Dorothy Brinz was looking for something bold to do. The Fox Island woman grew up in a family that constantly raised funds, but she had yet to organize one for a cause in which she truly believed.
Then breast cancer struck her family.
One of her aunts was diagnosed with the disease in 1989. She survived.
Another aunt was diagnosed with breast cancer a year later. She also survived.
But Brinz’s mother did not.
The mother who taught Brinz the value of fundraisers — particularly for the March of Dimes and also because her father was a paraplegic — died in 1996.
Now, that bold idea has struck: To help the fight against breast cancer, Brinz plans to participate in the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer 3-Day, a 60-mile journey Sept. 11-13 in Seattle during which millions of dollars will be raised.
“For the first time, I need to start doing something,” said Brinz, 55. “I don’t want my grandchildren to have to deal with breast cancer.”
It’s a lofty goal: Each participant in the Breast Cancer 3-Day is required to raise a minimum of $2,300. But when Brinz decides a cause is worth fighting for, she leaves no stone unturned.
Brinz has been working for months to organize the first Uptown Car Show on May 30, an event for which more than 200 cars have already registered.
“She’s been doing this since February, 24 hours a day,” said her husband, Anthony Brinz. “Every day, the phone starts ringing at 7 o’clock in the morning, and it’s ringing until 9 o’clock at night.
“When she puts her mind to something, it’s going to happen.”
Four live bands will play at the event near the Galaxy Theater at Uptown Gig Harbor, and food and raffle prizes will be available. The car show will run from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and admission is free. Brinz said 100 percent of the proceeds will go to Susan G. Komen for the Cure.
Car owners like Gordon Thorne of Gig Harbor said the cause is more than worth the suggested $20 donation to enter his 1957 Ford Thunderbird. In fact, he pulled out his wallet and handed Brinz a crisp $20 bill last Thursday afternoon.
Brinz said many have donated considerably more.
Thorne, the immediate past president of the Puget Sound Early Birds, said his wife is a breast cancer survivor — and he’s a two-time cancer survivor.
“More than 200 vehicles for a first-time event is stunning,” Thorne said. “Thanks to Dorothy, she’s going to raise a lot of money for the Susan G. Komen Foundation.”
Brinz has worked to get everything donated, from the food tents and portapotties to the event venue itself. John Hogan, who helped develop Uptown Gig Harbor and plans to have a car in the show, agreed to a three-year deal — for free.
“Cancer runs in our family,” Hogan said. “It’s a sensitive issue with me, and it’s a natural marriage between two parties.”
Hogan said it’s not just a car-lover event, it’s a family-friendly event.
“We hope it brings people who don’t normally come to Gig Harbor, here to Gig Harbor,” he said.
The merchants at Uptown Gig Harbor have been supportive, too: Most have offered gift packages as raffle prizes.
Others, like Norm Hower, plan to bring their prized possessions, like his 1969 Buick Skylark.
“They only made 500 of that car,” he said.
Stan Liebenberg of Gig Harbor has another rare beauty, a 1955 T-bird that was the fifth one made on the assembly line in Dearborn, Mich., on the first day of production: Sept. 9, 1954.
Liebenberg said his wife showed him an ad in the bi-monthly “Early Bird” magazine 26 years ago, and they flew from Fort Lewis to the San Francisco area the next day to check it out.
They drove home in the car the following Sunday in 1983.
“My wife brought my attention to it,” Liebenberg joked. “She’s responsible.”
As for Brinz, she said she was around cars as a kid outside of Philadelphia, where she went racing as soon as she turned 18.
“My husband and I always had old British cars,” she said.
Their relationship turned serious after their second date, when they went shopping for a 1973 Triumph GT6. The Brinzes said their son still has the car, in Tacoma.
“We just clicked, and it’s been like that ever since,” Anthony Brinz said.
Dorothy, who is self-employed, said she started the Uptown Car Show with a clean slate and put in hundreds of hours to organize the event. Anthony, a business tax consultant, has been “working really hard to make up for it,” Dorothy said.
“It’s an all-consuming thing for a first-time event,” she said. “We had no corporate sponsors, so we had to get people like John Hogan who were willing to work with us.”
Brinz said one in eight women will have breast cancer, and everyone has likely been touched by it in some way.
“It’s a nasty disease that ravages your body,” she said.
That’s why she’s so driven to do her part to help find a cure.
“Faced with how to raise money, you do what you do best,” she said.
Volunteers are still needed for the Uptown Car Show, which will run from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. May 30 at Uptown Gig Harbor.
Event organizer Dorothy Brinz of Fox Island expects more than 200 cars to be on display for the first-year event. Admission is free.
Four live bands will play, food and shopping will be available, and prizes will be awarded.
For more information, call 253-534-9600 or visit www.uptowncarshow.com.
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