Someone You Should Know: Taking residents for a ride

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (Dakota News Now) - This is an 03 BMW Z4,” said Al Brown.

And you’ll often find Al Brown and his wife Eileen cruising around Sioux Falls in this cool convertible.

“My wife and I ride in this almost daily. Start in early April and run up through late October and sometimes in the winter. Found this car on Brothers Lot up here on 12th Street when I came home from Florida about five years ago,” said Al.

“I’m lucky, sometimes in the morning, sometimes at night, that’s my husband that’s driving,” said Eileen.

For more than thirty years, Al worked as a nursing home administrator. The now 85 year old, wanted to do sometime for the residents of Prairie Creek Lodge.

“Couple of times a year, in the summertime, we get out and give about a dozen of the residents a half hour ride throughout the city. Our residents don’t have the opportunity to get out as much as they used too, when they were young. They don’t get a chance to see how the city has developed, so I try to take them places where they might not have been, to show them the new Fareway Store or the new HyVee store, where they used to go to, and how it’s changed,” said Al.

“I enjoy seeing how the town has grown, and how businesses have come into town that are on the outer edges.. I know that the people who live here, who participate in this have all come back and said what a wonderful experience. Especially on a gorgeous day like this,” said Shirley Leinbach.

A half hour ride to see the city, something a former owner of this car, longtime Sioux Falls City Planner Steve Metli, who passed away in 2017, would’ve loved.

“I belonged to the Cosmopolitan Service Club here in town, and we honored Steve Metli about five years ago with a distinguished service award. Steve has done many good things in this city,” said Al.

And Al will keep doing great things for others, with a sweet ride.

“it’s an automatic, it’s got heated seats in it, it’s got bells and whistles, the top comes up automatically, so it’s a nice car,” said Al.

Copyright 2022 KSFY. All rights reserved.