Son honors his dad at Brent Reese Memorial car show

MOSES LAKE — His son said Brent Reese loved vehicles that had some power. Of course he had cars, Jeremy Reese said, but it didn't have to have four wheels. A motorcycle, a boat - it didn’t matter.

“He always had something that could go fast in his garage,” Jeremy Reese said. “He was a big gearhead.”

Brent Reese died in December 2020 after battling amyotrophic lateral sclerosis for seven years. In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, Jeremy Reese said it felt like there wasn’t really a chance to give him a proper tribute. He plans to do that now, he said. 

The first Brent Reese Memorial car show is scheduled for 3 to 9 p.m. June 15 at Scotty’s Auto Repair, 1450 East Wheeler Road. Brent Reese’s birthday was June 14, his son said. 

“I am finally in a position in my life to honor him in the big way I have always wanted to,” Jeremy Reese wrote in an email to the Columbia Basin Herald. 

The best way to do it, he said, seemed to be with a car show. Cars were something they shared.

“He raised me on it,” Jeremy said. “I love it.”

Brent Reese lived most of his life in Moses Lake and was a member of the Moses Lake City Council for 13 years. He worked at Moses Lake Industries for more than three decades. He liked his town, and according to his obituary, kissed the ground when he got home after his tour of duty in the U.S. Air Force.

Brent Reese donated regularly to the ALS Foundation and the Team Gleason Foundation, and part of the proceeds from the car show will be donated to those organizations. Jeremy Reese said attendees will have the opportunity to donate directly to the Gleason Foundation.

Steve Gleason was a National Football League veteran who was diagnosed with ALS in 2011, according to the Gleason Foundation website.

Jeremy Reese said the ALS Foundation works on research to alleviate and find a cure for the disease. The Gleason Foundation is focused on people with ALS.

“They do a ton of work helping families directly,” he said.

It’s a cruel disease. 

“It basically disconnects your brain from your body,” Jeremy Reese said. 

Brent Reese never gave in, his son said, despite the difficulties. 

Of course, people will have the opportunity to look at cool cars at the show, but Jeremy Reese said there will be a lot more going on. The Moses Lake Taproom will host an indoor beer garden, with 20% of its proceeds donated to the cause. Blacky’s Smokin’ Sweet barbecue, Othello, and the Corndog Company of Eastern Washington, Othello, will be selling meals and will donate 10% of their proceeds, Jeremy Reese said. 

There will be a mini-petting zoo and Dale Roth will be the DJ.

“(Scotty’s) has four acres. We’re going to use a lot of it,” Jeremy Reese said. 

And of course the cool cars. Those will include a 1973 Chevrolet Camaro owned by Brett Reese that has been passed on to his son.

“That’s going to be the main attraction,” Jeremy said.

He hopes to make the car show an annual event, he said, the bigger the better, and eventually raise enough money to start a foundation to help other ALS families, in his dad’s honor. 

Cheryl Schweizer can be reached via email at cschweizer@columbiabasinherald.com.

    Brent Reese battled amyotrophic lateral sclerosis for seven years. “No White Flags” is the motto of the Steve Gleason Foundation, which provides support to families affected by ALS.
  

    Brent Reese worked to stay positive even as he fought ALS, his son said.
  

    Brent Reese with his motorcycle and boat. He liked vehicles that went fast.