July 7th, 2011 Seattle Parks and Recreation visited Airport Towing and Burien Towing to explore Storer Enterprises unique tow truck museum. The Storer Antique Tow Truck Collection began in September of 1997 when founder Mark Storer, purchased his first classic truck. Shortly after the purchase of the 1925 Ford Model TT, Mark developed a passion for the history of the towing industry as he worked to restore it into a classic tow truck.

Since that time restoration projects have been continuously ongoing in the Burien Towing warehouse, which currently houses 13 distinctly different show vehicles.

Seattle Parks and Recreation brought 27 energized senior citizens to the Burien Towing warehouse to stroll down memory lane of through the display of several vintage tow trucks each of a different era. Many were in awe and excited to take a picture inside the 1925 Model TT.  Many others were astonished by the 1935 Ford hotrod tow truck with flames painted on the hood.  After examining the tow trucks, many of the guests were excited to see a 2004 limited edition Chevrolet SSR with hidden strobe lights that were a custom modification installed by Storer.

As the entire group walked the premise of Airport & Burien Towing they were delighted to see a 1932 Ford Model  BB  un-restored to compare the large efforts it takes from scratch to finish. One comment was, “what is the next tow truck Airport Towing will be restoring?”  Kenny Savage, General Manager responded, “When the time is right, we might be considering restoring a 1979 Ford F-350 Indy tow truck.” The unique background of this truck was being one of the four official tow trucks of the 1979 Indianapolis 500.

Airport Towing has begun photo shooting and calendar development for the year 2012.  The calendar features the tow truck collection at different recognizable locations in Washington State. For more information please click here for a tour of our online museum. If you are interested in touring Airport and Burien Towing in person please contact us online or call (206)243.6252.

In 2005 cancer accounted for more than half a million deaths in the United States alone. In fact, we all have at least a 40% chance of getting some form of cancer at any point in our lives, and there is more than 20% chance any one of us will die from cancer. That’s the harsh reality that affected Amy Driscoll (formerly Hughes) and her family when she lost her grandmother to ovarian cancer nine years ago. Now the family has committed to helping others who are fighting the same battle by participating in Relay For Life.

Despite a struggling global economy the family at Vision Collision teamed up with 3.5 million people from around the nation to raise funds and awareness for the American Cancer Societyby participating in the relay. Mike & Amy Driscoll took an extra step by opening up their new Burien business on a Saturday to wash cars & sell refreshments as a fundraiser. Their efforts earned more than $500 to be donated to charity and their hopeful that they can increase their donation total at future events.

To show our support Airport Towing sent an antique tow truck over for a bath before participating in a local car show at Bernie & Boys Market in Top Hat. The 1933 Ford hot rod earned some extra attention and was undoubtedly the most unique truck that attended the wash. Vision Collision is planning on hosting another non-profit car wash Saturday May 16th and we plan to attend with another classic tow truck from our collection. We encourage anyone who would like to support their efforts as well as anyone who appreciates a quality hand wash to stop by. Click here for directions to Vision Collision where the next car wash is going to be held from 10am to 3pm on May 16th.

Our team was named “Climbing for Caleb” because a 2 year old cancer patient inspired us to give it all we had on a cold Spring morning. Caleb Thorsteinson, nephew of North Highline Firefighter Scott Thorsteinson has been battling cancer for about a year. His family and friends have drawn together to back him in the difficult fight against Leukemia. Airport Towing has a close relationship with the North Highline Fire District as we have donated vehicles to them for training, they performed honor guard services at our founder & sons memorial service, and I personally volunteered for the district and consider the Thorsteinson’s personal friends.

In our effort, team Climbing for Caleb finished 4th out of 234 total teams for time and I personally finished 125/2931 with a time of 10:39. We are hoping to finish first in fund raising as a team. If you would like to support my fundraising efforts or help the progress of the team go to my personal page and fill out a pledge form. All donations go to a great cause and have made a huge difference in many people’s lives.

I was truly honored to be a small part of such a large effort to help fight blood cancers. The event was fun as well as inspiring and I encourage anyone in the Seattle area who appreciates a challenge to sign up for next years event. Climbing the Northwest’s tallest building can be intimidating, as is taking on something as terrifying as cancer, but it is possible if you face it head on and take it one step at a time.