Seriously, I think the most anticipated and the most dreaded part of cub scouts here in the United States is the pinewood derby. (The boys are supposed to make their own cars from a kit and then race them. Unfortunately, quite often the Dad's end up doing most of it.)
It is so much work and every boy is just sure his car is going to win but not every car can be a winner and it's so disappointing when they're not. Plus, not every boy has a dad with computerized power tools and an Engineering degree.
But I think our Cub Master came up with the perfect solution.
The boys built their cars the night of the Derby, at the church where our pack meetings are held 1 1/2 hours before the races started.
Brilliant!
Why have I not heard of this before?
The boys were given a paper with 9 car designs they could choose from or they could draw their own design on the grid provided on the paper. Then the papers were handed back in about a week or so before the derby. Three men in our neighborhood cut all of the cars out then the night of the derby the boys sanded, decorated and applied weights and wheels.
Then the races were on.
I've never seen so many close races before in my life. All of the boys were so happy to see who won and there was not one single tear shed that night. It was great!
Doodle's car was awesome and he won the "Best Design" award. He was so happy. So were we.
I can honestly say that I highly recommend this approach to the Pinewood Derby. If you think you'd like to try it out and would like some more in depth information about the way it was run feel free to email me and I'll do my best to help you out.
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