Save The Boom !!!

[EXPAT]

http://www.savetheboom.com

 

The famous Boom Boom Room is probably going to close in Laguna Beach on Labor Day this year. It will be very sad since this is a historical site.

 

There will be an open casting call for gorgeous men on Saturday, July 7th at the Boom from 2 - 4PM for a 2008 Men of Laguna BEach Calendar. The proceeds will go to the SaveTheBoom !! and other local Laguna Beach charities.

 

So if you are in SoCal next Saturday come to the Boom Boom Room on Pacific Coast Highway and support this historical gay landmark while we still can.

[EXPAT]

http://www.savetheboom.com

 

The famous Boom Boom Room is probably going to close in Laguna Beach on Labor Day this year. It will be very sad since this is a historical site.

 

There will be an open casting call for gorgeous men on Saturday, July 7th at the Boom from 2 - 4PM for a 2008 Men of Laguna BEach Calendar. The proceeds will go to the SaveTheBoom !! and other local Laguna Beach charities.

 

So if you are in SoCal next Saturday come to the Boom Boom Room on Pacific Coast Highway and support this historical gay landmark while we still can.

[EXPAT]

Picture from SaveTheBoom Men's Calendar contest

 

http://85.158.9.33/newphotos/1/89/197389_418871.jpg

 

A picture from my cell phone (sorry for the quality). But there was no short of quality of boys trying out for the "Men of Laguna 2008" Calendar at the Boom Boom Room in Laguna Beach yesterday.

[EXPAT]

RE: Picture from SaveTheBoom Men's Calendar contest

 

Well, The Boom Boom Room is officially closing on Sept 3. So sad. It's THE oldest continually open gay bar in the United States.

 

 

http://www.savetheboom.com/images/oldboom2_2.jpg

 

 

http://www.savetheboom.com/images/boomphotos1.jpg

 

You can see great pics of the crowd, the calendar guys and the gorgeous bartenders on their MySpace page:

 

http://www.myspace.com/boomboomroomlaguna

[raulgmanzo]

RE: Picture from SaveTheBoom Men's Calendar contest

 

I'll have to make a point of getting down that way next week when I'm in L.A. Any recommended good days/nights to visit the Boom?

[EXPAT]

Boom Boom Weekly Schedule

 

The Boom is closed on Monday's and Tuesday's. Wednesday night they serve dinner until 9 and then they have a drag show. That's not my favorite night. Thursday they serve dinner with a jazz piano player until 10PM, then it is locals night at the bar.

 

Friday night they have big crowd with male dancers at 10:30PM and they have a wet underwear shower contest at midnight. Saturday and Sunday they serve brunch until 3PM. Then on Saturday night they also have a big crowd with male dancers at 10:30pm. Sunday they have drink specials all afternoon with male dancers on the bar starting at 7:00PM.

 

I usually go Thursday night for dinner to meet friends. Then if I'm in town, I go on Friday and Saturday evening around 10. Then I meet friends on Sunday around 6. The bar has a free veggie and fruit bar on Sunday evenings.

 

Even though it is normally closed on Monday's, it will be open Monday, Sept 3 (Labor Day) which is it's last day.

 

If you go in look for Ryan, the bartender. He is the best bartender I have ever seen anywhere. And he is not bad to look at. . .

 

http://a908.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/107/l_4094a1adf055e6a2c906b29f899663db.jpg

[Luv2play]

RE: Boom Boom Weekly Schedule

 

EXPAT, I first visited Laguna Beach in 1981 and was there for three weeks in August. I was in the Boom Boom Room almost every night and had a blast. The dance floor was really hot with gorgeous boys stripped to their shorts. Afterwards, the action on the beach was great. I used to think of Harriet (of Ozzie and Harriet) who was living then just above the cliffs (but I'm sure she didn't see what was going on there!).

 

There was a great restaurant in Laguna as well on the beach, an old beach house of some movie actor from the 20's. It had a wonderful deck over the beach where one could eat lunch and dinner. Wonderful with the rollers crashing in. North of the Boom Boom by several blocks.

 

I went back a few times but never recaptured the magic that was for me that summer. I'm sure others had great times at other periods. I'm sorry it is closing. I think of Southern California as I do of the south of France. It used to be great but is now just over developed and too polluted to interest me any more. Think of Monte Carlo, just ruined. But there you have it. It was fun while it lasted. :-(

[Guest]

RE: Picture from SaveTheBoom Men's Calendar contest

 

>Well, The Boom Boom Room is officially closing on Sept 3. So

>sad. It's THE oldest continually open gay bar in the United

>States.

>

>

Hmmm. Oakland's White Horse bar has made the same claim. They were even open during the Prohibition as a speakeasy, so that seems like a really long time. I don't know the exact dates, though. Anybody have the real dates? I'm really curious now!

[EXPAT]

RE: Picture from SaveTheBoom Men's Calendar contest

 

AMERICA VOTES

 

Men of Laguna Beach – 2008 Calendar Contest

 

Vote for your favorite Calendar Model @ aol’s http://www.QueerSighted.com/

 

The voting page will be available starting Wednesday, Aug. 15.

 

Sponsored by: SAVE the BOOM!!!

[EXPAT]

Vote for "Men of Laguna Calendar"

 

http://gayandlesbian.aol.com/galleries/men-of-laguna-beach-calendar

[EXPAT]

Landmark Gay Bar to Close in Laguna Beach

 

From today's (8/22) "Orange County Register" newspaper

 

 

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.

[+ Charlie]

RE: Landmark Gay Bar to Close in Laguna Beach

 

I tried to go there Sunday evening. Unfortunately, like everyplace else in coastal California, there was NO PLACE TO PARK! After cruising around in ever greater circles, I finally abandoned the whole idea and left Laguna.

[EXPAT]

Labor Day Weekend: Last for The Boom !!

 

http://www.boomboomroom.com/ocmail.gif

[EXPAT]

Come help us celebrate Labor Day Weekend !!

 

http://bp1.blogger.com/_RksUAroShdI/RtIe4XNUyEI/AAAAAAAAARQ/8KzPn1jZihM/s320/calendarboy.jpg

 

http://bp2.blogger.com/_RksUAroShdI/RtIecnNUx-I/AAAAAAAAAQg/NexSKmG59_E/s320/shirtless.jpg

 

http://bp3.blogger.com/_RksUAroShdI/RtIdc3NUxsI/AAAAAAAAAOQ/_3H57DSDC7w/s320/anothershirtless.jpg

 

http://bp0.blogger.com/_RksUAroShdI/RpKC48QhK8I/AAAAAAAAAKw/f-rEAPgCjvM/s320/16.jpg

 

http://bp2.blogger.com/_RksUAroShdI/RpKClcQhK5I/AAAAAAAAAKY/4EWWimK3G5g/s320/19.jpg

[EXPAT]

Friday was fun - Saturday will be hotter

 

http://a551.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/101/l_b53a182773d71e961750d0d87c5232ce.jpg

 

http://a971.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/85/l_c78b9032615904366fd8461601e98c1a.jpg

 

Stop by for the Closing weekend activities

[EXPAT]

Crowds on Saturday and Sunday were absolutely amazing. I've never seen so many people in this club at the same time. It's nice that so many people came out during the last weekend.

 

ONE MORE NIGHT LEFT.

[EXPAT]

From OC Register 9/3/07

 

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

[EXPAT]

End of an Era

 

http://savetheboom.blogspot.com/

 

This is my last post on the topic. We had a fabulous 4 day closing weekend and the last night was off the hook. Fox11 and KNBC4 News attended the event and interviewed many of the people and it was a fun evening.

 

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

[EXPAT]

http://savetheboom.blogspot.com/

 

 

http://bp3.blogger.com/_RksUAroShdI/RuAc5XNU0KI/AAAAAAAAAjk/9i4IGtCkLKw/s1600/36.jpg

 

 

Lots of great pics from the closing night at the Boom and the results of the "Men of Laguna" Calendar contest are on this blog.

[EXPAT]

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