MY TAKE by Rose McGlew
For all you Boy Scout-ing families out there, you could probably write this week’s column yourself. But for everyone else out there, I will give you a little insight into the frenzy currently sweeping our house.
That’s right, folks, it’s Pinewood Derby time. Families all over Mercer County are buying power tools of all sorts to achieve the perfect design for their little wooden car.
The Pinewood Derby is a time-honored Boy Scout tradition. The first Pinewood Derby was held in 1953 by Cub Master Don Murphy of Cub Scout Pack 280C in Manhattan Beach, Calif. Since then, more than 80 million car kits have been sold.
Derbies are held at different places and times depending on the Boy Scout packs. Our boys go through our church, St. Gregory the Great in Hamilton, and will compete on Saturday at 6 p.m.
My husband remembers participating in several derbies as a kid and really lights up when he talks about the year that his car actually won.
"I think I was about 11 and my car looked terrible. My Dad helped but I did most of it," he recalled. "We melted the lead weights… well, actually my Dad did that part since that was a little dangerous for a Cub Scout… and poured them into the middle of the car where I had carved out a spot for it. I put on a pliable plastic cockpit and whittled away most of the wood. I had some kind of lubricant on the wheels and I’m not sure what made it win, but it did."
The cars that he’s helped our own kids make have looked much better, but haven’t fared quite that well on the track.
When pressed for further comment on the new generation of racing, my husband commented, "The new computerized judging makes the racing go smoother which is important when you have a big pack. Each boy runs a race on each lane, just to be sure that one lane isn’t running faster than any of the others. The winner is decided by the fastest average speed from all four races combined. When we used to race, the winner of each heat just went on until a winner came out on top and the judging was all eyeballed. It wasn’t really too sophisticated, actually. With our kids, it’s nice helping the boys build their cars. It’s a good project to do together and I would like to see them do well at the race itself. Of course, I’d like to see a tie for first, but the main thing is just to see all the Scouts have fun."
Paul has participated in the Pinewood Derby for three previous years and says, "This year’s car is one-of-a-kind it’s very different from all my others. It’s bulkier than most of my others, not as smooth. I made it the design I did because it reminds me of one of my hobbies."
This is Paul’s last year as a Cub Scout, his last year of racing, and he feels proud of the cars he’s raced so far.
"I like the actual racing more than designing because you get to see how well your final product did at the end," he said. "I never expect to win the Derby, but I just like making the cars and seeing how they run. I like to see the other kids’ ideas, too."
On moving on, Paul commented, "It will feel weird not to race next year, but Jacob will be doing it so I’ll still get the enjoyment of seeing him race. I would help him build his, if he wanted." Paul also commented out of his brother’s earshot that Jacob’s car looks pretty cool.
This will be Jacob’s first year making an official Pinewood Derby car, although he’s been practicing for the last couple of years on models purchased at A.C. Moore. He’s been sketching and planning and rethinking and redesigning since November.
"First, we had to plan it out, then we kind of had to draw where I wanted to cut it, then we cut it. We put some sealing stuff on it, then sanded it," Jacob said. "Then we have to paint it and then you put the wheels in and then, voila… you’ve got a Pinewood Derby car! If you want any special effects, then you have to do them after you’ve finished painting it."
When asked what he thought his chances of winning the Pinewood Derby might be Jacob said, "Maybe I’ll win the ‘Most Helped by Adult’ award, but I think my chances of winning the Derby are medium. Not a good chance of being last, but I don’t think I’ll be first either. I just want to race it for fun, really."
Jacob refused to divulge his exact design for fear of giving away his secrets but he did say that the color scheme will include gray, black, red, yellow and orange. He also candidly admitted he would willingly accept any help his older brother would like to lend for next year’s design and execution.
I had no experience with the Pinewood Derby and thought it was a cute idea the first year Paul brought one home from Boy Scouts and told me he was going to build a race car. Then I actually learned what happens with this whole situation. It basically runs like this: Boy gets car kit at Boy Scout meeting. Boy immediately begins designing this year’s winning model. Kit gets shoved in closet and forgotten for many weeks. The Pinewood Derby date is announced at a meeting. Boy retrieves kit from closet and panics that car will never be finished in time. Father reassures boy that car will be finished. Father buys new tool to achieve perfection on model this year. Father and boy spend long hours the night before the race in the garage sanding, painting and crying (with the possibility of swearing, too).
Although we have purchased some tools, we haven’t gone quite as far as some people with regard to overdoing the Pinewood Derby. A quick Google search on the Internet gave me more than 61,000 Web sites devoted to Pinewood Derby racing. That’s a lot of people with a lot of time on their hands to devote to sending little wooden cars with plastic wheels down a plastic slide.
Some of these sites are just pictures of local winners and some of these sites are, well, a little over the top. When I looked at some of the winning designs featured on these pages, I was more than a little skeptical that boys under the age of 12 had built them. The detail and woodworking involved in some of them were amazing, but I don’t know any fourth-grader who has his own airbrush kit to paint designs of Hawaiian hula girls in the sunset. But maybe I just don’t get out enough. I thought we were impressive knowing that there’s a special kind of lubricant to use. Of course, I can’t tell you what it is, but I can assure you that it is locally and readily available since our cars are always assembled at the last minute.
I have a good feeling this year about the boys’ cars. I think one of them will finish in the top three for racing and I am absolutely positive that one of them will win the "Car That Looks Like it was Made Entirely by a Scout" award. Again.
Rose McGlew is a resident of Robbinsville. Her column appears weekly in The Messenger-Press.