As best I can tell, Alan Williams has never been far from an internal combustion engine. Exhaust fumes are part of his DNA. Every variety of vehicle imaginable has been tried out, driven, tuned or transported. From pickups to VW bugs, wheelers to motorcycles, scooters to ATVs, Alan has fiddled with it, repaired it, patched it, sold it or delivered it. The only thing I might be missing is an airplane at one of the locations he has worked, and it’s possible to imagine that he has one stashed somewhere.

When I popped in to visit at Hawke Motors, he was perched at his desk just inside the waiting room door. There were many transactions in progress and lots of activity in the room. Troy, another Hawke employee, was sorting batteries which were spread around the floor for date checks. People were calling on the phone and dropping off vehicles. Take a number. Get in line!

Things were jumping.

But I suspect, truth be known, that’s the way Alan likes it. Lots going on. Tow trucks at the ready, used cars on the lot, scanner scanning. Full speed ahead.

Eighteen years with Hawke Motors. Six years with Strong’s before that, both in Damariscotta and the Harbor, and 15 years with Frizzell Chevrolet in the Harbor before closing Labor Day in 1994. The only real break from auto world was a brief stint with Poole Brothers Lumber from 1973-1979. Before that, in high school, Alan worked for Elmo Lewis (with Tom Nickerson) at Elm’s Garage up in Boothbay.

Alan was even one of the local terrorists who crunched cars on Kimballtown Pond. We experienced that first hand when we lived right up the road. Sounded like the end of the world down there. Our next door neighbor, Phil Little, was an expert Pond star!

Coincidentaly, Alan grew up right next door to where we lived on Sherman Street in the Harbor. We weren’t in town yet when he lived there. Our house was owned by Verna Coady just up from Nettie Mitchell’s place (no relation). It was a great neighborhood for us, and for Alan too. Seems we have traversed similar turf over the years. But Alan tells better stories. Ask him sometime about Guy Leavitt Chevrolet's first police car delivery to Boothbay Harbor in the early ’40s. A little before his time but well within reach.