It’s no exaggeration to say that BHS Live, Berkeley High School’s principal fundraiser held every spring, is a major production. The whole community comes together to orchestrate the gala event — but the effort pays off, as the party always comes up trumps.
This year, BHS Live is being held at the Pauley Ballroom on the UC Berkeley campus. KTVU news reporter and BHS alum John Sasaki will be emcee for the night. An East Bay native, he is proud to say he founded the BHS Men’s Lacrosse team and still plays in the school’s alumni game.
The theme of the night is There’s No Place Like Home” and the hall will decorated as “neighborhoods” of Berkeley. When you’re there, look for our Farmers’ Markets, bucolic scenes of California poppies and Tilden Park, among others.
Picante, a Berkeley favorite, is catering the party with a host of hors d’oeuvres and music will, naturally, be provided by the award-winning Berkeley High Jazz Combo, most recently seen performing at Yoshi’s in Oakland. That’s not all. There’s a poetry slam, and, the main event of the night: the Silent Auction.
This year donations for the Auction are particularly plentiful and run the gamut from a week of beach paradise on the Mexican riviera, to lunches and dinners at popular local restaurants such as Café Fanny, consultations with top landscape designers, and film passes to great independent movie theaters. The range is such that bidding should suit all wallets. Auctioneer Steve Haworth from the hugely supportive Berkeley Honda will run the auction with his usual panache.
All funds raised at BHS Live support the Berkeley High School Development Group which works across the school to strengthen the educational experience of all BHS students by raising and distributing funds to enhance academic and other projects. Berkeleyside is a proud sponsor of BHS Live!
BHS Live is on Sunday April 17th, 5pm-8:30pm (over 21s only) at the Pauley Ballroom, 2475 Bancroft Way. Tickets are $30, $60 or $90 on a sliding scale and can be bought at Brown Paper Tickets.
