Ken Minott, Track Announcer, Public Relations and Media Releases

All ready for your trip to Florida but can't find any folding coat hangers?

How does the idea of a whole package of vacuum cleaner bags for 99 cents sound?

One of the certain signs of spring in midcoast Maine is the re-opening of Big Al's on Route 1 in Wiscasset. The odd lot store is a must at Christmas time for the perfect stocking stuffers, a regular stop for summer tour buses, and a once-a-month stop for locals who want to see what's new.

From the outrageous -- a toilet seat cover embroidered with "This Too Shall Pass" -- to the practical -- paint brushes, coloring books, and combs -- Big Al's has the perfect item for a joke on a co-worker or a great gift for a good friend.

How about a buckwheat pillow for $2.88? A wood carrot fence?

Easter's just around the corner. How about "a musical girl bunny on a horse" or an Easter cake pan?

Tired of the same old white or off-white wall plates (the covers that go over your electrical switches)? No problem -- Big Al's has wall plates with birds, teddy bears, sports stuff, cats, laundry room paraphernalia, tools, a merry go round, Noah's Ark, a pear, an apple, a yellow ducky, doggies, and daisies.

Let's see... the perfect gift for a co-worker? Does he or she play golf? There's a desk business card holder with two golf balls on each end.

Do you have friends or relatives who have trouble managing their pills? Big Al's has a pill keeper, a pill divider, and a pill masher.

Other useful items in the health section include a battery operated back scratcher, a heating pad, a portable urinal, a digital electronic thermometer and a foot bath.

Need something for that teething baby? How about a plastic camcorder-shaped baby teether?

At the end of your rope? Big Al's sells it by the pound. Rope, that is.

In the pest control department there's a limited, but worthwhile choice of two items: a "gopher gasser" for the critter who's chewing up your lawn; and silverfish packs for getting rid of those tiny wriggling things that like to hang out in your basement.

Got a friend who likes to fish? Give him "Boogie Bass, The Amazing and Lifelike Singing and Dancing Fish."

Need a solution to that puddle of water that forms at the end of your downspout? Direct it away from your house with a colorful ceramic "Frog Downspout Catcher."

Want something for the little homemaker? How about "The Frog Can Crusher," a space saving can compactor (shaped, of course like a green frog).

A gift for a fat-cat friend who has everything? How about a cowhide design trimline phone? No? How about a bigger-than-average phone that has little spaces beside each button where you can insert a picture of your favorite person or dog?

Big Al's devotes an entire aisle to candles: big ones, fat ones, curly ones; some with triple wicks, some that float, some shaped like row- boats; and every possible color and design you can imagine, including leopard skin.

And then, of course there's picture frames, designed with every imaginable theme -- lighthouses, hearts, dogs, moose, baseball, soccer, sailboats

If you know someone who's getting married, there's a whole counter full of nifty little wedding stuff: plastic bride and groom cake top decorations, packages of 24 bottles of wedding bubbles, bouquet holders, miniature rose vases, lighted bridal garlands, drawstring sachets, invitations, glass slipper favors, wedding frames, and place cards.

"Save time and tears," says the packaging on a white plastic microwave onion cooker. "Onions cook up soft and tender and juicy, just like oven baked, but in 1/4 of the time."

Best not delay, if you see something that catches your eye. Interspersed throughout the merchandise are signs that say, "If you like it, buy it now. We may never have it again."

NORTHEAST MOTORSPORTS EXPO: White moving forward

By TRAVIS BARRETT Staff Writer 01/07/2008

AUGUSTA -- Failure, as they say, is not an option. At least not in Doug White's mind.

The Wiscasset Raceway owner is set to begin his first full season at the facility after purchasing the track last summer. Honored this weekend as the state's Promoter of the Year by the Northeast Motorsports Expo, held at the Augusta Civic Center, White is hoping to spring Wiscasset forward by reaching back into the past.

"We just want to make it an event that people want to come to," White said of attracting fans to Saturday night short-track racing. "We want to make it as good as going to Funtown for a day. With any type of industry, you have to try to create something with how you want to do it."

Not only has White brought back the Pro Stock division on a weekly basis, making Wiscasset one of only two tracks in the state with the costly division, but he's offering a $10,000 payout to that division's champion. White has four PASS North Series races on the slate this summer including the season finale, the Coastal 200 for Late Models, a "national championship" for both entry-level Strictly Stocks and Mini Stocks, a True Value Modified Series date and the USAC Ford Focus midgets.

Instead of cutting back to fight rising costs across the industry, to both track operators and race teams, White's making a full push forward. He said he wants it to be like it used to be 20 years ago -- with big purses for racers and plenty of variety to interest teams and fans alike.

"I just like to attack something," said White, who will pay Pro Stock drivers $1,500 for a 50-lap feature win in 2008. "I prefer to see things grow, and I try and make it happen. . . . I wanted to do something that tracks used to do and pay (bigger purses). I wanted to make it go back to what I thought were more traditional payouts."

White is also aware that people will be keeping a close eye on his car counts and the way in which the track is run as the season moves along. He said it's up to him to make sure sponsors, teams and fans all get what they're being promised.

"I think we can work all these things together," White said. "Already the transition for me taking over the track has been unbelievable.

"I look at it like every year I have to succeed. I've never been the type of person that looks at failure positively."

 Travis Barrett -- 621-5648