by Greg Fowler and Alan Edwards

On Friday, January 16, 2009 Cub Scout Pack 719 turned the St Patrick School Auditorium into a highly competitive raceway.  The annual Pinewood Derby saw over 30 entries of miniature cars constructed by Cub Scouts with the help of their Dads.  And the competition was intense!

The Pinewood Derby began in 1953 in Manhattan, CA when the Cub Master of Pack 280C convinced his employer to sponsor a miniature version of a Soap Box Derby.  “I wanted to devise a wholesome, constructive activity that would foster a closer father-son relationship and promote craftsmanship and good sportsmanship through competition,” said Don Murphy after the first ever Pinewood Derby in 1953.  The event soon spread through California and then across the country when Boy’s Life published instructions for building a track and cars in the October 1954 issue.

Technology has made race tabulations a bit easier.  Pack 719 races on an aluminum track that is complete with computer sensors at the finish line.  Each car runs a total of four races, once from each lane.  The times of all four races are added together to determine the final rankings.  At the conclusion of the event, the final rankings were announced.  The fastest car of the night belonged to one of the youngest Cub Scouts, Roman Hinton, a first grade Tiger Scout.  Second place was claimed by Spencer Macabare, a third grade Bear Scout.  The third place car belonged to Cash Ubben, a future Tiger Scout.  Fourth place honors went to Nicholas Macabare, a fifth grade Webelo II Scout, and fifth place was awarded to Trey Russell, a fifth grade Webelo II Scout .

The event also has a panel of distinguished judges that determine various artistic awards for the Pinewood Derby cars.  This year the judges included the Pastor of St. Patrick Church, Rev. Josef Vollmer-König; Fran Thompson, Principal of St Patrick School; and Ed Carpenter, former Scoutmaster of Troop 719 and lifelong Scouter.  This panel of judges awarded Best Paint Job to Bear Scout AlexTerrazas, Most Patriotic to Webelo Scout Max Gout, Best Use of Scout Theme to Tiger Scout Matthew Yen, Most Realistic to Bear Scout Jared Zordilla, and Most Original to Wolf Scout Joey Fowler.

“I look forward to this event every year,” said Ed LaBruyere, Cubmaster of Pack 719, “it’s great to see the energy these boys bring to the race!”

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