San Francisco Bay Area radio junkies can look forward to the California Historical Radio Society‘s (CHRS) annual Radio Day by the Bay this Saturday, July 20. I attended for the first time last year and I was amazed by all of the exciting sights and sounds for radio fans.
This year there will be a large auction of vintage radios, live jazz music, a live radio drama re-enactment on stage, interviews with radio luminaries, a KSAN reunion, a vintage electronics flea market, and more.
Taking place at the historic KRE building in Berkeley, the event could be bittersweet as the CHRS may have to vacate its beautiful art deco radio building headquarters this year. Today the building houses not only the CHRS, but also collections from the Bay Area Radio Museum and Hall of Fame as well as amateur radio station W6CF.
Although the non-profit has been raising funds in order to hopefully purchase the KRE building, that plan is in doubt now that a new owner is set to acquire the building. Home to KVTO-AM, the Berkeley site will be changing hands shortly, as the FCC just granted the assignment of the station license to new owner Pham Communication today. According to FCC documents, this transaction must be consummated by August 1, 2013 (largely because California radio station license renewals are due by this date) or else it cannot be consummated until after KVTO-AM’s license is renewed.
KRE is located on Ashby Street in Berkeley. Doors open at 9am this Saturday, July 20 for Radio Day by the Bay, with the event starting at 10am.
It will be a great opportunity to tour KRE (did you know that KRE appeared in American Graffiti too?) and connect with other radio fans. You can catch a sneak preview of the vintage radio auction catalog (PDF) on the CHRS website.
