My Newby thoughts on encouraging attendance:
Every year at our November Pack meeting we hand out car kits to the boys to "kick off" the season. This year we will be including with the kits both a set of the Council rules (our pack sticks to them exactly
) and a flyer for workshops (our first ever that I know of) that I will conduct in December.
Workshop may be a misnomer in that these events will be geared to adults that will be helping the boys build their cars, and no actual construction will be taking place at the workshop. From past experience, it seems most of our parents can gain access to tools through friends, relatives, etc. but could benefit from a "pinehead download".
I haven't figured out the file posting thing yet, but here is a description of the workshop flyer:
Pinewood Derby Workshop for Adults
Who: Adult Pinewood Derby “coaches” of Pack __ Cub Scouts
Where: Local School Facility
When: Saturday 10am to Noon, Dec __ and/or Dec __
Why: Improve cars, participation, and overall experience
What:
Review local and Council rules & race format
Review basic construction steps for sample car shown above (picture on flyer)
Discuss tools, supplies & where to obtain them
Identify resources for construction techniques and help
Share firsthand experiences – good and otherwise
Question & Answers – open forum
At the bottom I included a request for their contact information (in case dates change) and some questions about their experience level to give me a sense of where to begin.
If the need presents itself for a "working" workshop, I will probably end up converting my 2nd scheduled date to that format.
p.s. In case you're wondering, my boys did very well with their cars last year (1st and 2nd in pack, 1st at Council - thanks to stuff we learned from MaxV, Stan, etc...). After a couple of subtle "hints" from the other dads it occured to me that some workshops were in order. Wish me luck!