
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, January 6, 1995                   TAG: 9501060066
SECTION: EXTRA                    PAGE: 1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: NANCY GLEINER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

HE BARELY MADE IT

McAvoy Lane wasn't about to let those ``I've-got-nothing-to-wear'' blues keep him from getting to work. And for his resourcefulness, he won Windsor Canadian Supreme Whisky's nationwide search for the most amusing ``sorry I'm late'' anecdote.

Lane was working as a morning-show announcer at a radio station in balmy Hawaii, and one day arose to discover he had neglected to pick up his limited wardrobe from the dry cleaner. Determined not to miss his 6 a.m. radio slot, he covered himself with a bath towel and jumped on his motorcycle. In his haste, however, his cloak soon became entangled in the chain drive.

Undaunted, and wearing nothing but a motorcycle helmet, shoes and a smile, Lane then jogged to work - just two miles away. But once there, no one would let him in until he had been knocking for five minutes.

Contest runners-up included a woman who couldn't leave for work until her pet boa constrictor untangled itself from her hair; a man whose tax return was filed on time but which arrived late at the IRS because the mail truck had burst into flames; and a toupee-wearer whose ``rug'' was snatched off his head by a Doberman pinscher while he sat in his convertible at a stoplight.

Lane receives the equivalent of one month's salary for his tardy tale.

Incidentally, more than 20 contest entries arrived after the deadline.

by CNB