Community Corner
Downtown Comes Alive at Berkley Art Bash
A look at a busy day in downtown Berkley, including the art show, Coolidge Rocks concert, Lids 4 Kids and opening of Atomic Dawg.
Thousands of people from around the area flooded into downtown Berkley on Saturday to take in all the sights, sounds and tastes of the 11th annual Berkley Art Bash.
With more than 115 artists from Michigan on display, live music, local eateries on hand and friends and families buzzing about, Berkley came alive under the near 90-degree and sunny weather.
There were also plenty of kids' activities to check out.
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The Converse family from Berkley spent the morning at the Lids 4 Kids event hosted at Berkley Fire Department. Three-year-old Kaylee and 9-year-old Heather picked out free helmets and road their bikes around the parking lot, with parents Karen and Randall close behind.
“We come every year and we love it,” Karen said. “We like to show support for small-town events and it’s great because it’s free and fun for the kids.”
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She also loves it because in addition to activities like obstacle courses and moonwalks, there are safety-oriented activities like the helmet giveaways and fingerprinting for the children.
Showcased artists also reported a successful year. , who has been in the Art Bash all 11 years now, said it was another successful event. This year, she also appreciated the breeze that would pick up and blow through the tents as everyone tried to stay cool in the hot sun.
Berkley artist Kezzie Chudler and her business partners Angela Sharp (also her mother) and Rebecca Sammon said it was great to be part of the Berkley Art Bash.
They are the , which appeared at the event for the first time and said it was an all-in-all great day.
“It’s great to be able to show some of this stuff for the first time,” Sammon said.
Chudler added that they got a lot of good feedback in their first Berkley show, seeing “some familiar faces and some new faces, too.”
Over on Coolidge Highway, . They had an all-day free concert for customers, sidewalk sales and appetizers.
Maureen Popkin, owner and organizer of the event said it was “so much fun” and that it was all about “people discovering Coolidge.”
The also opened as a preview for customers to try out its menu for free. In what owner Joel Bascow called an “overwhelming” response from the community, the restaurant was open just more than two hours before it ran out of food after feeding close to 300 people from noon to 2:30 p.m.
Atomic Dawg will officially open for business on Tuesday.
