News Photo by Darby Hinkley Kiwanis Club of Alpena members started prepping on Monday at the APlex for the Kiwanis Book Sale to be held in conjunction with The Alpena News Business Expo on Saturday. Pictured, from left, are Jan Fusina, Kiwanis President Rocky Roland, Julie Dietz, and Lisa Kendziorski.

ALPENA — On Saturday, The Alpena News will celebrate the 25th anniversary of the annual Business Expo at the APlex in Alpena.

The expo, running from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., gives local businesses an opportunity to share their products and services with people who may know little about them.

The expo runs concurrently with the Kiwanis Club of Alpena Book Sale, which will also be held at the APlex. The book sale, which was run for years by The News for the Alpena Public School’s Newspapers in Education, was taken over by Kiwanis after the NIE program was discontinued after last year’s sale. Now, Kiwanis will use the proceeds from the book sale to help fulfill its missions and projects.

Christie Werda, advertising manager for The News, said dozens of local businesses will have booths set up to show off their projects and share information about the services they offer, from health care to education. People will be able to learn firsthand from owners, administrators, and employees about businesses from all over Northeast Michigan.

“The expo places a bunch of local businesses who serve the community all under one roof,” she said. “The expo brings in well over 1,000 people, so they get all of them as potential customers, in the same place, in one day. It is a good chance to promote themselves and attract new customers.”

Werda said Thunder Baykery and Hungry Howie’s will be selling their products to people who visit the expo and want to grab a quick bite to eat.

For months, The News collected thousands of books for Kiwanis for the book sale. The books are reasonably priced, at $1 per paperback and $2 per hardcover, and the event has been very successful over the years. The event is so popular that there is often a long line of people outside the sale itching to be first through the doors to try to obtain the titles and authors they want.

Kiwanis Club of Alpena President Rocky Roland said the money the club raises from the book sale will be forwarded to other key charities and nonprofit organizations in Alpena.

“We have many projects,” he said. “We maintain the Kiddie Park and also do a lot of work with the Boys and Girls Club. We support the baby pantry, Salvation Army, and the list goes on and on.”

There will be hard and soft cover books that are both fiction and nonfiction available to purchase, in nearly every genre, including romance novels, health and fitness, biographies, history, and every other topic under the sun.

There will also be drawings and prizes awarded throughout the day at the expo. Many of the businesses also have free swag and product samples available and separate drawings for people who visit their booths.

Steve Schulwitz can be reached at 989-358-5689 or sschulwitz@TheAlpenaNews.com. Follow him on X @ss_alpenanews.com.