I want to pass along Dana Parsons’ wonderful column from a recent Los Angeles Times -- Orange County Edition. He really captured the essence of what we are trying to accomplish in Laguna Beach with all our efforts to save this landmark bar and over 100 years of gay history along with it.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/orange/la-me-parsons16jun16,1,7379404.column?coll=la-editions-orange
Have also here is a link to an excellent story from last week’s Orange County Register --Laguna News Post by Christa Woodall on our move into Hollywood.
http://www.ocregister.com/ocregister/news/local/lagunabeach/article_1720660.php
Local News : Orange County
Los Angeles Times Saturday, June 16, 2007
It can be a blast trying to save a Boom
A P.R. man has a little fun with his cause: preserving an iconic gay bar in Laguna.
June 16, 2007
Fred Karger is having the time of his life. Or so I figured. How could he not be?
Yes, it's serious business trying to save the venerable Boom Boom Room in Laguna Beach, but when the effort includes a demonstration on Hollywood Boulevard and entreaties to George Clooney and Brad Pitt, how can it not be fun?
It's a charge to which Karger pleads guilty — with an explanation.
"I'm having a good time," he says Friday afternoon, "but it's a lot more work than I had anticipated. It keeps the good times in check, with long hours and meetings. It has become a kind of political campaign."
Karger has done just what a former public relations guy is supposed to do — keep the media interested in his cause. And what savvier way to do it than taking out an ad in Daily Variety that said, in addition to a somewhat impassioned narrative, "George and Brad, Please Help Save the Boom!!!"
Not that there's been any real indication that either has the slightest interest in doing so — a fact that Karger readily concedes. But if you want to enlist Hollywood's help, why not ask a couple of the coolest cats in town?
The Boom is the room that's been around since those post-World War II days when things seemed so much simpler. Located a mile south of Main Beach in Laguna, it was a popular serviceman's haunt and just so happened to attract both a gay and straight crowd home from the war.
It morphed over the years into the city's iconic gay bar, an important designation for a town that elected the country's first openly gay mayor and that sported a significant gay population. The city's embrace, if you will, of gay people, took some courage if you consider that well into the 1960s it was illegal for two men to dance with each other.
Now, the bar's existence is in jeopardy. The bar and 23-room inn attached to it has been bought by a Beverly Hills businessman who has announced plans to convert the property to an upscale hotel, minus the Boom Boom. However, he since has extended the property's lease, giving Karger and others reason to hope that he'd be willing to sell to another buyer.
Which explains the plan a week and a half ago to get in the faces — in a nice way — of Clooney and Pitt while they were doing the handprint/footprint thing at Grauman's Chinese Theatre. Karger, wearing a sport coat, was joined at the scene by about a dozen demonstrators in yellow T-shirts bearing the "Save the Boom" message. That was Step Two of the plan that began with the Variety ad the day before.
The two movie hunks were targeted, Karger acknowledges, solely because they had been linked to the ownership group that bought the property in 2005. The stars denied any connection, and Karger says he has no reason to think they ever were involved.
Still ….
As a former P.R. man, he knows what sells. "It worked beyond my wildest dreams about getting attention," he says. "And that was without any reaction from them. It got a lot of attention. That was my hope, by invoking their names. There are still a lot of people who think they bought it, and this was to kind of further that rumor a little bit and have fun with it. These guys, they kind of kid each other."
While blithely involving Pitt and Clooney sounds a little cheesy, Karger has the same sense about the tandem that I do — this is the kind of gambit that won't bother them.
"Brad Pitt is the one who has said he won't get married until everyone can," Karger says, taking that as an endorsement of gay marriage.
"It was all done humorously," Karger says. "And the ad, which I wrote, was tongue-in-cheek, meant to get their attention and, bottom line, to find a new buyer [for the Boom Boom property]."
I ask Karger, 57, if he's out of ideas. "We're maybe at the halfway point," of the campaign, which, he says, in all seriousness, is about preserving "the heart and soul of the gay community in Laguna Beach."
OK, but anything to rival the Variety ad and the Grauman's moment? "Well, nothing really," he says, chuckling. "We've got a couple things planned over the summer, but nothing like that."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dana Parsons' column appears Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. He can be reached at (714) 966-7821 or at dana.parsons@latimes.com. An archive of his recent columns is at http://www.latimes.com/parsons .
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
Thursday, June 14, 2007
Save the Boom Gets International Coverage
Local resident Fred Karger’s efforts to find a gay buyer for the Boom Boom Room night club and Coast Inn took him to Grauman’s Chinese Theater in Hollywood earlier in the week and to Las Vegas on Wednesday. Supporters are vying for an audience with actors George Clooney and Brad Pitt, traveling to promote their new film, “Ocean’s Thirteen.”
Laguna Beach Independent
Dear Friends -- well it has been quite a week since we first kicked off our campaign to try and persuade George Clooney and Brad Pitt to Buy the BOOM!!! with our ad last Monday in Daily Variety. The ad has triggered an outpouring of support and interest in our efforts to find a buyer who will keep the historic Coast Inn and the landmark Boom Boom Room as gay businesses.
We have received worldwide coverage in old and new media and tremendous support here at home. We did several local and national television and radio interviews. And in searching google there are literally hundreds of stories written on our quest for a buyer. They are from all over the world and we have received many calls and emails from potential buyers and press from the UK, Asia, Italy, Canada and throughout the U.S. We have meetings coming up, and have put some of the serious buyers in direct contact with the property owner.
Still no word from George and Brad to our appeal, but they had very busy week launching the very successful release of Ocean’s Thirteen!
Below is a list with links to of some of the major coverage that we have received worldwide. Also below is a copy of an incredible Editorial from this week’s Laguna Beach Coastline Pilot and the front page photo from the Laguna Beach Independent.
Thanks for all your interest and help as we work to SAVE the BOOM -- Forever!!!
Best regards,
Fred Karger
Founder
http://www.savetheboom.com/
Laguna Beach Coastline Pilot
EDITORIAL: Boom efforts applauded
It's getting down to the wire for the survival of the Boom Boom Room and Coast Inn, two establishments that have been the bedrock of the gay community in Laguna Beach and beyond for some 60 years.
Gay activist Fred Karger, founder of Save the Boom!, is hoping that a gay angel — or more than one — will come forward with the money and wherewithal to purchase these ocean view properties and keep them as they are. Steven Udvar-Hazy, the billionaire airline businessman who bought the scenic sites a year ago, has decided he'd rather not try to redevelop them, and has put them on the market.
Price tag: $19 million. It's anyone's guess what will happen to the properties at this juncture, but a gay buyer is being actively sought. Now Karger has gone so far as to take out an ad in Variety asking actors Brad Pitt and George Clooney — who might just have $19 million or know where to get it — to step forward and "Save the Boom."Pitt and Clooney — currently in the spotlight due to the release of their new "Ocean's 13" film — were originally linked through the rumor mill to a possible purchase of the Boom and Coast Inn before it became the property of Udvar-Hazy. That rumor was vigorously denied by the stars' publicity machine, but it made headlines around the world for its connotation of the two hunky actors joined in a possibly gay venture.
Karger's ad may be a bit tongue-in-cheek — or a bit cheeky — but it's doing the job he probably wanted: getting even more publicity mileage for his year-long campaign for somebody, somewhere to keep the Boom alive. The Boom has a long history of linkages to Hollywood stars, of course, the most famous, and tragic, being Rock Hudson, who held court there during his golden days before he was felled by AIDS. While the Variety ad has generated a lot of buzz, we doubt that Pitt and Clooney would want to be front and center in a "Save the Boom" bid. Karger, a former publicist, is pulling out all the stops to try to save his beloved Boom Boom Room from erasure, and we give him a "thumb's up" for his heroic efforts to keep part of Laguna's storied and romantic past in the present. Maybe he should take out another ad, this time asking Rosie O'Donnell and Ellen Degeneres to make an offer. Having just left her TV talk show perch, Rosie just might like "the view" from the bar at the Boom Boom Room.
George Clooney and Brad Pitt Media Coverage
KCBS2. com + KCAL -- http://cbs2.com/business/local_story_155050223.html
KNBC-TV -- http://www.knbc.com/entertainment/13436604/detail.html?rss=la&psp=news
Laguna Beach Coastline Pilot Editorial --http://www.coastlinepilot.com/articles/2007/06/08/opinion/cpt-editorial08.txt
Laguna Beach Independent Front Page Photo -- http://www.lagunabeachindependent.com/
O C Register --
http://www.ocregister.com/ocregister/news/local/lagunabeach/article_1720548.php
TMZ -- http://www.tmz.com/2007/06/03/pitt-and-clooney-mixed-up-in-gay-bar-fight
Defamer -- http://defamer.com/hollywood/gay-real-estate/brad-and-george-get-another-shot-at-purchasing-the-gay+owned-business-of-their-dreams-265705.php
E! On Line -- http://boards.eonline.com/Insider/Boards/thread.jspa?threadID=52300
Curbed LA -- http://la.curbed.com/
Towelroad -- http://www.towleroad.com/2007/06/brad_pitt_and_g.html
Boi From Troy -- http://boifromtroy.com/?p=6446
The Advocate -- http://www.advocate.com/news_detail_ektid45717.asp
San Francisco Chronicle -- http://gay_blog.blogspot.com/2007/06/clooney-and-pitt-asked-to-save-oc-gay.html
KNX (CBS) News Radio -- http://www.knx1070.com/pages/539666.php?contentType=4&contentId=573422
KPPC - Southern CA Public Radio -- http://www.scpr.org/
Misc Coverage --
http://news.google.com/news?tab=wn&client=safari&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&rls=en&ncl=1116962591&hl=en
Towelroad – Grauman’s Coverage: http://www.towleroad.com/2007/06/lagunas_boom_bo.html
The Edge Boston -- http://www.edgeboston.com/index.php?ci=108&ch=news&sc=glbt&sc2=news&sc3=&id=20863
A Socialite’s Life -- http://socialitelife.com/2007/06/04/clooney_and_pitt_asked_to_save_gay_landmark_in_cali.php
Edge Ft. Lauderdale -- http://www.edgeftlauderdale.com/index.php?ch=news&sc=glbt&sc2=news&sc3=&id=20863
Boxnet -- http://www.boxxet.com/Brad_Pitt/GAY_CALIFORNIANS_APPEAL_TO_CLOONEY_AND_PITT_TO_BUY_BAR.61213146.details
Clooney Project -- http://clooneyproject.livejournal.com/2007/06/05/
Clooney Studio -- http://clooneystudio.com/
QueerFilter -- http://gay_blog.blogspot.com/2007/06/clooney-and-pitt-asked-to-save-oc-gay.html
Gay Business News -- http://www.247gay.com/print_this_article.cfm?section=66&id=14976
GayLink News -- http://www.gaylinknews.com/storydetail2.cfm?storyid=14976
Huffington Post -- http://www.huffingtonpost.com/topics/Paul+Lynde
Houston Voice -- http://www.houstonvoice.com/blog/index.cfm?blogger=14
The Liberal OC -- http://theliberaloc.com/2007/06/03/doom-doom-and-gloom-gloom-for-the-boom-boom/
Yahoo Xtra -- http://nz.entertainment.yahoo.com/070604/6/kt1.html
SFGate.com -- http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/sfgate/detail?blogid=7&entry_id=17304
UKGay.com -- http://uk.gay.com/headlines/11660
Post Chronicle -- http://www.postchronicle.com/news/original/article_21284312.shtml
Asian News Intl -- http://www.aol.in/hollywood/story/2007060406509026000006/index.html
Sunday, June 10, 2007
Sunday, June 03, 2007
Clooney and Pitt to Buy the Boom?
dear friends – we wanted you to be the first to know about our new campaign to find a buyer for the Boom Boom Room and Coast Inn. We are formally asking superstars George Clooney and Brad Pitt to buy the Boom and keep it as a gay club in a ¼ page ad running tomorrow, Monday, June 4th in Daily Variety.
They were reported to have purchased the property along with Beverly Hills billionaire Steven Udvar-Hazy in the fall of 2005. And now that Mr. Udvar-Hazy has officially put the Boom and the Coast Inn (in which it is located) up for sale, we are hoping that George and Brad will come in and save the day and SAVE the BOOM – Forever!!!
We have some more activities planned throughout the week to coincide with the opening of Ocean’s Thirteen starring George and Brad which opens this Friday. We’ll keep you posted.
The news release announcing the campaign is below, as is a copy of the Variety ad, the story from the Orange County Business Journal that told of their purchase of the Boom back in the fall of 2005 and a great photo of the two stars.
Best regards,
Fred Karger
Founder
www.savetheboom.com
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Fred Karger –Founder
949/494-4750
Robert F. Gentry – Co Chair
June 4, 2006 760/770-8787
George Clooney & Brad Pitt -- Help Save the BOOM!!!
Gay Community Runs Ad in Daily Variety Appealing to Stars for Help
LAGUNA BEACH, CA – The one year old grassroots effort to save the landmark Boom Boom Room and Coast Inn in Laguna Beach reached up to Hollywood today to help SAVE the BOOM!!! (www.savetheboom.com)
In a ¼ page ad running today in the Daily Variety, there is an all out appeal to superstars George Clooney and Brad Pitt headlined: “George and Brad, Please Help SAVE the BOOM!!!” The ad goes on to ask the superstars, “Now we are appealing to both of you to buy our 60 year old landmark before it is converted into a boutique hotel.”
Clooney and Pitt were widely reported to have purchased the nightclub and hotel back in the fall of 2005 along with Beverly Hills Billionaire Steven Udvar-Hazy. E! Entertainment On Line broke the story and it became a big international news item. Spokespeople for the two stars denied their partnership with Mr. Udvar-Hazy at that time.
“The Gay Community of Laguna Beach is being thrown out into the Pacific Ocean and we are looking for some help from our friends,” said Bob Gentry, former Laguna Beach Mayor and City Councilman and Co-Chair of SAVE the BOOM!!!! “We have been talking to lots of potential buyers over the past several months and we thought we would try this bold approach to appeal to these thoughtful and caring stars.”
The ad states, “Both of you are true leaders in human and civil rights. Over 100 years of gay history that the Boom represents is a stake in Laguna Beach.”
It was reported 10 days ago that the property was officially put up for sale. Mr. Udvar-Hazy purchased the ocean front hotel and bar built in 1927 in the fall of 2005. He and his architects have been working with city planners to convert the gay hotel and bar into a boutique hotel and upscale restaurant. A Los Angeles realtor reported that Mr. Udvar-Hazy was planning to take his hotel and restaurant concept to another city in Orange County.
“When we first found out that our landmark bar was about to close, we got organized and decided to fight its closure,” said Fred Karger, founder of SAVE the BOOM!!!. “The landmark Boom Boom Room was set to close last Labor Day (2006), but Mr. Udvar-Hazy was very helpful and gave us a one year reprieve. With Labor Day 2007 rapidly approaching, we figured we’d see if these great stars would come help the gay community down here in Laguna.”
“The citizens of and visitors to Laguna Beach are behind us,” added Karger. “We gathered 6,000 signatures on petitions to SAVE the BOOM!!! in just 3 months last summer. The petitions were asking the Mayor and the City Council to help us. Our cries for help have been heard. Now we are appealing to George Clooney and Brad Pitt to Please Help Save the BOOOM – Forever!!!.”
The Daily Variety Ad is in the previous posting today.
-- more --
Posted date: 10/31/2005
Clooney, Pitt to Buy Boom Boom Room
Nightclub, Hotel Could Be Converted Into Restaurant and B&B
By Rick Reiff
Orange County Business Journal Staff
George Clooney, Brad Pitt and an airplane finance tycoon are buying one of Laguna Beach’s best-known gay bars and plan to turn it into a ritzy restaurant and bed and breakfast, according to sources.
The actors have teamed with Beverly Hills billionaire Steven F. Udvar-Hazy, chief executive of airplane lessor International Lease Finance Corp., to buy the Boom Boom Room and its adjoining Coast Inn on Pacific Coast Highway, sources said.
The bar and hotel could be converted into a restaurant and the first bed and breakfast in a chain of such getaways to bear the names of Clooney and Pitt.Clooney also has teamed with developers who are planning the $3 billion Las Ramblas condominium and hotel complex near the Strip in Las Vegas.
The real money behind the Laguna Beach deal, sources said, is Udvar-Hazy, who ranks 125th on Forbes’ list of richest Americans with an estimated net worth of $2.1 billion.
With a mansion in Monarch Beach, Udvar-Hazy also appears on the Business Journal’s list of the county’s “Weekend Wealthy.”
The link:
http://www.ocbj.com/article.asp?aID=18617706.8819544.1218711.8948284.8234304.573&aID2=93738
-- end --
They were reported to have purchased the property along with Beverly Hills billionaire Steven Udvar-Hazy in the fall of 2005. And now that Mr. Udvar-Hazy has officially put the Boom and the Coast Inn (in which it is located) up for sale, we are hoping that George and Brad will come in and save the day and SAVE the BOOM – Forever!!!
We have some more activities planned throughout the week to coincide with the opening of Ocean’s Thirteen starring George and Brad which opens this Friday. We’ll keep you posted.
The news release announcing the campaign is below, as is a copy of the Variety ad, the story from the Orange County Business Journal that told of their purchase of the Boom back in the fall of 2005 and a great photo of the two stars.
Best regards,
Fred Karger
Founder
www.savetheboom.com
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Fred Karger –Founder
949/494-4750
Robert F. Gentry – Co Chair
June 4, 2006 760/770-8787
George Clooney & Brad Pitt -- Help Save the BOOM!!!
Gay Community Runs Ad in Daily Variety Appealing to Stars for Help
LAGUNA BEACH, CA – The one year old grassroots effort to save the landmark Boom Boom Room and Coast Inn in Laguna Beach reached up to Hollywood today to help SAVE the BOOM!!! (www.savetheboom.com)
In a ¼ page ad running today in the Daily Variety, there is an all out appeal to superstars George Clooney and Brad Pitt headlined: “George and Brad, Please Help SAVE the BOOM!!!” The ad goes on to ask the superstars, “Now we are appealing to both of you to buy our 60 year old landmark before it is converted into a boutique hotel.”
Clooney and Pitt were widely reported to have purchased the nightclub and hotel back in the fall of 2005 along with Beverly Hills Billionaire Steven Udvar-Hazy. E! Entertainment On Line broke the story and it became a big international news item. Spokespeople for the two stars denied their partnership with Mr. Udvar-Hazy at that time.
“The Gay Community of Laguna Beach is being thrown out into the Pacific Ocean and we are looking for some help from our friends,” said Bob Gentry, former Laguna Beach Mayor and City Councilman and Co-Chair of SAVE the BOOM!!!! “We have been talking to lots of potential buyers over the past several months and we thought we would try this bold approach to appeal to these thoughtful and caring stars.”
The ad states, “Both of you are true leaders in human and civil rights. Over 100 years of gay history that the Boom represents is a stake in Laguna Beach.”
It was reported 10 days ago that the property was officially put up for sale. Mr. Udvar-Hazy purchased the ocean front hotel and bar built in 1927 in the fall of 2005. He and his architects have been working with city planners to convert the gay hotel and bar into a boutique hotel and upscale restaurant. A Los Angeles realtor reported that Mr. Udvar-Hazy was planning to take his hotel and restaurant concept to another city in Orange County.
“When we first found out that our landmark bar was about to close, we got organized and decided to fight its closure,” said Fred Karger, founder of SAVE the BOOM!!!. “The landmark Boom Boom Room was set to close last Labor Day (2006), but Mr. Udvar-Hazy was very helpful and gave us a one year reprieve. With Labor Day 2007 rapidly approaching, we figured we’d see if these great stars would come help the gay community down here in Laguna.”
“The citizens of and visitors to Laguna Beach are behind us,” added Karger. “We gathered 6,000 signatures on petitions to SAVE the BOOM!!! in just 3 months last summer. The petitions were asking the Mayor and the City Council to help us. Our cries for help have been heard. Now we are appealing to George Clooney and Brad Pitt to Please Help Save the BOOOM – Forever!!!.”
The Daily Variety Ad is in the previous posting today.
-- more --
Posted date: 10/31/2005
Clooney, Pitt to Buy Boom Boom Room
Nightclub, Hotel Could Be Converted Into Restaurant and B&B
By Rick Reiff
Orange County Business Journal Staff
George Clooney, Brad Pitt and an airplane finance tycoon are buying one of Laguna Beach’s best-known gay bars and plan to turn it into a ritzy restaurant and bed and breakfast, according to sources.
The actors have teamed with Beverly Hills billionaire Steven F. Udvar-Hazy, chief executive of airplane lessor International Lease Finance Corp., to buy the Boom Boom Room and its adjoining Coast Inn on Pacific Coast Highway, sources said.
The bar and hotel could be converted into a restaurant and the first bed and breakfast in a chain of such getaways to bear the names of Clooney and Pitt.Clooney also has teamed with developers who are planning the $3 billion Las Ramblas condominium and hotel complex near the Strip in Las Vegas.
The real money behind the Laguna Beach deal, sources said, is Udvar-Hazy, who ranks 125th on Forbes’ list of richest Americans with an estimated net worth of $2.1 billion.
With a mansion in Monarch Beach, Udvar-Hazy also appears on the Business Journal’s list of the county’s “Weekend Wealthy.”
The link:
http://www.ocbj.com/article.asp?aID=18617706.8819544.1218711.8948284.8234304.573&aID2=93738
-- end --
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