MARION — Holmes Street was closed to traffic on Saturday, Nov. 9 as a different type of vehicles took to the streets.

The morning marked the annual soap box derby for Marion Pack 32 scouts.

Eighteen scouts from Marion and Rochester participated in a number of races that started at the top of a hill on Holmes Street and ended in a line of hay bales at the bottom of the hill.

According to scoutmaster Nathan Almeida, the soap box derby is an event that scouts look forward to every year.

“This is my daughter's third year doing it and she talks about it all year long,” said Almeida.

Soap box cars fit one driver and are propelled by gravity.

Almeida said the cars are passed down from year-to-year but kids get the chance to paint their own.

The derby has been going on in Marion for about 40 years, Almeida estimated.

He said that Marion is one of the only troops in the area that still has a soap box derby.

“It’s a tradition,” said Almeida. “It's a town event, everybody is kind of involved in one way or another. There aren't a lot of places you get to do stuff like this.”

Dunkin Donuts donated beverages to the troop for the event and hay bales were donated from a local farm.

For about three hours, scouts faced off one-on-one in races down the hill.

“That was fun!” one scout shouted upon reaching the bottom of the hill.

“I think today went well,” said Almeida. “It was really smooth, the races went fast.”