Pinewood Derby Time

For those of you lucky moms who have never experienced cub scouts, the Pinewood Derby is perhaps THE scouting event of the year. Dads and boys get to work together to build the most creative, fastest car they can. Then we meet at the track. 

After being in cubs several years, first as a bear leader, now as cubmaster I am still overwhelmed at how crazy this night can be. But oh, the FUN!!

We have had a tank, race cars of all sorts but this year Keegan wanted an alligator car. He worked all weekend with his dad. Cutting sanding, painting, trimming, painting, sanding, adding wheels and graphite and just the right amount of weights in the right spot to make his car zoom!
This was the finished product.

Not too bad huh! Keegan did the paint job himself. I thought it turned out great. I love the eye!

When the boys come their car can only be 5 oz. They have to weigh in and then the car is off limits. We had a pit crew to help with last minute adjustments or adding of graphite or weight as needed. (Sorry, I thought I got a picture of them at work but guess not).

Once the car was weighed in they were placed on a plate with the boys name and a number.

The number just helped to set up the racing brackets. We were nearly ready to start. I found checkered napkins and spread them out in the center of the table. Years ago I made checkered flags, we made sure to put them to use again this year.

The derby is increadibly competetive. We like healthy competition but also want to acknowledge all the boys for their participation. Each boy recieved a certificate and ribbon.

The winners recieved the perfect oil to treat their engines. ;-)

I was quickly running out of time looking for last minute additions and the perfect trophies. Walking through the automotive section I spied these oils. They were a bit more than I had planned on spending but they were perfect! Besides the cold weather was messing with my paint job sitting at home. 

I simply sprayed a matchbox car gold, silver, and bronze and glued them to the appropriate oil bottle. 

I love how it turned out. The dads thought it was ingenious.

Then it was race time. We had a great track that had an electronic sensor at the finish line so we knew just who had placed.

The boys had such a great time. Everyone got to race numerous times, after all that's what the night was for- racing!

In the end we narrowed it down to 3 winners. I am proud to say Keegan came in 4th. 1st place belonged to a young man whose had several older brothers. Needless to say, they had experience on their side. 2nd place went to a Bear cub whose dad is great, and very competitive. They wanted to be sure to place. 3rd place ironically went to a young man whose car was significantly lacking. He showed up with a painted block. My sweet hubby was manning the pit crew and spent the bulk of his time placing wheels, weights and lubricating the wheels with graphite. I told him he did a good job since that car beat out his own son's. lol

It was a fun night for all. And I think everyone went away happy.

Now on to the Blue and Gold celebration. These are the neckerchief slides I made. Check back tomorrow for the how to on these cuties!