A connection made within the Alzheimer's Association has sparked a change in an annual local fundraiser.

Lynn Cronomiz has held annual "Paint the Town Purple" fundraiser events for half a decade, taking different forms, like a 5K run or selling cookbooks. However, she found that the fundraiser's numbers were not going up.

"I just couldn't seem to grow the amount of runners that I was attracting," she said. "It's very hard with 5Ks, because they're all over, and I just couldn't seem to grow it, so I thought about our great auto mall and how in our community it seems like a lot of people like car shows."

This year's fundraiser will be known as the Paint the Town Purple Car Show, to be held from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, May 30, at Classic Auto Mall, 6180 Morgantown Road, Morgantown. The rain date is Saturday, June 6.

A connection made by the executive director of the Alzheimer's Association's Delaware Valley chapter ignited the change. The director introduced Cronomiz to Samantha Fox-Lewis, a New Jersey resident who has a car named "Betty" that travels to shows in the area.

Betty was originally a gift from Fox-Lewis' grandfather, who was lost to Alzheimer's. Fox-Lewis instantly bonded with Cronomiz, who lost her mother, Carol, to Alzheimer's in 2017.

Betty, a 1966 Plymouth Valiant, will be featured at the show. Fox-Lewis' grandfather gifted the car to her after her 17th birthday, although Fox-Lewis returned the car a few years later after it proved not to be suitable for daily use driving on the main line to Cabrini, where she attended college.

"He took the car back, and I thought for sure that he was going to sell it or get rid of it," she said. "It was 2016 when he got sick, and that's when I was told that he still had my car.

"Now, I drive it everywhere," she went on. "It has opened the conversations to a whole new community. I am so honored to be a part of this car show because it's something that's so close to my heart."

All cars, trucks and bikes are welcome at the car show. There is a fee to register per vehicle; spectators can attend for free. Many of the typical categorical awards will be presented at the show, along with a unique category of 10 Alzheimer's memory awards.

"I have 10 people that have lost someone, and those people are going to walk around and they're going to pick a car that kind of gives them a memory of their loved one," Cronomiz said. "As we think about the past with our loved ones, usually that involves a car or a car ride somewhere."

At the show, live music will be performed by David Kurtz, a local musician based in Morgantown. There will also be food vendors, giveaways and crafts. Cronomiz is hoping to raise $6,000 with the show to go toward the Alzheimer's Association.

"We did a little over five (thousand) with the 5K last year," she explained. "Having the two corporate sponsors this year is going to be a big help."

In 2020, nearly 300,000 Pennsylvanians lived with Alzheimer's, including 11.5% of adults over the age of 65. More than $4,000,000,000 of Medicaid money was spent caring for those with Alzheimer's in 2025.

"My grandfather was one of eight siblings," Fox-Lewis said. "Shortly after my grandfather passed away, he lost a brother, also to Alzheimer's. Last year, a third brother had passed from Alzheimer's ... it's so much deeper than just having a loved one go through the disease."