Brent Reese Memorial Car Show raises $4K to fight ALS

MOSES LAKE — The first Brent Reese Memorial Car Show attracted old cars and new cars, muscle cars and street rods, tricked-out trucks and rat rods, and more than enough cars to fill the Scotty’s Auto Repair parking lot. The event gave locals an opportunity to enjoy cars while raising money to fight Lou Gehrig’s Disease. 

Jeremy Reese organized it in memory of his dad, Brent, who passed away in December 2020. Brent Reese battled ALS, and proceeds from the show will go to the ALS Foundation and the Team Gleason Foundation, which provides support to ALS patients and their families. 

“We’re raising money for ALS. That’s the reason, to honor my dad and give back to ALS (support) in a big way,” he said.

With the community’s support he was able to do that, he said.

“We had 64 registered cars. By tomorrow evening I will be donating about $4,000 to ALS (charities),” he said Monday. 

Despite windy, cooler weather, the turnout was good and Reese said he appreciated the community’s commitment to the event. 

There was a lot of variety among the vehicles, but their owners all had a love of cars in common. They know and support each other, said BJ Reyes, who brought down his 1967 Chevrolet Caprice on a windy, dusty Saturday afternoon. Reyes is part of the Lakesiders Car Club, and said he wanted to support the new car show the way people had supported the Lakesiders when they put on the show at Moses Lake Spring Festival.

The Caprice is a different breed from a 2024 car. He’s replaced the wheels and painted the car, but the engine is original.

“You can feel the horsepower,” said fellow Lakesider Anthony Reyes.

The Caprice always gets attention when it rolls down the road, BJ said, a trait it shares with the, recognizably truck-like rat rod owned by Chris Matthynssens.  The car is built from a 1954 GMC truck cab with a bed from sometime in the 1960s, Mathynssens said, and a kind of modified engine.

“It’s a mildly built Chevy 350,” he said. “Mildly built.” 

It definitely gets looks as he goes down the road, he said. And that was why he built it, he said.

“I did it because I wanted something no one else had,” he said. 

He had it done once, decided it needed some changes and ended up rebuilding it.

“I changed everything. I kept the cab and the motor - everything else I changed,” Matthynssens said.

Chuckie Koepke didn’t actually drive his rig to the event, but it was kind of indescribable. It’s the body from a 1957 Ford Custom sedan sitting on a 1986 Ford F-150 chassis that Koepke shortened by 16 inches. 

“It originally started as a joke,” Koepke said.

The body had been sitting on his farm for a while, and a friend found the truck, which had a long bed and dual wheels on the back, which it still retains.

“I made a joke about it — ‘I wonder how (the sedan body) would look on that frame,’” he said, and that was all it took. He wanted to enter a car show in Darrington, and gave himself less than a week to do the work. 

“Every show I go to, I’m usually working on it the day before,” Koepke said.

He’s a car guy with multiple vehicles, including a demolition derby rig.

The Frankencar is a work in progress and will be for a while. Technically it’s driveable without the windows, he said, but it travels on a trailer. Koepke said he has the windows and windshield and plans to install them. The body and frame need some adjusting, and he might paint it, but probably not.

“I tinker with all sorts of cars and trucks,” he said, a hobby that keeps him up for long hours after his day on the farm is done.

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

What is Lou Gehrig’s Disease? 

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known both as Lou Gehrig’s Disease or ALS, is a disease that affects the nearve cells that make muscles work in both the upper and lower parts of the body. The disease makes the nerve cells stop working and die, which in turn makes the patient lose the ability to activate specific muscles which can cause them to become weak and eventually to become paralyzed. 

As of 2017, about 32,000 cases of ALS in the United States with most people being diagnosed between the ages of 55 and 75. The average lifespan after diagnosis is 2-5 years. 

    Chuckie Koepke, second from left, who built the Frankencar shown here, talks with a spectator at the Brent Reese Memorial car show.
  

    Jeremy Reese, second from left, talks with attendees at the car show he started in memory of his dad.
  

    A car owner puts a bit of extra shine on his vehicle as he visits with a car show attendee on Saturday. The first Brent Reese Memorial Car Show raised about $4,000 to support those suffering from ALS.
  

    A car show enthusiast snaps a picture of a replica inspired by a popular television show back in the day.