There’s a lot of pride in showing off your town to visitors and having them express genuine interest and gratitude.
Scott Hettrick
Some of us had that opportunity this last weekend when a handful of us representing the Arcadia Chamber of Commerce (Vicki Knight, Bill Hacket, Lisa Ferrick and myself) and Arcadia Historical Society (Bev Street and myself) decided to ride back and forth for several hours on the City of Arcadia‘s shuttle buses from Downtown Arcadia hotels to Santa Anita Park with more than 500 visitors going to the Breeders’ Cup Championships. On Friday afternoon during the races we also circulated among the 20 or so booths of Chamber business members offering treats to about 1,000 kids and their parents at a Hallowe’en Fright Day event Oct. 31, 2014, hosted by the City of Arcadia’s Recreation and Community Services Department.
Like the nearly 300 volunteers at the stadium showing high-rollers to their box seats and providing other helpful services, we shuttle hosts wore purple Breeders’ Cup hats and shirts. We shared historical anecdotes about Santa Anita and Arcadia, provided brochures showing the 12 best restaurants in Arcadia and introduced them to the new Visit Arcadia app and web site. We handed out maps to the new Thoroughbred Racing Walk of Champions and pointed out the sidewalk plaques as we drove past. It didn’t take any prompting to engage them in conversation or answer questions.
Santa Anita officials reported crowds of more than 37,000 on Friday and more than 61,000 on Saturday, raising the two-day total attendance four percent higher than last year to 98,319, a Breeders’ Cup record at Santa Anita since the expansion to a two-day event. (Wagering was down both days and slipped six percent overall to $151,158,815 and declined six percent for the 13 Breeders’ Cup races over the two days to $128,215,643, in part due to one less BC race on Friday and the three percent decline on Saturday attributed to two races on the Breeders’ Cup under-card being shifted from the turf to the main track due to overnight rains.)
The visitors came from from dozens of other states and countries, including Ireland, England, Canada, the Caribbean, the Pacific Ocean island of New Caledonia near Australia, as well as Florida, Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, Kentucky, Montana, Idaho, Georgia, and many others. They appeared to come from many different social and economic situations – one was from the Harris Ranch birth home of California Chrome and another on a different bus claimed to be part of California Chrome’s team, but they all had something in common — they were all enthusiastic about Arcadia and Santa Anita Park, and all were impressed and grateful for the personal attention and kindness extended, which they said they did never received on shuttles in other Breeders’ Cup cities.
“Arcadia is 100% better than Kentucky,” said a couple from Boston, which was immediately seconded by a father and son from Sacramento. Most had been to Breeders’ Cup events in other cities and all agreed Arcadia was by far the most friendly and most enjoyable, as well as the most beautiful setting and best weather (one visitor checked his phone and reported that the weather at the location of next year’s Breeders’ Cup near Lexington, Kentucky, was 43 degrees with snow).
We know we live in a great town but sometimes it’s refreshing and inspiring to hear it from outsiders.
— By Scott Hettrick