Just when you thought it was safe to go to the beach, there's a new danger—no, not sharks—melanoma. But fear not, Todd Moore is on a mission to save you from much of the worry.

Moore is the inventor/ entrepreneur of WowTowels, a fledgling company based in his Albrightsville garage. His flagship product, the WowTowel, an oversized 88-inch by 86-inch looped cotton terry towel/beach blanket is already in production.

"A WowTowel is a revolution. It's a change of how we do things," Moore said. "We can no longer go to the beach and think that we can burn and nothing is going to happen."

"Melanoma is an issue," he continued. "I've designed the WowTowel with this in mind."

The WowTowel, a catchy name that would lend itself to an infomercial, is a serious business for Moore who has spent several years designing and fine tuning the product and the business.

The WowTowel, in addition to being large enough for a family to stretch out on the beach on a grassy picnic area, features a patent-pending center opening for placement of a beach umbrella while reducing the entrance of sand onto the toweling. Its four corners have Velcro-closure pockets that serve the dual purpose of offering storage while serving to weigh down the corners to secure them against being blown over in a wind gust.

Moore is expecting to feature a second offering in what he foresees as a system of products—a wind resistant, solar-blocking umbrella. Based on the Windbrella Solarteck umbrella, he is planning to design a model that will be large enough to cover and compliment the WowTowel. He foresees the combination as offering over 97 percent blockage of direct ultraviolet radiation by the umbrella, and a minimum of reflected radiation off the beach blanket's towel material.

Moore, a native of Stamford, Connecticut, grew up along the beaches of Long Island Sound. He moved to New York City to work as an equity researcher at Prudential Insurance.

In 2001, on a hot beach day at Long Island's Robert Moses Sate Park, Moore watched as people returned to their blankets after going for a dip in the ocean. They seemed cramped on standard beach towels and getting sunburned because their umbrellas couldn't be placed where they needed them. Their blankets seemed too small and he wondered, why didn't anyone make a really big blanket—one with a hole for a beach umbrella.

As he had a good job, he had no motivation to develop his idea. But in 2008, with the collapse of the stock market and a layoff, and having taken a "Be Your Own Boss" seminar, Moore decided to "launch his dream."

Quickly making product design drawings, forming a company and getting a partner, Moore ordered his first production run—500 WowTowels. The WowTowel initially was produced in four colors, but is now available in eight colors: Aqua Blue, Royal Purple, Spicy Red, Sunkiss Orange, Seafoam Green, Pink, Burgundy, and Golden Yellow.

Moore sees his business as being socially conscious. For every pink WowTowel sold, he donates $5 to breast cancer research. "My business has to have a social cause behind it," he said. "I find it aberrant that some people have a business just for profit. There's a sense of responsibility to do right by others."

Moore is readying to produce a 2012 run of 4,000 WowTowels and 2,000 WowBrellas. He is seeking and investor to help underwrite the production costs.

He is enjoying his business venture. "I realized who I am. I'm not a worker bee," Moore said. "I can be a worker bee but it's not who I am. I'm a creator. I like to show things and be a little flamboyant about it. I've unleashed who I am and allowed those talents to come forward."

For information, see WowTowel.

© Al Zagofsky 2011