Cub Scouts face off at annual Pinewood Derby
Feb 3, 2024
Four scouts watch eagerly as their cars move closer to the finish line. Photos by Brendan Cassidy
Each car raced eight times, twice in each of the four lanes.
Kevin Thompson addresses the audience before the start of the event.
Four cars at the start of the track.
Some races went down to the wire.
Participants look on at an ongoing race.
One scout celebrates the performance of his car with a fist pump,
Scouts waited in the bleachers for their name to be called to race.
Smiles and laughs were plentiful at Rochester Memorial School on Saturday, Feb. 3.
ROCHESTER — After spending weeks designing and manufacturing small wooden cars, Rochester Cub Scout Pack 30 and Marion Cub Scout Pack 32 finally put their creations to the test at the annual Pinewood Derby on Saturday, Feb. 3 at Rochester Memorial School.
“This event shows the scouts how to build cars,” said Rochester Pack 30 Committee Chairman Kevin Thompson. “They paint them themselves and they build them themselves.”
“I absolutely love this event — I have been in scouting my whole life,” said Thompson, who was a member of Pack 30 as a kid. “Kids are so focused now on technology and games — they don’t hang out with their parents and other kids and do stuff like when I was a kid.”
Thompson said the event can also help scouts discover something that they might want to do as a trade in the future.
Apart from seeing the smiling faces of children while their cars are racing, Thompson enjoys telling jokes over the microphone that only the parents at the event will understand.
According to Thompson, most scouts used carpentry rooms and tools at Old Colony Regional Vocational Technical High School to build their cars. Thompson also teaches electronics and engineering at Old Colony.
Each scout made a car that participated in eight races. The five fastest cars from each pack are moving on to the regional derby at Rochester Memorial School in March.
From Marion Pack 30, Henry Kanaly, Jack LeFavor, James Whipple, Will Kanaly and Charles Whinnem qualified for regionals.
Bryan Lee, Georgia Duggan, Ben Smart, William Boucher and Mason Rivera from Rochester Pack 30 are moving on.
Henry Kanaly’s car “Jamming Giraffe” finished the day with the fastest time, averaging 2.36 seconds per race.
Thompson said that around 125 cars made by scouts will compete at the regional tournament next month.
Casey Cash, 15, is a Senior Patrol Leader for the scouts. He and other older scouts spent the day helping out with the running of the races.
“I just love helping out,” said Cash. “It’s fun to see the kids have a good time.”
