In February of 2002 the San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors in California adopted a proclamation, conceived and written by Gary Freiberg, declaring August 12th as Vinyl Record Day in San Luis Obispo County. The date recognizes when Edison invented the phonograph in 1877.

It was then decided to have a Vinyl Record Day (VRD) celebration in San Luis Obispo on the first Saturday following August 12th, which was the 17th. The celebration was to appeal to all generations. The day started with Big Band Swing Music with the music changing every forty-five minutes. Following were segments on Elvis, the Beatles, a Sock Hop, R&B, Surf, Country, Disco, Jazz and Blues, all played on vinyl. Grandparents danced with grandchildren, there were many good times with friends, families, couples, kids, teenage and college aged all enjoying the music variety.

In addition there were Trivia Contests for visitors to win prizes, a free bounce house for kids, exhibits, a record mart and a Spin Battle.

The goal was successfully met to encourage friends and family to enjoy a day of music together. The dream to create a national Vinyl Record Day was born believing friends and family anywhere would do the same.

The process to make Vinyl Record Day a Nonprofit organization began immediately after the inaugural Vinyl Record Day celebration in August 2002. In September California approved VRD as a Nonprofit Public Benefit Corporation, on January 30th, 2003 the IRS deemed Vinyl Record Day the first vinyl related tax-deductible organization. See Nonprofit Documentation. See Mission Statement for the purpose and goals of VRD.

In March of 2003 arrangements were made to hold a Vinyl Record Day celebration at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland on August 23rd, the weekend following the August 16 celebration in San Luis Obispo.

Thank you for your interest. We appreciate you learning of this and the other details available on this site.

Signed,

Board of Directors - Vinyl Record Day
Gary Freiberg
Tom Madsen
Wendy Most
Peter Rogo