Smith: Peggy Sue's Cruise receives a jump start

Nearly two months after Peggy and Rich Williams sadly announced that Rich's cancer causes them to terminate their popular annual classic car show and downtown Santa Rosa cruise, two community partners have revived it.

With Rich and Peggy's blessings, and Peggy's promise of help, Platinum Chevrolet and the Santa Rosa Chamber of Commerce will host the 13th Peggy Sue's All-American Cruise on June 11 to 14.

The goal is that no one will notice any significant changes in the big, two-day car show at the Place to Play park on West Third Street, or the cruise on Fourth Street.

'We are going to do our damnedest to make it happen that way,' said jeweler and car aficionado Gary Bayless, one of the people key to the new partnership.

He and the others who stepped up to save the charitable car fest said that this year, most of the proceeds will to go the Williamses as they struggle with the costs of Rich's treatment for Stage 4 lymphoma.

'We are very excited,' Peggy Williams said. When locals first contacted her with offers to help keep the All-American Cruise alive, she told them it couldn't happen because it's a complex undertaking and she and Rich simply must concentrate now on his health.

When Todd Barnes of Platinum Chevy and the chamber's Janet Rogers persisted, Williams told them, 'Neither one of you has a clue what you're getting into.'

But she was persuaded that with her direction and their energy and expertise, the car show and cruise can go on. She said she agreed to help and to allow the car dealership and chamber to host the 2015 event.

At present, the four people at the center of the partnership are Barnes, Rogers, Bayless and Gus St. Marie, a car lover who has helped out both with the Williamses' car show and the one sponsored by the Sebastopol Senior Center.

This arrangement is brand new, so potential car exhibitors, cruise participants, vendors, sponsors and patrons need to cool their brakes. Soon, the Website for Peggy Sue's All-American Cruise will be updated with a new phone number and instructions.

Peggy Williams said Rich is undergoing chemotherapy, and the results are encouraging. Both of them are grateful that the greatest share of proceeds from this year's show have been earmarked to help them get by.

Predicts Bayless, 'This is going to be a big deal.'