Berkley Days: Midway Opens, Taste of Berkley and More

Thursday night marked the official kick-off of Berkley Days with the opening of the Midway, Taste of Berkley and recognition of the Citizen and Humanitarian of the Year.

More than 150 tickets were sold at the second annual Taste of Berkley event in the . All of the proceeds will go to benefit the Berkley/Huntington Woods Youth Assistance (BHWYA) organization, which works to help children from kindergarten to high school go to camp.

“We had a really great turnout this year,” BHWYA co-chairperson Betty Smith said. “Everyone looks happy and people are lingering around talking and eating the food, so I’m quite pleased with the event.”

Last year Smith said they were able to send 67 children to camp, and she hopes with the size of this year’s Taste of Berkley attendees to send at least as many this year.

“I’ve really enjoyed the event this year because there are so many more people than last year,” server Donna Perry said. “I think it’s such a great cause and I can’t imagine what all the proceeds are going to do this year to benefit the youth.”

O’Mara’s was one of , providing samples of their chicken meatballs and tequila shrimp to attendees.

“The food is really good,” Berkley resident Richard Schmitz said, taking a plates full of treats from the . “I also think this event has good community spirit and I enjoy getting to see people I haven’t seen in a while.”

At 7:30 p.m., Berkley Days chairwoman Denise Brainard announced the first awards for Citizen and Humanitarian of the Year: Sue Klein won the Humanitarian award for her volunteer efforts in the community, even though she is not a Berkley resident. Then Brainard announced the winner of the Citizen Award as for his behind-the-scenes work to bring events such as the Dream Cruise to fruition.

“I think this night was a great way to officially kick off Berkley Days,” Brainard said . “I can’t wait to see how much more it will grow next year.”

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