Letters To The Editor
Published on July 17, 2006

FLW Outdoors gets around. This year FLW bass fishing events will pay out $37.9 million to professional and amateur anglers at 249 events in various parts of the nation [Page 1, July 9, “Just Folks; Fishing In The Big Bass Business”].

FLW Outdoors brought a $1 million tournament to Hartford and the Connecticut River this past weekend – and had such a good experience that it tells us it wants to return.

Family members and friends of competitors liked the walking-distance proximity of the river to their rooms at the Marriott Hartford Downtown Hotel, where they stayed, and the Connecticut Convention Center, where weigh-ins were held each afternoon.

Tournament officials told me our convention center ranks among the top 10 percent in the nation – especially in terms of the ease of moving tons of equipment into the building.

Everyone raved about the Star Shuttle as a free, convenient way of moving people around downtown. They told us how impressed they were with the architecture of some of our historic buildings such as city hall and the Old State House – as well as the investment that is creating so much new construction and renovation. They also had nice things to say about the city’s flowers and cleanliness.

After the final weigh-in on Saturday, I congratulated one of the FLW Outdoors officials on running such first-rate tournament. The reply: “Hartford is a first-rate city – and we’ll be back.”

We will have the welcome mat out for them.

Joe Marfuggi
President and CEO
Riverfront Recapture
Hartford