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Published in the July 2026 Edition
By Adam Romanik
Over the years there have been many special and unique bars that have been a home for many in the LGBTQ+ community and their allies. One of those bars is The Lodge located in Boonsboro, Maryland. Recently, I sat down with the owners of The Lodge, Barrie Milam and Bruce Logee.
The Lodge, formerly known as Deer Park Lodge was opened in the late 1970’s by businessman Donald Pong. Pong transformed a shuttered restaurant and hunting lodge into a queer community meeting space.
Although thriving for over 40+ years, The Lodge has also seen it’s share of difficult times. In the 1980’s and early 1990’s, many of it’s patrons were affected by the AIDS epidemic and many were lost. There have been times in it’s 40+ year history that The Lodge was closed for periods of time and previous owners have struggled to keep the bar open in changing times of the Internet and dating apps. During Covid, The Lodge was closed for about 100 days.
Barrie and Bruce have been life partners for over 16 years and they have owned the bar since 2018. Barrie and Bruce are the 8th owners of the bar. Both Barrie and Bruce are professionals in their field, Barrie works as an adjuster in the Insurance industry and Bruce is the CFO of a large corporation in the hospitality industry. Previously Barrie was married to a woman and has four sons. The bar has become a family affair. During Frederick Pride and other times of the year during very busy events, all four sons can be found helping at the bar either bartending, helping with planning or whatever is needed to help with events.
The Lodge is known for it’s history of drag queens, drag shows and fundraisers. Over the years many Miss Gay Maryland America queens have gotten their start performing at The Lodge including Stephanie Michaels, Tatiyanna Voche’, Nicole James, Ashley Banks, Araya Sparxx, and Ivanna Rights to name a few. Every Friday night, there is a drag show and once a month there is a burlesque show. There are also special events each year including Nicole James’s Christmas fundraiser that has happened for the past 40 years.
Among some of the drag queens, you might also meet Laura Bushé. Several years ago, RuPaul's Drag Race performer, Alyssa Edwards was visiting. Barrie was helping organize a RuPaul’s Drag Race impersonation competition and was challenged to compete in the competition. At the time, he did not even watch or really know anything about RuPaul’s Drag Race. In the competition, he did the impersonation of Delta Work and a rendition of Donna Summer’s “MacArthur Park”. The crowd went wild. Barrie won the competition and Laura Bushé was born. Now each month, Laura Bushé and Ashley Banks hold a monthly show called The First Lady and the Tramp the first Friday of each month.
The Lodge also hosts Wednesday night Karaoke with the Queen and Saturday night dancing as well as theme parties regularly.
Whether it’s drag queens, regular attenders, community leaders or straight allies, at The Lodge you’ll find community. There are many that are vested in making everyone feel welcome and helping to make The Lodge successful.
As we finished the interview, Barrie talked about their ownership of the bar in relationship to the community. “I believe it's become a social responsibility. We both have that. And it's especially in the climate we live in now. It's even more critical.” Barrie and Bruce have done the legal paperwork to protect the bar in writing to make sure that The Lodge remains, an LGBTQ+ welcoming establishment and they have no intention of slowing down or retiring anytime soon.
For more information on all of the happenings at The Lodge or the hours visit their website at thelodgemd.com or visit them on Facebook at facebook.com/TheLodgeMD.