One of my teachers at Alpena High used to tell the class “You make your breaks.” It was a lesson in how luck is really when preparation meets opportunity.

You could say Alpena got a lucky break this week with a third visit from the top ranked fishing show on national television. The Outdoor Channel’s bass fishing show, Major League Fishing, is back to film another season’s worth of programming to air next year in front of an audience of millions. They try to never visit the same place twice, not because they don’t want to, but because they want to uncover those great unheard of locations that give their professional anglers a good challenge. Last summer, Alpena became the first community that Major League Fishing had been to more than once. You could say that it was a great opportunity that fell in our lap, but we worked for it. As if the second visit wasn’t incredible enough, we are now hosting them a third time. This third visit could be called luck, but the path to this ‘lucky break” started nearly five years ago.

With scouting and fact-checking being a critical part of their selection process, you begin to see that Alpena is no anomaly when it comes to great fishing. Our lakes deliver. This is thanks to the support of citizens keeping our water clean, sportsman’s organizations overseeing individual bodies of water, and government agencies entrusted with monitoring and care for our aquatic biodiversity.

We never would have been visited the first time, in 2013, if our lakes couldn’t provide the fish or the challenge to professional anglers like Kevin Van Dam. We wouldn’t have been visited the second time if our office and our community hadn’t delivered such a pleasant experience both on and off the water for these guests.

As the person responsible for leading the marketing of the Alpena area, you can’t ask for a better scenario. You simply cannot buy this kind of television coverage; it is basically an entire season-long commercial for Alpena. With our small budget at the Convention & Visitors Bureau, we look for every opportunity to leverage the biggest ROI. This is the kind of marketing that authentically shows an unadulterated view of how spectacular Alpena is, in the raw. There are no smoke and mirrors. No spit-polished silverware only put out for the occasion. This is the real Alpena with an infrastructure that can deliver. And, she shines.

The first time we hosted MLF, the community jumped to help so we could fulfill the contract to service their visit. Because the show likes to keep the location a secret until the last minute, I wasn’t able to share exactly what was happening. But despite not knowing all details, those I asked to help trusted me and gave 100 percent effort. After the show wrapped, I immediately began inviting them back. I was surprised when they committed to visiting Alpena twice. While the second filming was airing on television earlier this year, I received a call that they were interested in a return visit. When I signed the contract for a third time, my heart stopped.

What does it take to make this happen? It takes local restaurants willing to start cooking at 3 a.m. to deliver 450 breakfasts, and prepping 450 lunches. It takes local businesses willing to understand the specific needs of an operation such as this, and helping to fulfill those needs. Often, these businesses donate part of their provisions as a community service. It takes month’s worth of coordination to help with logistics so the on-the-ground experience is smooth. It takes the warm welcome at locally-owned stores, friendly service at the big box store, and the smile from the unknown stranger on the sidewalk. It takes those who see that flowers need to be watered at the park. And, it takes respect; treating each interaction not as a business transaction, but as a personal transformation. Together we are creating something; a TV show, a potential memory for a visitor, an unforgettable experience, a powerful story about this place called Alpena.

And lastly, we wouldn’t be able to leverage these opportunities without the Convention & Visitors Bureau assessment. Each time a guest stays in an Alpena hotel a small percentage is assessed to the visitor to fund the CVB. Without this assessment, we would have no budget to provide for these contracts or marketing activities to promote Alpena. The more people we have staying in hotels, the more funding we have to promote the community. Which in turn garners more overnight visitors who dine, shop, golf, bike, and do hundreds of other activities across the region to support our local economy.

Please accept my heartfelt thank you to everyone who helps to make these ‘lucky breaks’ happen. Our job to connect the dots is made that much easier with a community that shines with pride every day of the week.