Published: Thursday, Feb. 04, 2010 / Updated: Thursday, Feb. 04, 2010 03:54 PM
Pack 19 takes it to the track in annual event
FORT MILL TOWNSHIP --
More than 60 kids and their parents gathered around a track inside Fort Mill Ford on a rainy day in an annual rite of Scouting.
As Pinewood Derby cars, made by the Tiger Cubs, Cub Scouts, and Webelos Scouts of Pack 219, were placed on the track, the crowd went wild. The event was held Jan. 23. The cars raced down the track to the finish line, electronically timed and tracked to determine the winners of each heat, while the scouts of each den cheered on their cars and the cars of their friends.
The Pinewood Derby race was one of hundreds held around the nation that weekend. It’s part of a long-standing Scouting tradition. The youngest Scouts of the Boy Scouts of America participate in the Pinewood Derby, using a kit given to them by the pack to construct their car. It’s long been a tradition for the young Scouts and their parents to bond while working together on the car.
The car must meet certain standards in order to race. It must weigh no more than five ounces and meet width and height requirements. From there, the kids’ creativity can run wild. Some cars were painted in greens and blues, adorned with stickers and, on one car, a palmetto tree.
Many cars were weighted down with coins and rocks.
“We put rocks on it to be heavier because the heavier it is, the faster it goes,” said Joseph Lindsey, 8.
The project gives the scouts an educational project to work on, said Bill Enos, father of Webelos Jacob Enos, and a fun afternoon of entertainment. While the scouts watched the Derby cars race, they munched on hot dogs and visited with friends.
“They learn basic engineering principals, how to build a project from start to finish,” Enos said. And each year they participate, the Scouts learn how to improve their car for better performance.
“It’s a continual learning process,” Enos added.
Benjamin Wall, 7, made his first Pinewood Derby car this year. Though his car wasn’t among the winners, he already has a plan in place for next year’s car. It needs more weight, he decided.
His dad, Don Wall, helped Benjamin with the car. They received the kit just before Christmas and spent a month preparing for the Derby.
“It was hard,” Wall said. “We really didn’t know what we were doing.”
But at the end of the day, winning or losing wasn’t the most important thing to these Scouts.
“It was fun,” Benjamin said. “A lot.”
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