Charlevoix student hosts his own car show at Boulder Park Terrace

CHARLEVOIX — Not many teenagers have their own classic cars, but Emmett Bergmann, a rising senior at Charlevoix High School, does.

A few years ago, Bergmann purchased his own 1969 Firebird that he has restored himself.

"It took a couple years to find a car and then we went down to Grand Rapids and picked it up, and it was a lot more work than I expected," Bergmann said. "It makes me appreciate other people's cars more now."

Having been around older cars his whole life — both of his grandfathers had their own classic cars — Bergmann wanted to put on a car show. He had the idea of hosting it at a retirement community so people could check out the cars they grew up with.

On Monday, June 24, about 15 cars — including visits from Corvettes and Camaros and Firebirds — made their way into the Boulder Park Terrace in Charlevoix for residents, family members and visitors to admire.

Subscribe:Get unlimited access to our local coverage

"I was definitely nervous," Bergmann said about the event. "I didn't know what the turnout would be, I didn't know how (the residents) would react, whether they'd appreciate it or not, but I was pleased when a bunch of them came out and immediately had smiles and kept asking about the cars. They were actually there for longer than expected because they wanted to keep looking at (the cars)."

While this was his first car show, Bergmann is hoping to host another car show at American House later this year.

— Contact reporter Karly Graham atkgraham@petoskeynews.com. Follow her on Twitter at@KarlyGrahamJRN.