“No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main. If a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as well as if a manor of thy friend’s or of thine own were: any man’s death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind, and therefore never send to know for whom the bells tolls; it tolls for thee.” — 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 is not simply something that lands on your doorstep every morning for you to read and forget about until the next morning.

We’re deeply ingrained in Northeast Michigan.

We not only cover local events, we donate to local causes. We not only sell advertising 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 we employ Northeast Michiganders.

And we host events to bring the community together.

One of those events happens one week from today: The ever-popular Business Expo and Newspapers in Education Book Sale.

We held our last Expo in February 2020, just before the coronavirus pandemic closed everything down. The pandemic forced us to cancel the event in 2021 and 2022.

But we’re back and as big as ever from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Feb. 4 at the APlex, 701 Woodward Ave., Alpena.

We have more than two dozen vendors on hand to talk to you about everything they have to offer, including the popular Pour Boy’s Honey, which will sample and sell its delicious treats.

Bring your wallets and purses.

Galley Sweet Shop will sell its popular Cops and Donuts goodies in the morning, and Nowicki’s Sausage Shoppe will sell food for lunch.

The Expo benefits vendors by giving them an audience of hundreds all at once to whom they can talk about their products. It benefits you by putting together some of the best businesses in Northeast Michigan all in one place so you can find out about everything from banking to traveling to eateries.

Adjacent to the Expo, you’ll find thousands of used books for sale at discounted prices. Bestsellers. Romance. Westerns. Historical fiction and nonfiction. Self-help. Poetry. Politics. Books about Northeast Michigan and Michigan as a whole. Hobbies. And a lot 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. The kids use the 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 pick up the books you want.

The event also features giveaways throughout the day. You must be present to win.

In short, Feb. 4 will be a jam-packed day of business- and book-browsing, and you don’t want to miss it.

I’m thrilled to offer the Expo again. It really depressed me to have to cancel it two years in a row.

It’s a lot of hard work to pull it off, 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’re still signing up vendors. If you’d like to have your business featured in the Expo, call 989-354-3111 to speak to your advertising consultant.

Justin A. Hinkley can be reached at 989-354-3112 or jhinkley@thealpenanews.com. Follow him on Twitter @JustinHinkley.