Sunday, September 02, 2007
The Boom -- It Is a Wild and Crazy Closing Weekend
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
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.
Thursday, August 30, 2007
Calendar Contest Judges Set to Pick Final 12
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.
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
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/
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/
Sunday, August 26, 2007
Boom Pictures Make Recent Memories
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!!!
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
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
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
Saturday, August 25, 2007
Weekend Update
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
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
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