Pinewood Survival Guide!

2014 Pinewood PatchSaturday, January 25th is the Pinewood Derby!  This event is probably our most popular of the year – simply because it is so much fun for the scouts.  There’s something for everyone, fun cars, fast cars, movies about cars and lots of prizes.

Design Awards:  This year, scouts will vote for the cars in each den based on the criteria listed below.  Scouts will vote only for the cars in their specific den, so there will be a total of 25 design winners.

  • Funniest
  • Most Creative
  • Scout-Inspired
  • Fastest-Looking
  • Coolest
Pinewood Derby Cars from 2010
Pinewood Derby Cars from 2010

Tentative Schedule

  • 9:00 to 10am:  Final setup & preparations.
  • 10am to noon:  Check-in.  During this time, scouts can test their cars on the track and make final adjustments.  However, after cars are officially checked-in for dimensions & weight with pack leaders, they will not be permitted to handle their cars.  The pack will have a work station set up for scouts & parents to make changes to cars in order to comply with derby rules
  • noon to 12:45:  Voting for den design.  Each scout will be given ballots for voting on the five design categories.  Voting will begin after all cars are registered and end at 12:45.
  • Lunch:  Girl scout troop 657 will be running a concession stand in the downstairs social hall.  They are planning many tasty & nutritious food items including a selection of fresh-baked treats.
  • 12:45 to 1:00pm:  Summer Camp Presentation; folks from the Des Plaines Valley Council will be on-hand to cover changes to the 2014 summer camps, including significant cost reductions.
  • 1:00pm to 3:00pm :  Racing!  We will be racing by rank, so starting with Tigers and finishing with the Webelos.  We’ll announce the design winners before each rank’s race.  After each rank has raced, we’ll announce the fastest cars by rank.
    • After all ranks have raced, we’ll have a championship round.  The two fastest cars from each rank will qualify, then the next six fastest cars overall.
  • 3:00pm:  Cleanup.  This usually takes less than 45 minutes, and we’ll gladly take all the help we can get.  We will be especially focused on making sure the gym is in pristine condition after the derby.

Volunteers

Since the Pinewood Derby is the biggest event of the year, we will ask each family to have an adult help with one specific task.  We will circulate an online signup genius invite to all pack 24 families.  Specific tasks are listed below.

  • Setup:  Final setup & preparations
  • Movie Room:  We run the movie room to keep younger siblings and non-racing scouts occupied.  The movie room runs from 10am to noon,  and again during racing from 1:00pm to 3:00pm.
  • Cleanup:  This involves moving tables, putting away the track, and cleaning the floor.

More details will be coming soon, email your pack leader or pack24riverside@gmail.com with any questions.

 

 

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