When Kate Cortelyou’s autistic son, James, was turning 5, his birthday requests were remarkably specific.
He wanted an intricately detailed car wash cake made by his mom—and a party at a car wash. What followed was a journey of determination documented in a TikTok video, culminating in a community spirit that fulfilled a little boy’s dream. Newsweek spoke to Cortelyou, 40, about her search for a local car wash party venue, along with Mike Logan, a car wash owner, about his above-and-beyond efforts for Cortelyou’s son, James.
“When my autistic son was turning 5, he had two requests: a birthday party at a car wash and a very detailed car wash cake made by me. So that’s what he got,” Cortelyou captioned the video. “I called about a dozen car washes and got turned down every time—until I found Washtopia in Hermitage, Tennessee. They didn’t just say yes—they went all in.”
Logan at Washtopia took the lead in making James’ birthday dream a reality. He let Cortelyou use their break room overlooking the wash line, made a giant welcome sign just for James and even sent him home with a large car wash wipe.
James’s fascination with car washes began as a phase, Cortelyou explained.
“We would go to them daily and sit and watch from the outside,” she said. “We also started building them—with blocks, LEGOs, stand mixer attachments and paper towels. We got creative.”
So, when he articulated his birthday desires for a car wash-themed birthday, Cortelyou knew she had to try.
Her initial attempts to find a venue were met with rejections: “I started calling places and the responses were similar—we don’t have space, it’s a safety issue, we don’t do that,” she said. Undeterred, she took a different approach: “I then wrote an email to Mike at Washtopia and poured my heart into my request…He was all in.”
‘No Greater Reward’
Logan, the managing partner at Washtopia, recalled his team’s immediate positive reaction.
“When we first received Kate’s email, our immediate reaction was, ‘Absolutely, this sounds like a fantastic idea,” Logan said. He explained that community support is central to Washtopia’s mission. “Being an active and supportive member of our community has always been at the heart of who we are.”
The car wash frequently engages with schools, churches and nonprofits, and specifically does a lot for kids, from handing out lollipops to running coloring contests. So, when James’s unusual request came in, “the only question we had was, ‘How can we make this the best day ever for him?’” Logan said.
Washtopia went above and beyond.
Logan even provided a cake in addition to the one Cortelyou made. The team gave all the parents free car washes so their kids could watch them go through from above, and one of the employees drew the picture on the whiteboard for James.
The impact on James was profound, Cortelyou said. He still talks about the party now, at 11 years old. And while the niche parties haven’t ended for him—a Titanic-themed party proved a close runner-up—the car wash birthday party remains James’ and her favorite.
For Logan, witnessing James’s pure joy was the ultimate reward.
“My favorite moment from that day was hearing James say, ‘This is the best day of my life,’” Logan revealed. “There’s no greater reward than knowing we helped create a memory like that.”
The connection between Cortelyou and Washtopia has continued to this day. Logan recently mailed her a bunch of T-shirts for her kids with other goodies. Even more significantly, Logan said that they now use James’ party in their employee trainings to show the importance of showing up for children—and for the local community.
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