Gentlemen – start your engines!
The pack 24 Pinewood Derby is a week away. Be sure to have the finishing touches on your wonderful cars to be ready to race next weekend. If you’d like to get some expert help, the good folks at the LaGrange BSA service center are having a PINEWOOD DERBY CHAMP CAMP this coming Saturday January 17th from 10am to 2pm. A pinewood derby consultant will be available to offer advice on how to make the car faster. A least one associate will be cutting out cars on a band saw for those who have neither the time nor the resources to get their scouts cars cut out. The La Grange Scout Shop as all the items you need to really detail your car. This is an excellent way to spend a Saturday morning to make cars faster for the race. You can call the scout shop or see shop associate for more details. The address is 811 Hillgrove in LaGrange.
Parents – You should have received an email invitation to sign up for one session during derby day. We need parents to chaperone the movie room for 1/2 hour, because even though racing is fun & exciting, it doesn’t hold the attention span of all scouts & younger siblings. If we don’t have enough volunteers, we’ll close the movie room… We also need help with cleanup at the end of the race.
- Here is a link to the signup shifts: http://www.signupgenius.com/go/9040E4CADAA2DA20-pinewood1
Other factoids you need to know about the Pinewood Derby include:
Registration begins at 10am and ends at noon. We can’t register any latecomers after registration closes or else we will not be able to begin our race on time. When you register, you will be given the Pinewood Patch and ballots to vote for best car designs. Be sure to arrive early so your scout can test his car on the track and make any final modifications. Note that once your son’s car has been registered, only our volunteer boy scouts from Troop 24 will be handling the cars, this helps reduce the risk of mishaps.
Lunch: Girl Scout Troop 657 is returning to run the lunch cafe in the Social Hall. They have a very reasonably priced menu with many tasty items. Be sure to visit them so your scout doesn’t run out of fuel when it comes time for racing.
The folks from the newly created “Pathway to Adventure Council” will give a short presentation about this year summer camp options which will begin at 12:45pm.
The Derby begins at 1pm. Racing will be conducted by rank, so Tigers are first followed by Wolves, Bears, Webelos I and finally Webelos II are last. We hope to have all racing completed by about 3pm.
The race is a lot of fun and we invite you to bring the whole family to the Derby. Please remember that Boy Scout Policy is that all parents must accompany their scouts to these types of events, so if you scout is going to participate in the derby, one parent must stay for the duration.
Here are answers to some commonly asked questions.
- Do we have to stay for the whole Derby? The short answer is “No.” Be sure to check in between 10am in noon and then have your scout on hand prior to the opening flag ceremony at 1pm. Check in should take you no more than 15 minutes, especially if you arrive prior to the absolute deadline of 12 noon. You are free to come & go, but remember at least one parent needs to be on hand while your scout participates in the derby.
- I don’t think I can check in by noon – can I please check in late? Absolutely not. Sorry, but the race officials will have to prepare the racing software based on the check in results, and also tabulate votes so racing can begin promptly at 1pm. If you do not check in on time, your scout will not race. As a friend or neighbor to help you if you anticipate any issues.
- My car number has two of the same digits (i.e. 22 / 33 / 44) – what do I do? Be sure to use the number stickers from your pinewood kit on your scout’s car. Please bring along spare numbers to donate to the pit crew, so we have some extras for scouts that have two of the same digit.
- What is the maximum weight? Five ounces as determined by the official scales at check-in. If your scout’s car is in excess of the limit, you will have to remove weight. Pro tip #1 – don’t put weights on the bottom of your car… it can get caught on the track and ruin your scout’s race. Pro tip #2 weigh your car at home and leave it a bit under five ounces, you can add a bit more weight in the pit crew area before you officially check in.
- I saw some special equipment and parts at the Scout Store in LaGrange, can I use these? Yes, but only if these are officially licensed BSA parts. As stipulated in our rules, you can not use any non-BSA sanctioned parts. Our rules are available here for your review.