DOT Magazine Highlights Save the Boom Efforts

• o.c. spotlight •
Locals Attempt to Save the Boom
By Tonette Shepherd

After much innuendo, it is now fact that the Boom Boom Room will be closing its doors forever, and if you have not had the opportunity to make memories at the oldest continuously operating gay club in the Western United States, time is running out. As reported in the July issue of dot Newsmagazine, the famed establishment will close on Labor Day, but committed “boomers” are going out of their way to save the historical treasure.

(See the rest of the article here)

Weekend Update August 7

PETITION DRIVE TOPS 4,000 SIGNATURES


As reported in the Laguna Beach Coastline Pilot, we have crossed the 4,000 mark on our petition drive! Volunteer coordinator Jeff Delancy was out and about this past weekend all around town and spent Saturday morning at Laguna's popular farmers market where he received huge support and lots of signatures from many shoppers.

We are in the final month of our signature gathering effort. If you have not signed a petition yet or would like to help gather some signatures on your own, simply go to our website www.savetheboom.com and click on "sign our petition" and print out your very own own copy. Sign the top line and get up to four more signers who also want to save the historic Coast Inn and Boom Boom Room and mail it back to the address on the bottom of the petition. It will greatly help in our efforts.

SAVING THE BOOM IN THE WINDY CITY

Dave Mawer called Saturday to report that he was wearing his bright yellow SAVE the BOOM!!! t-shirt in Chicago and was greeted by throngs of supporters asking "what was going on with the Boom?" and "How can we help?" looks like the campaign is spreading its wings around the country. That along with expanded press coverage in Washington, DC, Houston, San Francisco and San Diego is truly making this a national effort.

News on the Boom

Laguna Beach Coastline Pilot -
August 6, 2006

CITYSCAPE ROUNDUP:
LA councilman joins Boom fight

Los Angeles' first openly gay city councilman, Bill Rosendahl, has joined the effort to preserve the Boom Boom Room and Coast Inn in Laguna Beach, Save the Boom founder Fred Karger said.

The Save the Boom effort has obtained more than 4,000 signatures on petitions, Karger said. The goal is 5,000 signatures.

Rosendahl joins former Laguna City councilman and three-time mayor Robert F. Gentry as co-chair.

"I am hopeful that we can help create a public private partnership with the city, the property owner and the gay community to preserve not only this building but gay life in Laguna Beach," Gentry said.

"I have been going to Laguna Beach since 1981," Rosendahl said. "I want to continue to come back to the Laguna I know and love just as I have been doing for the past 25 years. This club and hotel are an integral part of the community, and they should be there for future generations.

"The Boom Boom Room is steeped in history. It is the oldest continuously operating gay bar in the western United States and is viewed as a landmark by the gay community. It must be preserved. I hope that Laguna Beach City leaders will help us in our campaign to Save the Boom," Rosendahl said. advertisement


Gentry, who served on the Laguna city council from 1982 to 1994, was one of the first openly gay mayors in the United States.

The Save the Boom campaign was launched June 1. For more information, visit www.savetheboom.com.

_________________________________________________

Additionally, the Laguna Beach Independent ran a story on Bill Rosendahl joining the campaign. You can find a link to the PDF story on their web site here:
LA Councilman Is In On the BOOM

LA City Councilman to Serve as Co-Chair (Press Release)

Los Angeles City Councilman to Serve as Co-Chair of SAVE the BOOM!!! Campaign


Bill Rosendahl Joins Robert Gentry in Top Spots


LAGUNA BEACH, CA - Respected Los Angeles City Councilman, Bill Rosendahl today joined the grassroots citizens effort to preserve the historic Boom Boom Room and Coast Inn in Laguna Beach, was announced today by SAVE the BOOM!!! Founder, Fred Karger.

"I have been going to Laguna Beach since 1981," stated Rosendahl, "I want to continue to come back to the Laguna I know and love just as I have been doing for the past 25 years. This club and hotel are an integral part of the community and they should be there for future generations."

"The Boom Boom Room is steeped in history. It is the oldest continuously operating gay bar in the western United States and is viewed as a landmark by the gay community. It must be preserved!"

"I am honored to do whatever I can to help in this campaign. Laguna has always been a special place to me for a lot of reasons. It is known worldwide as a wonderful, compassionate city that has embraced diversity for over 100 years. I hope that Laguna Beach City leaders will help us in our campaign to SAVE the BOOM!!!"

Bill Rosendahl is the first openly gay man elected to the Los Angles City Council and is currently the only openly gay elected official in the city of Los Angeles - see photo attachment. He is serving in his first term and was elected in 2005. Bill Rosendahl joins former Laguna Beach City Councilman and 3 time Mayor, Robert F. Genty as Co-chair of this effort.


"I am so pleased to serve with Bill Rosendahl," said Bob Gentry. "He is a bold, courageous and decisive leader and I am honored to serve side by side with him to help preserve this landmark. I am hopeful that we can help create a public private partnership with the city, the property owner and the gay community to preserve not only this building but gay life in Laguna Beach."

Bob Gentry served on the Laguna Beach City Council from 1982 to 1994 and was the first openly gay Mayor in the United States.

Weekend Update from July 24

We have had another busy weekend out campaigning in Laguna Beach to SAVE the BOOM!!! Just about every night this week under the supervision of volunteer coordinator, Jeff Delancy signature gatherers have been in front of the boom boom room, woodys, coast liquor, the koffee klatch and main street.

We had tables set up on Saturday in north Laguna at pavilions and at ralphs supermarkets. unfortunately we hit some unpleasantness at pavilions. some very hateful remarks were directed at jeff followed by an individual heaving his coffee at him out of his speeding car. we have been hitting pockets of homophobia throughout laguna with some comments and rude behavior, but never anything like this. jeff was shaken up, but said that for this one individual there were hundreds of positive comments and lots enthusiasm for the SAVE the BOOM!!! throughout the day.


Blogs

on a brighter note, many blogs and regional gay newspapers have started to pick up our story and are spreading the word of our effort to save this gay landmark. not to be outdone, we have launched our own blog on the new and improved SAVE the BOOM!!! website. check it out:

http://savetheboom.blogspot.com/


Letters to the Editor

and there were some excellent letters to the editor in last friday's Laguna Beach Independent. here is the link to page A4. they are entitled "raise the boom" by c. bjork and "laguna beach a gay and lesbian friendly place" by roger carter (no relation).

http://www.lagunabeachindependent.com/INDY_ASEC_071406.pdf

if you would like to write a letter to the editor to help the cause, just go to our new and improved website and click on "write a letter to the editor." it will explain how to go about this. keep your letter short and sweet and make sure you include your name and phone number. lots of papers like to call and confirm with the writer after they receive the letter.

Petition Drive

The petition drive is going extremely well and we are proud to announce that we have over 3,000 signatures on hand from laguna residents and visitors alike. the awareness and interest has really soared and it is very gratifying to see the community get behind this effort.

Share Your Boom Memory

I had the pleasure of meeting two incredible women at the boom a few weeks ago who were so happy to sign our petition, here's why:

"On a warm late summer day in September 1999, we had our wedding ceremony outdoors on the back deck of the Coast Inn. It was a beautiful day with lots of people down on the beach enjoying the ocean. Our wedding video is filled with sounds of the waves crashing on the beach.

"We had a wonderful ceremony with lots of music. Some of our friends and family members contributed their voices and their piano, flute, and harp for the occasion.
The music ranged from hymns to show tunes. We even sang a song to each other as we were lighting our candle - From This Moment.

"Since there were beautiful flowers surrounding the deck, we didn't even need to bring in any flowers for the ceremony -- that was a blessing since neither one of us is gifted at floral arranging. The Boom Boom/Coast Inn chef prepared all the hors d'oeuvres for our 50 guests. Besides our guests, there were many other folks who stopped on the beach to listen to our music, or who watched the ceremony form the upper decks above!

"We will always remember that day when we said our vows before our family and friends. We are committed to a long and lasting relationship. Thank you BoomBoom and Coast Inn."

Shauna and Shanna

and if you have any stories, photos, comments, etc., that you would like to see on our blog, please send them to me by return email and we will try to put them on our site.

thank you so much to all who are helping on this campaign to SAVE the BOOM!!!

best regards, fred karger

Another busy weekend

had another busy -- all be it shorter -- weekend in laguna beach. new volunteer coordinator jeff delancy started working full time on the campaign to SAVE the BOOM!!!

his first recruit, kandis along with jeff spent much of the weekend gathering signatures on our petitions. they set up a table in front of the sawdust festival and then moved over to the pageant of the masters and the festival of arts across the street.

there were lots of lagunans and visitors alike and there certainly was quite a bit of awareness of the cause. most people were very friendly and happy to sign. we are now getting the ol' "I've already signed...at albertsons last week," or "you got me at the beach over the 4th of july!" so it looks like we are covering the bases in town.

we received some more excelent press coverage in the Laguna News--Post and the Laguna Independent last week. here is the story from the News-post on Bob Gentry:

Success!

The SaveTheBoom campaign was out in full force over the holiday weekend. Check out these photos!