“No man is an island, whole in himself; every man is a part of the continent, a part of the main. If a flock is washed from the sea, Europe is less, as if it were a cape, as if it were a manor of your friend or yours: the death of every man diminishes me, because I am included in humanity. , and therefore never send to know for whom the bells toll; she charges for you.” – John Donne
One of the many reasons I love working for this newspaper is its deep and ongoing connection to this community.
The Alpena News isn’t just something that lands on your doorstep every morning to read and forget about until the next morning.
We are deeply rooted in Northeast Michigan.
We not only cover local events, we donate to local causes. We not only sell ads to local businesses, we buy goods and services from local businesses. We not only write about the local economy, we contribute to that economy and employ Northeast Michigan residents.
And we organize events to bring the community together.
One of those events happens a week from today: The ever-popular Business and Education Book Sale.
We held our last exhibition in February 2020, just before the coronavirus pandemic shut everything down. The pandemic forced us to cancel the event in 2021 and 2022.
But we’re back and bigger than ever from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Feb. 4 at the APlex, 701 Woodward Ave., Alpena.
We have more than two dozen vendors on hand to talk you through all they have to offer, including the popular Pour Boy’s Honey, who will be sampling and selling their delicious treats.
Take your wallets and purses.
Galley Sweet Shop will be selling its popular Cops and Donuts in the morning, and Nowicki’s Sausage Shoppe will be selling food for lunch.
The Expo benefits vendors by giving them an audience of hundreds all at the same time with whom they can talk about their products. It benefits you by bringing together some of the best businesses in Northeast Michigan all in one place so you can learn about everything from banking to travel to restaurants.
Adjacent to the Expo, you’ll find thousands of used books for sale at discounted prices. The best sellers. Romance. the westerners. Historical fiction and nonfiction. Self-help. Poetry. Politics. Books about Northeast Michigan and Michigan as a whole. Hobby. And much more.
One hundred percent of the money we make from every book sold goes to Newspapers in Education, which helps us deliver newspapers to classrooms throughout Northeast Michigan. Children use newspapers to work on literacy, understand the difference between fact and opinion, learn about the weather, and more.
The best books go fast, so show up early to get the books you want.
The event also features giveaways throughout the day. You must be present to win.
In short, February 4th is going to be a day full of business and book browsing, and you don’t want to miss it.
I am excited to offer Expo again. It really bummed me out that I had to cancel it two years in a row.
It’s a lot of hard work to get it out, including sorting through thousands of donated books.
But it’s worth it, because the event is a blast for us as hosts, for the businesses and for the attendees.
We are still registering sellers. If you would like your business to be featured at the Expo, call 989-354-3111 to speak with your advertising consultant.
Justin A. Hinkley can be reached at 989-354-3112 or jhinkley@thealpenanews.com. Follow him on Twitter @JustinHinkley.
