The California Historical Radio Society (CHRS) was thrilled to welcome approximately 1,200 visitors to Radio Day by the Bay 2026, our largest annual celebration of radio, broadcasting, and electronic communications history. Held July 18 at CHRS’s Radio Central museum in Alameda, the event brought together families, collectors, broadcasters, educators, musicians, volunteers, and history enthusiasts for an unforgettable day celebrating more than a century of innovation and storytelling.
Throughout the day, visitors explored the museum’s exhibits, attended presentations and live demonstrations, enjoyed amateur radio activities and museum tours, shopped vintage radios and electronics, browsed our surplus sale and vendor booths, and took part in one of the highlights of the event—our annual vintage radio and broadcasting memorabilia auction.
This year’s live auction raised approximately $9,000, with proceeds directly supporting CHRS’s mission to preserve, restore, and share the history of radio and electronic communication through museum exhibits, educational programming, restoration projects, and community outreach.
The day also celebrated Bay Area broadcasting history. Stan Bunger presented an informative update on the Bay Area Radio Hall of Fame (BARHOF) and Golden Star Radio, followed by the introduction of the 2026 BARHOF Class and Kim McCallister, the 2026 Audiocaster of the Year.
Special thanks go to our hosts, Terry McGovern and Holly Quan, who kept the day’s program flowing smoothly, and to our auctioneer, Don Bleu.
Radio Dog Theater, under the direction of Peter Finch, entertained the crowd with The Thin Man, featuring Steve Scott, Alisa Clancy, Miranda Wilson, Michael Bennett, Scott Piehler, Joe Starkey, Claire Beverly, and Steve Kushman. Special thanks also go to Rick Rubin for sound effects creation and playback and Dan Healy for the live mix. In addition to their work on The Thin Man, Rick and Dan handled audio and visual production throughout the entire day.
Live music kept Radio Central energized from beginning to end. Liris Robles opened the day with her beautiful voice and guitar, followed by Don Neely’s Rhythm Aces, who brought the sounds of the 1920s—including a musical saw! The School of Rock Alameda Show Band took the stage in the afternoon with a high-energy rock-and-roll performance, and Top Shelf Classics closed out the day with Motown favorites that had audience members dancing. Thank you to all of our talented musicians for making the day so memorable.
A particularly meaningful moment was the presentation of the 2026 CHRS Volunteer of the Year Award to Steve Garaventa. Steve’s dedication, generosity, and countless volunteer hours have made a lasting impact on CHRS, and it was an honor to recognize his extraordinary service in front of the CHRS community.
Visitors also had the opportunity to enter to win one of eight C. Crane radios, generously donated by CHRS partner C. Crane. Congratulations to all eight winners, and thank you to C. Crane for helping us introduce even more people to the joy of listening.
An event of this scale is only possible because of the incredible dedication of our volunteers. Thousands of volunteer hours went into planning, setup, welcoming guests, staffing exhibits, leading tours, running the auction and surplus sale, assisting vendors and presenters, providing technical support, and cleaning up afterward. Their enthusiasm and commitment are what make Radio Day possible year after year.
We also extend our sincere appreciation to our 20 vendors and five food vendors, whose participation helped create a lively festival atmosphere with something for visitors of every age and interest.
CHRS gratefully acknowledges the generous support of our 2026 Radio Day sponsors:
- City of Alameda
- Alameda Municipal Power
- Vibe Real Estate Team
- C. Crane
Their partnership helps make this free community event possible while supporting CHRS’s educational mission and helping preserve broadcasting and electronic communications history for future generations.
BIG THANKS to our Media Partners KNBR, 106 KMEL, LIVE 105, KCBS Radio, Star 101.3, 107.7 The Bone, 96.5 KOIT, San Francisco KFOX, 102.9 KBLX, Alice, 95.7 The Game, 99.7 NOW, Bolly923FM, KEXP, 102 JAMS, Radio Sausalito, and KPFA Radio for helping to promote through PSAs and social media.
Most importantly, thank you to everyone who attended. Whether you were discovering Radio Central for the first time, reconnecting with old friends, sharing stories from your broadcasting career, hunting for a vintage radio, or simply enjoying a day filled with music, history, and community, you helped make Radio Day by the Bay 2026 our biggest celebration yet.
If you missed this year’s event, there are plenty of opportunities to experience CHRS throughout the year. Visit the California Historical Radio Society’s Radio Central museum in Alameda to explore our collection of historic radios, televisions, broadcasting equipment, and communications technology; attend one of our speaker programs or family workshops; and experience the remarkable history of radio and electronic communication firsthand.
We can’t wait to welcome you back to Radio Central—and mark your calendar now for Radio Day by the Bay 2027 on Saturday, July 17, 2027!
RADIO DAY FAN MAIL
What a Spectacular Radio Day – Thank you!!
Hi Steve and Rachel –
I thank you both, your staff, volunteers, emcees, performers, vendors, food trucks, and more for the most exciting, fun-filled, music-filled, memorable Radio Day ever (at least while I’ve been a member for about 12 years.) Lots of smiles, connections made, seeing “old” friends/colleagues, information, demos, and goodies inside the museum and at the booths, and so much going on every minute. The Radio Play was fun as always thanks to Peter and his actors including you Steve, the big (little) band always keeps that era rockin’ here, the School of Rock was fun even though I only knew two songs, and I’m a rocker. Closing out the day with Top Shelf Motown was absolutely great! Now those songs I knew :). What a party!!!!
Thank you both, and I hope to see you in October,
Linda
…I was super happy with how friendly and helpful all the other volunteers were. I learned about programs going on at CHRS that I didn’t know about. Very cool to be surrounded by so many avid supporters!
Overall FANTASTIC JOB!!!! You ROCKED this! WAY TO GO! Celebrate!!!
Also, I wanted to add a footnote. I was able to listen to the radio from the recording that was posted. It starts around 4:10 of the recording. It was really GREAT! I just closed my eyes like I was listening on the radio and I could hear every word. The cast did a FANTASTIC job!
Thanks,
Tamar
The audio feed on streaming was not up to expectation. The device acting as the microphone was at the back of the tent instead of being fed off of the stage microphone mix. This created a poor quality sound for anyone viewing the broadcast on line. I expected much more from CHRS when it comes to broadcasting a program showcasing their commitment to quality. Thanks, Dan Ethen Santa Rosa. 😢