After nearly 17 years, Hal Frost is looking forward to finally getting a day off. As the general manager of The Brass Rail since 1990, he has decided to retire for medical reasons.

“During this period of time, I’ve had a quintuple bypass. I’ve had a stroke, [and] I’ve got diabetes,” Frost said. “Mostly it’s all hereditary, and the fact that I [have] worked seven days a week, 15 hours a day sure didn’t help matters.”

Frost was born in Scotia, Calif., and moved to San Diego 20 years ago. He started working as the general manager of the now defunct gay bar Peacock Alley, which was located on University Avenue where San Diego Sports Bar is now. Frost then worked at Tin Pan Alley, a cabaret restaurant and bar that once occupied the building where Hamburger Mary’s is now.

“The community has grown. When I took over this bar, there were only five bars in town,” Frost said. “The gay bars have expanded. There’s a lot more now than there was back then.”

When he took over as general manager of The Brass Rail, San Diego’s oldest gay bar, Frost said it was basically a drag bar, and was then remodeled and expanded roughly 10 years ago to become a full dance bar.

Fund-raising is something Frost is passionate about. He welcomed many community members into The Brass Rail to hold events that benefited a slew of organizations and people, from children and political candidates to hospices and AIDS agencies. He also volunteered as a cook at Mama’s Kitchen once as week.

“We had fund-raisers twice a week – Sundays and Wednesdays,” he said. “Out of that time period, up until a few years ago, we were fortunate enough to raise about a million dollars.”

Frost said the majority of the funds went to HIV/AIDS-related organizations and services during the height of the AIDS crisis in the early ’90s.

“I was just a catalyst of letting them do [fund-raisers], and where they distributed the money was up to them, but most did go to AIDS agencies,” he said.

Frost was involved in the Imperial Court in San Jose and moved to San Diego as a retired emperor. Here, he met Nicole Murray-Ramirez and the two quickly became friends.

“For decades, Hal Frost and The Brass Rail have hosted countless charitable and civil rights fund-raisers,” said Murray-Ramirez, now a city commissioner. “He’s always been hospitable and cooperated in every way for any of these charities. That I’m very grateful for, because at times a lot of bars didn’t like hosting these charities.”

Murray-Ramirez said he will present official commendations from Congressmember Susan Davis, state Senator Christine Kehoe and San Diego City Councilmember Toni Atkins at Frost’s retirement celebration taking place Thursday, July 6, at The Brass Rail.

Many local bar owners and managers got their start under Frost’s tutelage, including “Big” Mike Phillips, who first started working at The Brass Rail in 1990, two weeks before Frost arrived as general manager.

“He’s helped a lot of people get their start in San Diego, and he’s been more than fair to a lot of people,” Phillips said. “… He gave us responsibilities and allowed a lot of people a lot of opportunities. He always said, ‘If you want something, you got to ask for it because no one’s going to know you want it.’”

Phillips said a lot of people refer to Frost as “Mother Hal” because he has been there for many people, both financially and as a friend.

“A lot people have been intimidated by him or thought he was mean, but he’s just sturdy and he’s strict as a manager,” Phillips said. “But I think that’s why The Rail has been a success and is still on the map. It takes stern leadership to make sure things happen right.”

According to Phillips, other people within the community who have worked under Frost at The Brass Rail and went on to succeed include Bourbon Street manager Michael Mack, Baja Betty’s manager Joey Arruda, Flicks co-owner Nigel Mayer and Ono Sushi manager Fernando Lara.

“If it wasn’t for Hal hiring me at The Brass Rail, I might not be where I am today as part owner of Flicks because, by working at The Rail, I pretty much got my foot into the community and met a lot of people, including Larry Gillis, who was the owner of Flicks back then in 1991,” Mayer said. “… Thanks to being at The Brass Rail, I was in the right place at the right time.”

Mayer worked at The Brass Rail for two years until he became a bartender at Flicks in 1992, and eventually co-owner.

A celebration in Frost’s honor will take place Thursday, July 6, at 6:00 p.m. at The Brass Rail, located at 3796 Fifth Ave. in Hillcrest. For more information, call (619) 298-2233.