Hundreds of pristine cars passed through Sweet Home in a show of community support during a car meet and memorial cruise on Saturday, Jan. 24.
The car meet was held at the new Mill Drift Track (see our story at https://www.sweethomenews.com/old-mill-site-gets-tune-up-for-car-show-drift-track-events/) on the north end of 24th Avenue.
The reason for the event is rooted in a car accident that took the life of 16-year-old Paige McClintock, of Albany.
Organizer Rhiannon Allen, a friend of the family, initially envisioned holding a short memorial cruise through Albany, in addition to promoting the family’s GoFundMe page for the numerous expenses they will encounter.
“I just wanted to be helpful,” Allen said. “The family experienced a really terrible tragedy.”
What she didn’t expect was the response.
People from across the state showed interest in giving support, it looked like hundreds of cars were going to show up, thousands of dollars worth of auction and raffle prizes were offered, and vendors stepped up to volunteer their services.
With just a few days left to plan, JD Rettinger, co-promoter of the Mill Drift Track and car show events, offered the Sweet Home location to accommodate her needs.
“They just needed a big, open lot and they were struggling to find a place that was gonna be able to hold at least 300 cars,” Rettinger said.
Due to the expected size of the event and short notice, Allen said she was not able to hold a formal car show, something she believes McClintock would have appreciated. But in her memoriam, the event ended with a line of hundreds of cars cruising out of Sweet Home and into McClintock’s hometown.
“Paige loved muscle cars, big cars. She loved trucks and motorcycles, she loved loud, pretty – she loved cars,” Allen said. “We really wanted the community to be able to be a part of that too.”

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