SARANAC LAKE – John Warchol and Frank Whitelaw want to rock and roll all night and party every day for a great cause, and they’ll get the chance to do so Saturday at the first annual Merry Kissmas charity toy and food drive at the Waterhole, reopened for one night only.

“We’re just two guys who want to do something good for the local people,” Warchol said.

Sonic Boom, which features Warchol on vocals and lead guitar, Whitelaw on vocals and rhythm guitar, Scott O’Rourke on rhythm guitar, Ivan McNamara on bass and Chauncey Sutphen on drums, will headline Merry Kissmas, a charity toy and food drive benefiting the Saranac Lake Interfaith Food Pantry.

The show will also feature Damaged Goods and a DJ provided by Good Guy Productions. Uniformed village police officers will be on hand to accept unwrapped toy donations, and the food and monetary donations will go to the pantry.

Warchol said the genesis of the show is rooted in a memorial show the members of Sonic Boom played in honor of Warchol’s brother, Mark.Warchol said the show went well, and, after he moved back to the area permanently in the fall, the light bulb came on.

“When I moved back this year, I called the same people and said, ‘Hey, I have this idea for a charity – we’ll do a Kiss album together and call it ‘Kissmas,'” he said.

Warchol said his homecoming has been blessed with good fortune: he found a good-paying job at Mountain Lake Academy, and he recently moved back into the house he grew up in. He said he wanted to find a way to share his good fortune by helping others.

Sonic Boom will perform the first Kiss record, “Kiss,” in its entirety. He said the show will feature specialized lighting, fog and flame effects, but will not feature the band’s signature make up.

“It’s definitely not a tribute to Kiss, but more of a tip of the hat,” he said. “I can’t speak for anyone else, but me in the makeup would be OK, but the costume is something else. Dancing around in spandex isn’t going to work.”

The event will feature $3 beer and wine, entertainment and raffle prizes provided by local businesses, including Wayne Darrah Auto Body, Saranac Lake Wine and Liquors, Owl’s Nest Pizza, Grizzle T’s, Two Horses Trading Company, Goody goody’s, ADK Wine and Liquors, R&L Auto Body, Lakeview Deli, Salon Mirage, Blue Line sports, PINK, State of Mind, Desperados, Eco Living, the Grateful Toad, Downhill Grill, Bitters and Bones, Buracho Taco and the Cottage of Lake Placid.

“We’ve had a huge amount of support from all the local merchants,” Whitelaw said. “They’ve been fantastic.”

Warchol said he and Whitelaw are not recouping their expenses for the show, which include renting the facility and permits, and instead are donating 100 percent of the proceeds to charity.

“We want to plan on doing this every year,” Warchol said. “This is for the community. It’s for us, it’s for our neighbors.

“We’re in a crazy world time right now where we need more of this. It’s not just an event to go to, it’s making a difference in the community in maybe a major way. If we get the kind of numbers we hope to get going in there, that’s hundreds of toys and hundreds more food items and who knows how much money. It’s going to be very cool.”