Archive: Around Town

Lansing Pack 48 Cub Scouts held their annual Pinewood Derby at the RC Buckley elementary school cafeteria on Saturday January 25th.  Thirty seven excited boys arrived with the cars they had made from a kit containing a wood block, four wheels and four nails (for axles); the kit they received at a Pack 48 meeting back in the middle of December.  The boys designed, shaped and decorated their cars at home or during ‘pit day’ in a ‘one-stop shop’ held at the Middle School wood shop on January 18th.

At 10 am on Derby day, the Cubs started to arrive with their cars to have them weighed, checked for appropriate dimensions and lubricated.  They were eager to race their cars and show off their artistic merit.  Racing started at 10.30 with the youngest members of the Pack, the Tiger Cubs (first graders).  Each car raced in each of the five lanes of the track, so the boys enjoyed the many heats, each of which lasts for around three and half seconds!


There was tension in the air as the announcements were made: “Third place Kegyn Golden, second place Ciano Lama and the winner Asher Benson”! 

Next up was the wolf den (2nd graders).  The boys eagerly anticipated the heat in which they were able to press to start button to begin the race!  The bronze medal was awarded to Domo Ronsvalle, silver to Scott Coonrod and the winner of the Wolf den was Devin Richardson.


During a break in the racing, each Cub Scout was asked to vote for their favorite car in each of the dens.  Many spectators took advantage of the break to buy tasty snacks and lunch foods provided by Kids in Action Now.  The proceeds from the sale went to Nothing But Nets, a charity supported by the Boy Scouts of America that sends mosquito nets to protect families in Africa.

Artistic medals were awarded to Tiger den winner Kegyn for his ‘Minecraft creeper’ car, to the Wolf den winner Stephen Geise’s for his ‘Arrow of Light’ car, to the Bear den’s Luis Mauleon III for his ‘Lego boat and trailer’ and to Elliott Green of the Webelos den for his ‘dynamite’ car.

The racing resumed with the Bear den (third graders).   Electronic timing equipment was used to measure the race times down to a 1,000th of a second.  In third place there was a tie between Harrison Brown and Lucas Jackson when both cars raced an average of 3.514 seconds!  Zackary Sperger’s car came in second and Nick Scanlon won the racing for the Bear den.  Last to race were the Webelos Scouts (boys in fourth and fifth grades).  Kent Yoest won the event, with Kaydin Golden in second followed by Jaiden Gunther in the bronze medal place.


The last set of races was the Pack finals.  The den winners and the fastest second place car went forward to the finals.  Again, each car raced in all five lanes of the Pinewood Derby track.  The races were close, but at the finish of the racing, the winner of the 2014 Pack 48 Pinewood Derby was the second place Webelos den contestant, Kaydin with an average race time of 3.431 seconds.  Kent took second (3.432 seconds) and Devin third (3.439 seconds).

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