A lot was made of Barack Obama's pre-election 30-minute infomercial on multiple networks, but Arcadia may have trumped him with more than a dozen hours of programs showcasing the City on four networks in one weekend -- and all for free!

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Arcadia, a TV SuperStar

 by Scott Hettrick

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Viewers watching ESPN, ESPN2, and ABC could hardly have missed seeing numerous spectacularly beautiful shots of Arcadia from every possible angle in the sky and on the ground Friday and Saturday, October 24 & 25 during the telecast of the Breeders' Cup.

The coverage offered breathtaking and some never-before-seen aerial shots of the elegant and immaculately manicured Santa Anita Park.
(Click image at left to see a 2 1/2-minute video montage of some of the coverage.)
It was two days of near-nonstop Chamber of Commerce-type coverage of the City nestled in the foothills of the gorgeous San Gabriel Mountains on days that gratefully offered picture-perfect weather, all of which combined to have announcers struggling to find new words to effusively describe and praise the setting over and over.
As if that wasn't enough, Arcadia got additional play for several more hours the very next day on Sunday, Oct. 26, as Arcadia High School's National Figure Skating Champion Mirai Nagasu was competing in Skate America in Washington. Arcadia and AHS was mentioned multiple times, as was Santa Anita Park, once again, and the City's name was carried underneath Mirai's name as well.
Of course, this was all just a couple days after Arcadia High School's Courtney Chou Lee generated national media attention for being named this year's Rose Queen.
Other than Wasilla, Alaska, it might be hard to find a town the size of Arcadia (population 56,000) that generates so much attention for such a variety of attributes that reflect the quality of our landmarks and our people.
At the risk of making corny references to our City bird and to NBC's logo, it's all just another reason to be proud as a peacock to be an Arcadian.