Richmond

	Note to readers: This article is part of "Robin's Personal Memories Project"
	The information on this page is from my personal history and memories and should NOT be used for any reason other than reading enjoyment

⇐El Cerrito -- Club History -- 8th Street ⇒

{l to r) loRRett, aRRyana (as Sweet Gwendoline) and Master Robin in our booth at the Exotic-Erotic Ball in San Francisco

We decided that we needed more space, so we leased the property on Collins Road. It was the general offices for an old foundry. One of the things that made it unique was our shower room: about 12' by 18' with eight showerheads. I upgraded the shower by installing a 120-gallon hot water heater and placing a bathtub under one of the showerheads so that Susan could take baths.
Incidents that come to mind and bring smiles.

We held several "Leather and Lace" fashion shows in conjunction with Sarah's Bare Necessities. (Yes I still have pictures!)

I put "BackDrop BBS" online. It was one of the first WildCat! software based BDSM BBS's on the West Coast, if not the US. I met Felix Dartmouth of ArchW.com in Texas, which was a content-based BBS. (Felix was (and still is) an exceptional author and bondage photographer. Bob Fields^{[Note 1]} in Milpitas, CA had a BBS up and running, but his was running "Match Maker" software.

The University of Illinois & The Kinsey Institute sent thirty people to the Bay Area and we were host for several of them. One lady (whose name is withheld to protect her privacy!) attended a Slave Auction. She bought a young man visiting from New York who was interested in foot fetishes. Before we could warn her, she took him into a private room where she had him lay on the floor on his back. She was 'interviewing him', her feet on his stomach when he climaxed all over her bare feet. She jumped up and yelled at him, "How dare you! You will forget me! You will not fantasize about me! Get out of my sight!"

{For days, we kept joking about how she really needed to take special care to wash her feet very carefully to avoid venereal feet.}

I met Terrea, Jennifer, Esther, xenaRRa, April Collins and Susan. Susan moved in with me and I converted one of the offices into a bedroom. We put several chest-of-drawers on each side of the room and then but wooden beams to support springs and mattress to make a wall-to-wall bed.

I also met Kevin, an ex-Marine who became my 'Executive Officer'. One day, we were putting up wall paneling and making the big room more like a club room. I was on a ladder, stapling curtains to the wall. Terrea walked in and started giving me a bad time about my socks falling down. At that moment, I heard the stable gun go empty. I reached down, pulled up my socks, and pretended to staple my socks in place. She never complained about my clothes again!

I remember "Pie Mike". He enjoyed having pies thrown at him. We took him into the shower room and let fly for almost an hour. When we finished, we 'flushed' the room by turning on all the showerheads.

Birthday Party

We held my birthday party in the Big Room. In attendance were Bill & Robin from SMC, Sonja M., and Jay Wiseman. Looking at this picture today, it is amazing how many years of experience were represented by this one picture. We were all together in one room at one time, well, it was an exceptional moment in history.

We held several themed play parties. 'Western Rodeo Days' was memorable. Everyone dressed in Cowboy and Indians and we tied several hostages to the stake and set bonfires at their feet. We also had several Pony Girls and Pony Boys.
We also did 'Roman Holidays' where everyone dressed in Greek and Roman attire, with rented togas and Centurion armor; it was great. We had a local BBQ pit roast a suckling pig for the event. Of course, we had gladiatorial games! The Lions (also knows as the Leos) ate the Vestal Virgins, and the entire event was covered by the Contra Costa Times.

Although we were pretty far outside the usual traffic pattern, "The Bay Area Bondage Enthusiasts" held a couple of their parties at BackDrop.

BonHaven in Hayward

Joe P. came to me and said he wanted to open a sessions house. I found the building, installed the phones, placed the ads, built the equipment, and trained the Staff for him. It was a turnkey operation and when we opened it, we called it BonHaven in Hayward on B Street.

I was hired to be an expert witness in a pay telephone patent infringement suit. I spent several weeks in Dallas, TX presenting legal evidence for the plaintiff before the Court. While visiting Dallas, I met xenaRRa and Ruth, Robin and Charles of "Lone Star Pep". Lady Ruth died in 1994.

A Personal Note from Robin

When BonHaven closed in 2005, I bought back a lot of the equipment, paying more for the equipment used than he paid for the same equipment new. Such is the price of history. <G>