Car show held in memory of Lawrence community member

Aug. 15—LAWRENCE — Outside the doors of Showcase Cinemas on Saturday afternoon, a crowd gathered and spread throughout the parking lot. Among them were dozens of cars, with everything from Corvettes to Mustangs to Alfa Romeos.

But it wasn't a typical car show. It was held in remembrance of Andres Castaneda, who died at the age of 26 in an ATV accident in the Dominican Republic in late July. Castaneda was a local real estate agent and self-described "car guy" who had organized a couple of car shows of his own, including one in June.

"I came to support what he loved," said Luz Carrion, the mother of Castaneda's girlfriend. "Just to honor his memory and all the goodness he did in this short period of time."

Patricia Valley, a co-worker of Castaneda's at the Fermin Group Real Estate Team of Century 21 Northeast, remembered her friend and colleague as "a go-getter, always encouraging others to be good in life and do better."

Valley said the show brought about mixed emotions.

"It's a sad thing but in other ways it's something that I know he would like and that would make him happy, because he loved cars and he loved car shows," Valley said.

Valley, like many at the event, was wearing a black T-shirt with the phrase "LetsGo," which she said was somewhat of a motto of Castaneda's.

Hector Manon stood in front of his 2013 BMW 328i, which had a few customizations including a front splitter — a bumper modification meant to increase the speed of the vehicle.

"We came here for the remembering, to see the beautiful cars here," Manon said.

Dionnys Delacruz heard about the car show and about Castaneda from a friend.

"I just came through and wanted to show my support," he said.

Delacruz was at the show with a 1991 Nissan S13 Silvia, imported from Japan.

Castaneda would have approved.