It's Pinewood Derby Day here in Tonawanda, and all the Cub Scouts are anxiously awaiting the start of the races. There are about 5 rounds, and for round 1, each car is raced three times in different lanes to give everyone equal opportunity to win. After each car is raced three times in round one, the software used to record the races reassigns the cars to their tracks and eliminates the lowest-placing cars. So, here we are.
Here are Bill Rapp and "Anthony's Dad", who are the Judges for the evening:
A view down Lane 3 of the track:
Ian's car in the "lot":
The racers:
Let the races begin! Jim, the Pack Leader, first discusses the importance of "having fun":
My eager Scout:
Tragedy strikes! Ian's car FLEW down the track, a hair's breadth behind the car in first. It bounced off the foam at the bottom, went backwards up the track about two feet, skipped the track it was in and fell off the track altogether. The car actually cracked at the wheel, making it impossible for the car to hold the wheel in on its own. It still took second place, though, so I kept sticking the wheel back on, and we kept racing the car for as long as it would go.
The poor little car took second place twice more and entered round two. In round two, she took first place (!), so she progressed to round three. And then the wheel fell off for good. Here she is, lagging in fourth place in lane 3, her final race of the evening:
By the end of the fifth race she ran, the crack in the wood had widened sufficiently so that the wheel was no longer stable.
That's quite okay, though. A good time was had by all!
Congratulations to little Anthony, who took first place this year. He was running around hugging everybody he could reach, and I didn't get his picture. Hopefully I will get his picture at the Blue & Gold Dinner when he gets his trophy.
