Archive: Around Town

The black bomber pulls ahead by a fraction of an inch.  The pink jalopy is close behind, but the white streak is pulling ahead.  The crowd goes wild as the lead car wins in a photo finish, confirmed by computer sensors at the finish line as the cars come to a screeching halt.  Is it Watkins Glen?  Nope, it was the Pack 48 Cub Scouts ' Pinewood Derby last Saturday.

"They start out with just a pine block of wood," says Lansing Cub Scouts Treasurer Brenda Powers.  "They can cut them, they can paint them, they put the wheels on them.  They can't weigh more than five ounces."


The Pinewood Derby has been a scouting tradition since Don Murphy created the event for his Manhattan Beach, California cub scout pack in 1953.  Scouts start with identical blocks of pine, plus two axles and four wheels.  Beyond that it's up to their own creativity to come up with a racing car that will look great, go fast, or both.  When cars are checked into the race lead weights are added to even the odds by making each car exactly five ounces.

The event drew a great crowd of cub scouts and their families to the Lansing Elementary School cafeteria, where the track was set up in front of a screen on which computerized race information and results was constantly updated.


"It's a great group of kids," says Cub Master Tom Overton.  "It's fun.  We make it about the kids and try to do that with everything we do."

The track the Lansing pack uses was built by Borg Warner's Thomas Bordoni in 1984.  The company donated it to the local cubs, and Pack 48 has passed it down through the years.  Today it is wired to a computer.  Scouts at the bottom of the track press a button that releases the starting gate and starts the timer.  Sensors at the finish line trigger the exact times for each car, eliminating the need for a camera recording the finish that was used by earlier generations of Lansing scouts.


"We don't do photo finishes any more, because it's all electronically timed," Overton says.  "Most of the times go out to four decimal places, because the races are that close.  This takes a bit of the guesswork out of the mix."

The pack has been using special Pinewood Derby software to time the race for years, and last year bought a computer to run it.  The software lists the builders' names, car numbers, and finish times.

Last year another race was added to the mix.  " We call it a 'Dad's Race' but it's really open to dads, moms,  and siblings of scouts," Powers says.  "I think the dads enjoy it, and you've got little sisters and little brothers.  We award them a trophy."


And it doesn't stop there.  "There is a district Pinewood Derby on February 7th in Johnson CIty," Powers says.  "Anyone in our district is welcome to go to that.  They have it at the Johnson City Mall where they also have a mall show.  Several packs and troops set up tables there.  Our Taughannock District is going to have a mall show at the Ithaca Mall on February 14th.  The top three racers from each den are invited to take their cars to race at the mall."

In addition some of the scout leaders and scouts came back on Sunday to host a special Pinewood Derby for 4H Club members.


Currently the Lansing pack has four dens with a total of almost three dozen cub scouts and 10 adult den leaders.  They participate in numerous activities during the year, but the Pinewood Derby is always a crowd pleaser.


"This is close to my favorite thing that we do in a year," Overton says.  "Of course the camping we do is a blast for the kids.  Last year we camped at Gettysburg.  This summer we're going to have a bike trip along the Erie Canal.  We'll drive up there, then bike and camp along the canal.  The Pinewood Derby is fun for the kids.  They build the car with their parents and they get to race it.  It's fun."

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