A Guide to the Bohemian Grove | Vanity Fair

15-04-09
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A Guide to the Bohemian Grove

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Bohemian Grove memorabilia. Photograph by Karen Kuehn/memorabilia courtesy of

Mary Moore.

What really goes on inside the secluded Bohemian Grove, the site of the ultra-exclusive Bohemian Clubs yearly bacchanalia among the
California redwoods? Related: Bohemian Tragedy, by Alex Shoumatoff.
BY JULIAN SANCTON

onspiracy theorists believe the Bohemian Groves idyllic grounds, in northern California, are host to right-wing, old-boy
machinations about the New World Order. Honorary member Richard Nixon, meanwhile, called it the most faggy goddamned
thing you could ever imagine. For V.F. contributing editor Alex Shoumatoff, who was arrested for trespassing at last years
encampment while investigating the clubs forestry practices, the most suspicious activity that takes place in the grove is the
alleged logging of old-growth redwood trees. But common to all reports from the two-week-long gathering of the countrys rich and
powerful old guardmembers have included every Republican president since Coolidgeis an account of profuse outdoor urination. With
gin fizzes being poured at seven a.m., so many enlarged prostates, and such majestic natural urinals, whos surprised? We present to you
a guide to the Bohemian Grove, including a map of the premises, highlights of the events, and a list of prominent members and regular
guests, from the clubs founding, in 1872, to today.

C
T

he last Bohemian Grove encampment took place in July 2008. Heres an abridged schedule of events from the clubs program.
Who knew the Grovers were so soulful?!

Related: Bohemian Tragedy, by Alex Shoumatoff.

Saturday, July 12
9:15 p.m.Owl ShrineCremation of Care

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Come join us as we raise the battle banners in the name of beauty, truth, peace and fellowship. Oh

Hail, Fellowships Eternal Flame!

[Around 9:30 p.m., V.F. reporter Alex Shoumatoff is apprehended.] Monday, July 14
9:15 p.m.Campfire CircleSly Fox

Come enjoy an evening of laughter as we reprise this Broadway hit comedy. M*A*S*H creator, Larry G

Wednesday, July 16
9:15 p.m.Campfire CircleSam Cooke

Sam Cooke was one of the founders of Soul Music with 29 top 40 hits between 1957 and 1965, includi

Thursday, July 17
10:30 a.m.Museum TalkThe Role of Nuclear in Americas Energy Choices, John Grossenbacher, Vice Admiral, USN, Ret., Director,
Idaho National Laboratory. Friday, July 18
12:30 p.m.Lakeside TalkAlways Present: The Role of Religion in American Politics, Hunter Rawlings, Professor of Classics and
History, and President Emeritus, Cornell University.
9:15 p.m.Grove StageThe Little Friday Night
This is the night that size does matter. Our Little show takes over the BIG stage with BIG acts

[M.C.d by Christopher Buckley.] Saturday, July 19

9:15 p.m.The Low Jinks, at Field CircleEasy Going

Set in a funeral home during the final days of prohibition, Easy Going asks that eternal Bohemia

Monday, July 21
4:00 p.m.Fly Casting Demonstration at the Lake

Bohemian expert fly-casters Ray Lewis and Ralph Osterling will demonstrate and give tips. Extra ro

Wednesday, July 23
12:30 p.m.Lakeside TalkLife in the Press Room, Tony Snow, Bohemian, and Journalist.
[Cancelled due to Snows death.] Thursday, July 24
12:30 p.m.Lakeside TalkIn Space, Charles Simonyi, Chief Executive Officer, International Software Corporation.
9:15 p.m.Jinks Band Concert at Field CircleThe Jinks Band Has the Blues

The mention of the blues generally conjures up images of soulful tunes about hard times and bad wo

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A Guide to the Bohemian Grove | Vanity Fair

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Saturday, July 26
9:15 p.m.Field Circle ShowHitsville USA: the Motown Review

Founded in a Detroit row house named Hitsville USA, by Berry Gordy, Motown records created hit a

The Dining Circle at Bohemian Grove, 1924.

Situated 75 miles north of San Francisco, the Bohemian Grove covers 2,700 acres of magnificent Douglas firs and redwoods, some over
1,000 years old. As of 2007, there were 118 camps, distributed around the sites central feature: a man-made lake, watched over by a
towering Owl Shrine, where the infamous Cremation of Care ceremony is held at the beginning of each encampment. Survey the idyllic
grounds with our exclusive map. (Click to enlarge.)
Related: Bohemian Tragedy, by Alex Shoumatoff.
o join the Bohemian Club, you must either be invited by several members, or wait patiently for decades. And then theres the
$25,000 initiation fee and the hefty yearly dues. Judging from the roster, which currently numbers about 2,500, it helps to be
patrician, Republican, and white. Grovers have included captains of industry, politicians, and the occasional artist to keep true to
the clubs, well, bohemian roots. The following men are some of the most well-known attendees, both members and regular
guests, of the Bohemian Club encampments past and present.

James A. Baker III

Christopher Buckley
William F. Buckley
George H.W. Bush
George W. Bush
Dick Cheney

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A Guide to the Bohemian Grove | Vanity Fair

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Calvin Coolidge
Walter Cronkite
Bing Crosby
John E. Dupont
Clint Eastwood
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Gerald Ford
Barry Goldwater
Merv Griffin
Alexander Haig
Charlton Heston Herbert Hoover
Jack Kemp
Henry Kissinger
Jack London
Steve Miller
Robert Mondavi
John Muir
Colin Powell
Ronald Reagan
David Rockefeller
Nelson Rockefeller
Theodore Roosevelt
Karl Rove
Donald Rumsfeld
Charles Schwab
Mark Twain
Earl Warren
Read more: Bohemian Tragedy, by Alex Shoumatoff.

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Members of the ultra-exclusive Bohemian Club2,500 of Americas richest, most conservative menare known to urinate freely against
the ancient redwoods that cover their 2,700-acre property. Have they been chopping down the trees as well? According to one former
member turned whistle-blower, the San Franciscobased society may have logged some of its old-growth forest. Alex Shoumatoff
investigates, with a daring sortie into the ceremonial kickoff of the Bohemians annual encampment.

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