Motorcycle enthusiasts from around the Chicago area are expected to descend upon Romeoville Saturday, Sept. 13, to raise money to help in the search for missing Bolingbrook woman Stacy Peterson.

The group Friends of Stacy Peterson has organized a motorcycle poker run, which will lead bikers on a 75-mile route through the Joliet area and four of its area businesses. Participants will meet at Brunswick Zone, 735 N. Center Blvd., Romeoville, Saturday morning and head to Conrad’s Harley-Davidson in Joliet.

Carol Penning, event organizer and Peterson’s close friend, said participants will be given a poker card at each of the five stops, with the top three hands winning prizes. The event  also will include food, entertainment and an auction when the riders gather again at Brunswick for the end of the run.

Peterson supporters said they chose the poker run in honor of the missing woman. Motorcycles were always a part of Peterson’s life, her friend and neighbor Sharon Bychowski said. Her father, Anthony Cales, is an avid rider, and she used to sit on the back of his bike during family rides.

“She always wanted to have her own bike,” Bychowski recalls.

Last summer, she got her wish when she rolled up in a brand new Harley Davidson bike, which she named “Lady Merlot,” a tribute to her favorite color and favorite wine.

The bike now sits unused in the garage of the home she shared with her husband Drew Peterson, the sole suspect in her disappearance.

Drew Peterson, a former Bolingbrook police sergeant, has maintained his innocence in the case, insisting his wife called him the night of Oct. 28 to tell him she was leaving him.
Police are investigating the March 2004 drowning of Peterson’s third wife, Kathleen Savio, who was found dead in the bathtub of her Bolingbrook home. Peterson has not been charged with a crime in either case.

The poker run will proceed rain or shine, Penning said. Although the group is hoping for clear weather, Penning said the forecast of clouds and rain will match the moods of those close to Stacy Peterson, who are now facing the approaching one-year anniversary of her disappearance.

“It’s like a cloud hanging over us,” Penning said.

All proceeds from the event will go toward the cost of fuel, food, lodging, and equipment used in the search for Peterson. Penning said few people have pre-registered, but she is confident the riders will show up en masse since the event is listed on the Web sites several major motorcycling groups. Penning said the event planners also have an army of volunteers out spreading the word.

“We think Stacy’s up in heaven pulling our strings, telling us what she wants us to do,” Penning said.