It started as a joke about auditioning. The casting call was in search of Laguna Beach's "Best Looking Men," which I can guarantee you, I'm not. I was musing about the possibility of a goofy-looking, overweight fellow with glasses and no fashion sense whatsoever going out for a stud contest, and then it hit me:
How could I convey what the contestants were going through on stage without actually going through it myself?
The contest was open to men 18 and older, gay or straight, who lived or worked in Laguna Beach, so I qualified.
But before entering, I ran the idea past Karger, and my editors. Karger was gracious enough to let me compete as a reporter. I'm thankful he did because I got to experience the Boom Boom Room in a completely different way than I had before — not as an outside observer but as a participant in a preservation movement.
For those who have never been to the Boom Boom Room, it's a gay bar at 1401 S. Coast Highway that has a great liquor selection and is one of the longest continuously operated gay establishments in the United States. Karger said the Boom has been an open and welcoming environment for people of all orientations for more than 60 years.
The bar was sold more than a year ago, and the new owner planned to shut its doors but gave the place a year's reprieve in which time Karger launched his effort to preserve it as a piece of Laguna — and gay cultural — history.
The calendar sales are planned to go to the Boom's preservation effort as well as local charities.
Saturday's competition was an experience of a lifetime. Karger set it up like a talent contest. There was a panel of Hollywood judges including actresses Heather and Nicholle Tom, TV casting producers Paul Weber and Ethan Peterson, and producer Stan Zimmerman.
