Cub Scout Pack 109, Mayor Rory Hoskins and members of the Kiwanis Club of Forest Park gathered at Howard Mohr Community Center April 6 for the scouts’ annual pinewood derby.
When asked how long the derby had been going on, Drew DePriest, an adult leader for Pack 109 of five years, answered, “for as long as I can remember. I want to say this is easily the 10th year.” DePriest has led the same core group of four children, now fifth graders, since his son, Henry, started scouts in kindergarten.
Cub Scout Pack 109 is made up of multiple dens, divided by grade, from kindergarten Lion Cub Scouts through fifth grade Webelos. Around 25 boys and girls participate in Forest Park’s only Cub Scout pack.
On April 6, each den had its own pinewood derby race, and the winner moved on to the all-pack final. Drew Salczynski, a fourth grader, had the fastest car in Cub Scout Pack 109. His car won the race in 2.837 seconds, the average of five runs down the track.
All pack members constructed their cars from a kit sold by the Boy Scouts of America, which includes a 7.4-inch-long block of pinewood, four plastic wheels and four nails. Cub Scouts were allowed to paint and decorate their cars however they wanted.
“The biggest rule is the car has to weigh less than five ounces,” DePriest said of the derby vehicles, which are weighed before the race.
The day before the pinewood derby, DePriest set up the five-lane, 40-foot-long track inside the Community Center.
Derby times used to be recorded manually in a spreadsheet. But there’s been a recent change to a more modern way of recording race winners.
“I found that there were other Cub Scout dens around the country who built software to help run the race. So, I thought, ‘Let’s borrow from what others are doing and see if it works well,’” said DePriest, who works in technology for his day job. “Now, I run everything from my laptop. It connects to a timer on the track, so when we start the cars at the top of the hill, this timer at the end of the race knows who came in what place.”
Last year, Cub Scout Pack 109 set up a camera at the track’s finish line and hooked it up to a television in the room. The software that DePriest used then showed replays for close races.
In past years, the pack has placed pillows and jackets at the end of the track to soften the blow of the cars, since they don’t have breaks.
“We do have some that spin out and jump the track and drop some wheels,” DePriest said. To address those cars, the pack set up a pit stop table, where a volunteer parent or older sibling is ready with glue, tools and “whatever else we need to do to make a last-minute fix when somebody pops a tire.”
When the pack was done racing, there was a “big kids race,” DePriest said, where older siblings and parents raced their own pinewood cars to see how certain mechanics affect performance. “There are all kinds of strategies around lighter versus heavier, where do you put your weight?”
Every Cub Scout received a participation patch for their vest, and kids who didn’t win for the fastest pinewood derby car were in the running to receive one of four superlative awards: Most scout pride, funniest car, most realistic car and kid’s choice.
There was a tie between Gabriel Gutierrez and Henry DePriest for most scout pride, and one between Nolan Martin and Desmond Gutierrez for most realistic. Martin also won the kid’s choice award for his green car called “Skullcracker,” while Samson Reyes won funniest car for “Squidmobile,” an ode to Squidward from the show “SpongeBob SquarePants.”
In the past, pack members decorated their pinewood derby cars like cartoon characters or superheroes. “Bluey has been popular for a number of years,” DePriest said. Every year, the first car down the track is in honor of Kiwanis, Cub Scout Pack 109’s sponsor. In previous years, that car has been painted like spaghetti and meatballs, a nod to Kiwanis’ pasta dinners, and a peanut for the organization’s Peanut Day.
“They get really creative, and we use it as it means to help them learn a little bit about the science of how gravity works and make things go faster,” DePriest said of the pinewood derby. “But also, more importantly for us, it’s about sportsmanship.”
The pack had a meeting a few weeks ago about how to support each other, whether their car wins or loses, DePriest said.
“We’re trying to help them learn at an earlier age how to win graciously and how to support each other as we go through the competition of life.”