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Thursday, March 28
The Indiana Daily Student

Big Al's big dream

Local figure fulfills long-time dream

Al Carpenter insists Saturday won't rank as the happiest day of his life.\nHe would rather see IU win the Rose Bowl.\nStill, the limelight-basking Carpenter shuddered with sobs and praised God as a long-standing dream came to pass when he cut the ribbon for the grand opening gala of Big Al's Mobility Solutions, a power wheelchair retailer and repair shop.\nDozens of family, friends and well-wishers gathered for the catered and balloon-festooned affair, presided over by ESPN analyst Lee Corso, who led IU to its first bowl victory during his 1970s coaching tenure. Carpenter counts Corso as a dear friend, having assisted his coaching staff as a volunteer for a decade.\nBorn with cerebral palsy, Carpenter can only walk short distances at a stretch. Never held back by his handicap, he hitchhiked on crutches from Seymour, Ind. to practice. He hobbled along the same gravel-strewn shoulders up to six days a week for several years before he moved to Bloomington to be closer to the team. It's 25 miles -- each way.\nCorso found Carpenter's sideline enthusiasm so infectious that he brought him along to the 1979 Holiday Bowl game, where IU inched out Brigham Young University by a missed field goal. Carpenter wears the ring to this day. In gratitude for his contribution of moral support, the team pooled funds and presented him with his first motorized cart.\nA Hollywood production company optioned the story for a television movie that ultimately fell through.\nCarpenter should be taken as inspiration, Corso said.\n"Happy are those who dream their dreams and are willing to pay the price to see them come through," he said. "He just badgered on for years and years, and today is the perfect example of why you should never give up."\nCarpenter persisted over the past eight months trying to build a business on a shoestring budget. Financing proved a tough sell, and he found securing insurance difficult and costly. At least 20 agents declined to shoulder the liability of medical equipment, Carpenter said.\nBut the community came forward to help a well-known football and basketball booster, who has also circulated as a longtime local softball coach. He's been affectionately dubbed "Big Al" and "Crazy Al" for his vocal support at Assembly Hall. Regarded for his unrelenting optimism, he notoriously wore a pith helmet while a football coaching assistant.\nHis market research won out. As many as 65,000 disabled, elderly and infirm people in Monroe and five surrounding counties require mobility equipment, he found. Others retail power wheelchairs and motorized scooters locally, but none are owned and operated by the physically disabled. And none provide highly technical maintenance.\nMany disabled locals had to venture up to Indianapolis for even routine diagnostics. \nSome had to endure up to two weeks of house-bound immobility while waiting on parts, said sales manager John Combs, who himself suffers from muscular dystrophy resulting from an automobile accident.\n"Many people fail to appreciate this," he said. "But when you're handicapped, you're handicapped, today and every day."\nBy his own admission, Carpenter uniquely appreciates the need for maintenance. Racking up to 300 miles a week and often running full-throttle, he's worn out "maybe 7 or 8" scooters over the years.\nBig Al's intends to loan out replacement units so its customers can go about their daily lives without interruption. And Combs said it also stands out in a small niche field by offering training for its merchandise, which runs from walkers all the way up to $5,000 Scout scooters clocking up to 10 mph.\nBig Al's has developed a financing plan compatible with Social Security. As it builds a customer base, it plans to expand to service vehicle lifts and ramps - highly specialized maintenance unavailable locally.\n"We want our customers to be as comfortable as if they just bought a new Cadillac," Combs said.\nTeary-eyed, his voice cracked, the burly Carpenter hastened to credit others.\n"So many people have been so supportive, such good friends," he said. "But if everyone got the thanks and mention they deserve, you wouldn't have room to print it in your newspaper."\nBig Al's Mobility Solutions is located at 924 W. 17th St., Suite E, on the corner of 17th Street and Willis Drive. It can be reached at 333-1100.

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