Derby Talk

Merry Christmas* to all,
And to all, a good race!

Peace Pineheads!





*insert holiday preference of your choice -- no offense intended to anyone!

Same to you TDean, and all pineheads out there.

Mike

Aw...I thought you were going to continue with a cool Pinewood Derby poem. You know...somthing like, "Visions of District Champion dancing in his head" . Merry Christmas, all.

You mean, like this one? (Found in several places on the web, without attribution.)

'Twas the night before Pinewood;
His car still needed lead.
He had done his very best
When his Mom yelled "Get to bed!"

As he climbed under his blanket
His car wasn't ready to race.
The Pinewood Derby was tomorrow;
There was a frown on his face.

Just as his eyes had closed
He heard something spin:
It was old Scout Saint Nick
Coming to help him win!

As he peeked from under the covers,
Scout Saint Nick started to drill
To help his car speed
On its way down the hill.

He splashed on some paint
And stuck on some wheels.
He put the car on its stand
And clicked his boot heels.

This woke the young Scout;
He had a smile on his face!
A happy Pinewood to all,
And to all a good race!

That poem was excellent! Was this an original poem?

No. Like I said, I found several versions on the web. None of them attributed the source.

Our Wolf Cubs used this as a skit two years back at our Packs' derby. They were nervous at first but it turned out great. They made the scenery and costumes (except for St. Nick's). Everyone loved it!

Da Graphite Kid

We have a strict rule that there's to be no advancements, skits, etc. at our Derby. The kids are VERY antsy and they just want the Derby. The whole thing ends up taking nearly 2 hours as it is.

We used to schedule an hour for registration, an hour for a potluck and entertainment/program (during which the design judges inspected the cars), and two hours for the derby (hoping to use only an hour and a half).

The last couple years, we've had the cars registered and impounded on the previous Wednesday night, and the judges have inspected the cars at leisure sometime Thursday or Friday. That gives us a lot more flexibility on Saturday (derby night). We still have a potluck, but we no longer have to prolong the end of the potluck artificially if the judges aren't done yet. Plus, we no longer force the judges to miss the potluck, or to eat by themselves before/after the main potluck.

Since we never know how many Cub Scouts will actually show up to race and since we also have to borrow the facility in which we race; some pre-race activity is in order. We are limited in what we can do but we do try to avoid presenting badges, etc., but will do so if the boys have earned them.

Da Graphite Kid