Pullman car show catches eyes

Bob Grenz, a former auto mechanic, has been passionate about cars nearly his entire life.

On Thursday, he and his fellow residents at Regency Pullman reminisced about the cars of decades past during a classic car show organized by the assisted living facility.

“I’ve been thinking positive about cars since I was 10-years-old,” Grenz said.

Grenz, who has lived at Regency Pullman for eight years, talked shop with other car lovers as he and dozens of others enjoyed hot dogs and watermelon during the warm summer evening.

“They love to see the old cars,” said Regency Pullman spokesperson Stephanie Boone. “It gets them back to their childhood and they can reminisce about, ‘I worked on that, I had one, my dad had one.’ ”

A 1932 Ford Coupe caught Grenz’s eye as it reminded him of a friend who owned a similar model. Grenz recalled pumping gas for his father’s car when he was 10-years-old, and later working as a mechanic for Bagott Motors in Palouse for 15 years, a job he enjoyed.

“I just like to do things with my hands,” he said.

Boone said she reached out to her car-loving contacts in Palouse as well as dealerships and autobody shops in the region to round up as many classic cars as she could.

Only a handful of cars came out to Thursday’s event, but Boone said the car show was not just about the rides.

She said it gets the residents out of their rooms and allows them to socialize. These social activities are always helpful to the elderly residents, but carry even greater importance in recent years because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Boone said at the beginning of the pandemic, the residents had to stay isolated in their room for more than a year.

Now, Regency Pullman maintains a busy activity calendar to help the residents stay engaged and active, she said.

“It’s so important,” Boone said.

The event brought visitors young and old from outside Regency Pullman, including Lou Ann Lomax.

Lomax is a member of the Pullman Senior Center who does not describe herself as a “car person” but has fond memories of her father working on a 1951 International Harvester and an old Shaw Du-All tractor when she grew up between Troy and Deary. She, too, got a close-up look at the Ford Coupe, the 1930 Dodge Roadster and a 1966 Dodge Dart.

Proceeds from the car show will go to the Council on Aging’s Meals on Wheels program, which has faced funding cuts, Boone said.

“We wanted to give back to the community for the ones that aren’t as fortunate,” she said.

Kuipers can be reached at akuipers@dnews.com.