos from SAVE the BOOM!!!'S famous Men of Laguna Beach Calendar Contest. You can see our incredible photographer, Cristopher Lapp (www.cristopherlapp.com) go to work on finalists Gustavo, Todd, Michael, Ryan K., Sean, Russell M. and Darko caught here emailing some photos back to his friends in Croatia.

To look at the 2 Galleries posting photos of the 20 finalist go to:

www.queersighted.com/laguna

http://www.coastlinepilot.com/laguna_beach_calendar/

Boom Pictures Make Recent Memories

2007-08-26T17:38:00.000-07:00

Second to Last Weekend at the Old Boom Boom Room

If you were there, you know how much fun Friday and Saturday were this weekend. If you missed it, be sure and come to the Boom over Labor Day Weekend -- 2007. The current Boom's last night is Monday, September 3rd, so be sure and come by to say goodbye.

But we are confident that there will be a New Boom opening soon. A nice new, fresh, fixed up Boom to continue on for another 60 years. Stay tuned and watch for our updates.

See you at the Boom!!!

Share Your Memory of the Boom

2007-08-26T17:37:00.000-07:00

Would you take a minute to help in a very important story (see below) that will be running in the Orange County Register next Sunday, September 2nd? The reporters have asked me to ask you to jot down a couple of sentences on what the Boom Boom Room has meant to you. Either a fond memory, or how it may have helped you in coming out or helped you in any way -- see below. And if you have any pictures, send them along, too.

You can send them directly (please keep them g-rated) to the reporters:

christa woodall -- cwoodall@ocregister.com

heather ignatin -- hignatin@ocregister.com

thanks very much!

fred karger
www.savetheboom.com

Send us your memories of the bar, due to close Labor Day.
THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
After decades of operation, the Boom Boom Room – a landmark gay bar in Laguna Beach – will close its doors Sept. 3. Please send us your favorite memories and pictures at cwoodall@ocregister.com and hignatin@ocregister.com.
Contact the writer: cwoodall@ocregister.com or hignatin@ocregister.com

Weekend Update

2007-08-25T11:06:00.000-07:00

Just had to post a copy of today’s incredible editorial in the Laguna Beach Coastline Pilot. It is the second time that they have editorialized in support of saving the Boom Boom Room and the over 100 years of gay history that it represents. Below is the story and the link to their online edition so you can send a comment in to the paper if you would like.

http://www.coastlinepilot.com/articles/2007/08/24/opinion/cpt-editorial24.0820:15.txt

EDITORIAL: Boom’s loss will be felt
August 24, 2007
Reader Feedback - Currently No comments posted. Comments
The end is very near for the fabled Boom Boom Room and Coast Inn, Laguna Beach’s — and some say the western U.S.’s — oldest establishment catering to gays.Steven Udvar-Hazy, the billionaire who bought the ocean view blocks containing the bar/motel as well as Coast Liquor and the Gay Mart is reportedly moving ahead with downscaled plans for the location.Unless someone pulls a miracle out of a hat it looks like the last call at the Boom will be Labor Day, Sept. 3.A four-day “Closing Party” is being advertised on the Boom’s website, and it seems that Laguna Beach will soon be the site of one of the unhappiest social gatherings of the season.Save the Boom activist Fred Karger is still hopeful that someone will step forward to reopen the Boom on a short-term basis, or until a buyer can be found for the properties — reportedly still on the market with an asking price of $20 million. But hopes have been raised and dashed before.The boom was lowered on the Boom Boom Room more than a year ago.Udvar-Hazy was set to close the landmark last Labor Day, but gave the operators another year to keep the business going. In the meantime, he apparently was discouraged by meetings with city officials about his plans, and put the property on the market.Hopes were raised that a new buyer would come forward with the desire to keep the Boom intact. Karger delivered some 5,000 signatures on petitions to the Laguna Beach City Council asking for city intervention in the future use of the properties, and even took out an ad in Daily Variety begging Brad Pitt and George Clooney to invest in the Boom’s future, which drew national attention to the campaign.For certain, over the past year, the issue of the Boom has gone beyond that of the demise of a popular local watering-hole and gathering place.Karger and gay activists argue that, without the Boom, Laguna will lose its niche as a safe haven for gay visitors and residents — and the gay community will lose an “anchor.”On the other hand, some note that gays no longer need “safe houses” because same-sex couples are no longer unwelcome in mainstream society. (Indeed, where Boom patrons used to require police escorts to their cars to avoid gay-bashers, this is no longer the case.)It is sad the Boom will apparently follow in the footsteps of Woody’s, the little bar/restaurant one block north that stood for many years as a beacon to the gay community.Perhaps the demise of the Boom — if it does close for good — can be seen as a sign of progress, rather than failure. But the loss will hurt.
And if you’re still sitting down from the other day, we just heard that our Calendar Contest gallery on aol has received over 450,000 views since it launched 9 days ago. Go to: www.QueerSighted.com/laguna and see for yourself and vote for your favorites. It takes less than a minute and is very fun.

That’s 450,000 who have looked at our Men of Laguna Calendar Contest – 450,000!!! And there are now over 112,000 votes cast in only 9 days. The contest will be over in a week, but aol is now planning on keeping the posting up indefinitely. So as we continue our fight to SAVE the BOOM!!! and our search for a buyer who will keep the Boom open and then remodel it, our story will be continually viewed by huge numbers of people from all over the world.

And the Laguna Beach Coastline Pilot has its own great poll to help select the 12 finalists for the calendar contest as well. Easy to go to: http://www.coastlinepilot.com/laguna_beach_calendar/

Here are some other links that have picked up the calendar contest story and have run with it since my last update:

http://kennethinthe212.blogspot.com/2007/08/page-1-consider-0822.html
http://www.qtmagazine.com/article.cfm?section=21&id=16036
http://www.gaylinkcontent.com/storydetail2.cfm?storyid=16036
http://www.gaybusinessworld.com/page.cfm?Sectionid=3&typeofsite=storydetail&ID=764&storyset=yes®ion=5
http://www.connexion.org/newsstory.cfm?id=10855&returnurl=news.cfm

And be sure and come by the Boom by September 3rd and partake in the fun. If you have never been it is a must do, and if you have been before, well, it’s still a must do!

See you at the Boom and thanks for all your help and support to SAVE the BOOM – Forever!!!

Best regards,

Fred Karger
Founder
www.savetheboom.com

Update on the Boom

2007-08-22T13:13:00.000-07:00

Below is the story that ran in today’s Orange County Register by Christa Woodall and Heather Ignatin re the closing of the landmark Boom Boom Room in Laguna Beach.

While a change will occur after September 3rd, there is excellent news to be garnered from this story. For the first time in a year, the property owner Steven Udvar-Hazy has talked to a reporter and confirmed that the Boom and his other two properties across the street are officially for sale and / or lease. This is what we have been hoping to hear in our 1 ½ year campaign to SAVE the BOOM -- Forever!!!

So do not despair, we are working with some very interested investors who are extremely anxious to pick up the lease and reopen the Boom immediately. There is also tremendous interest in the purchase of the property.

And the story indicates that Mr. Udvar-Hazy is moving his boutique hotel, restaurant and shopping center concept to another city in the OC. So this is huge news, and know that we are working day and night to make a deal happen. A very special thank you to Mr. Udvar-Hazy for his openness and willingness to help us preserve our 60 year old landmark bar and hotel. He has been nothing but a gentleman and we are so fortunate to have a property owner who is willing to work with us to help SAVE the BOOM!!!

Men of Laguna Beach Calendar Contest

If you haven't voted on the final 12 for the Men of Laguna Beach Calendar Contest, there are two ways to do it. Go to aol’s www.queersighted.com/laguna
or to the Laguna Beach Coastline Pilot’s site: http://www.coastlinepilot.com/.

We are astounded with the number of people visiting these sites and hearing about our campaign to SAVE the BOOM!!! You sitting down? AOL’s site alone has had 72,000 votes for the 20 Finalists in just 7 days!!! We should break the 100,000 vote count by the end of aol’s posting next week.

So this fight to save our landmark Boom Boom Room is far from over. To coin an old but very applicable phrase “when one closes, another opens.” Look for those corner doors at the Boom to be reopening soon!

Keep the faith and thanks to one and all for all of your help and support. We will not rest until the Boom Boom Room and Coast Inn are Saved Forever!!!

Best regards,

Fred Karger
Founder
www.savetheboom.com
949/494-4750

Landmark gay bar to close
Laguna Beach's Boom Boom Room will shut its doors Sept. 3 after owners fail to reach agreement with landlord.

BY CHRISTA WOODALL AND HEATHER IGNATIN
THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

LAGUNA BEACH – After Labor Day, the Boom Boom Room will be no more.
The iconic Laguna Beach gay bar will close its doors permanently Sept. 3 after co-owners Patrick O'Loughlin and James Marchese were unable to reach an agreement with landlord Steven Udvar Hazy.

Although Hazy said he offered a month-to-month lease through spring 2008 for the properties housing the bar and Coast Inn, O'Loughlin opted to close the historic establishment.
“At this location, there is no future to it,” O'Loughlin said. The property owner wanted the flexibility to immediately move ahead if he found a buyer or was able to get the necessary approvals to renovate, he added.

On Tuesday, long-time patrons and supporters were sad to hear the bad news.
“It's not as much the actual place, but a symbol of the gay community's role in the city of Laguna Beach – its development, shape and sense of character,” said Robert Gentry, 68, a former Laguna councilman and mayor who recently co-chaired grassroots committee Save the Boom.

“There is a certain sense of history there that is really important. I don't want the gay community to return to second-class citizens in that wonderful seaside community that it helped develop.”

Added Gentry's partner, Dennis Amick Gentry, 56: “It's a shame we couldn't find another owner to continue it the way it had been.”

No plans have been made to move the bar to another location. The bar was originally set to close last Labor Day, but received a reprieve in the form of a one-year extension on the lease last August.

Hazy purchased the property in April 2005, planning to make it a boutique hotel. He has moved his intended hotel elsewhere in the county but continues to consider renovating the Coast Inn, Boom Boom Room and a convenience store across Mountain Road.

Although the property is not actively on market, Hazy is entertaining offers from potential buyers, said realtor Joseph Smith. The asking price for the three properties is $20 million.
Save the Boom leader Fred Karger is hopeful that a gay-friendly buyer or a lessee could keep the bar open.

“I'm ecstatic that Mr. Hazy is willing to (extend the lease),” he said.

“I think it's sad it is closing,” said Councilman Kelly Boyd, who has lived in Laguna his entire life and owns the Marine Room Tavern, “But I'd try to keep it open as long as I could.”

Even if the property owner sold it, the deal would most likely go through a 60 to 90-day escrow, Boyd said. “Why not keep it open until it's time to leave?”

Timeline
1980s: The landmark gay bar reaches its heyday and national prominence as one of the few places where homosexual men can let loose.

April 2005: The bar’s future is in limbo after the beachfront property – along with the Coast Inn’s 24-room hotel are sold. The owner, Steven Udvar-Hazy, agrees to keep it open one more year.

February 2007: Supporters gather 1,200 pages during the “Save the Boom” campaign that they present before the City Council.

June 2007: “Save the Boom” activist Fred Karger appeals to Brad Pitt and George Clooney to buy the bar.

September: The bar’s lease ends.

Weekend Update

2007-08-17T18:12:00.001-07:00

Well, there has been a lot of activity on the calendar contest over the past couple of days. And today the Laguna Beach Coastline Pilot has started its own poll that features all 20 Men of Laguna Beach Calendar Finalists in a full page color spread. So check out today’s paper by going to: http://www.coastlinepilot.com/articles/2007/08/17/entertainment/cpt-calendarpoll17.txt

And to vote for your 12 favorites: go to: http://www.coastlinepilot.com/
send an email to coastlinepilot@latimes.com, or fax your favorites to (949) 494-8979 or mail to the Coastline Pilot, Attn: Calendar Contest, P.O. Box 248 , Laguna Beach , CA 92652 . Entries must be received by August 31.

Also, AOL’s QueerSighted.com has received over 13,500 votes so far (in just 2 days!) in its online poll that began yesterday – incredible! To vote for your favorites on that site go to: www.queersighted.com/laguna

And Queersighted’s coverage was picked up by gay blogs and newspapers all over the world! Here are just some of the links to that coverage:

http://washblade.com/blog/index.cfm?blog_id=13843

http://www.queerty.com/news/boys-get-undressed-to-save-boom-boom-20070816/

UK GAY NEWS:
http://ukgaynews.org.uk/latest.htm

http://wolfi1976.blogspot.com/2007/08/oc-gay-club-needs-your-help.html

There are also two front page stories on the change /closure that most likely will occur at the Boom Boom Room after Labor Day Weekend. One is in the Laguna Beach Independent and one in the Laguna Beach Coastline Pilot. But there are some new opportunities brewing that might keep those corner doors at PCH and Mountain open. We will keep you posted on any new developments.

Independent story by Andrea Adelson:
http://www.lagunabeachindependent.com/default.asp?sourceid=&smenu=150&twindow=Default&mad=No&sdetail=1267&wpage=1&skeyword=&sidate=&ccat=&ccatm=&restate=&restatus=&reoption=&retype=&repmin=&repmax=&rebed=&rebath=&subname=&pform=&sc=2192&hn=lagunabeachindependent&he=.com

Coastline Pilot story by Josh Aden:
http://www.coastlinepilot.com/articles/2007/08/17/business/cpt-boom17.txt

Thank you one and all for all of your encouragement and support as we work to SAVE the BOOM – Forever!!!

Pick Your Favorite Save the Boom Model

2007-08-16T10:00:00.000-07:00

Men of Laguna Beach Calendar Preview AOL's QueerSighted.com Showcases 20 Finalists!!!

LAGUNA BEACH, CA - SAVE the BOOM!!! www.savetheboom.com today announced the 20 finalists for its 2008 Men of Laguna Beach Calendar have profiles and photos which can be viewed on QueerSighted.com, the GLBT blog/portal on AOL. The public is invited to see all 20 men in a photo gallery: www.QueerSighted.com/laguna

The Men of Laguna Beach Calendar is a contest which began with an open casting on Saturday, July 7, 2007 at the landmark Boom Boom Room when over 30 men gay and straight tried out to be a finalist for the Calendar. All contestants must live, work or play in Laguna Beach . A panel of 5 prominent Hollywood judges narrowed the field of shirtless men who auditioned on stage down to just 20. All finalists had photo sessions over the past 3 weeks with celebrity photographer Cristopher Lapp www.cristopherlapp.com

Judges will narrow the group of 20 to determine which 12 men will appear in the calendar. Judges will also choose their top three calendar models, each of whom will be awarded monetary prizes, with $1000.00 going to the first place winner. The public is also invited to vote for their favorite guy in an online poll: www.QueerSighted.com/laguna.

(Scroll down and on the lower left of the page you will see the online poll.) QueerSighted Managing Editor, Kenneth Hill notes, "QueerSighted is thrilled to share in the excitement of these 20 handsome men who've literally given the shirts off their backs to raise awareness about saving the Boom Boom Room, a beloved gay landmark." The calendars will go on sale online, in Laguna Beach and around the world after Labor Day. All proceeds will benefit the SAVE the BOOM!!! campaign and several local charities. The Men of Laguna Beach 2008 calendar promises to be one of the hottest male calendars ever produced and showcases one of Laguna's great natural resources -- its great looking men. SAVE the BOOM!!! is a grassroots volunteer effort to save the landmark Boom Boom Room and Coast Inn in which it is located. The Boom is the oldest gay bar in the Western United States . The building is currently for sale by owner and SAVE the BOOM!!! is searching for a buyer who will remodel and keep the 60 year old bar operating for the gay community and our friends for another 60 years.

TO VIEW THE PHOTOS, GO TO: www.QueerSighted.com/Laguna