Archive for Monday, April 30, 2007
Audio slideshow: Scouts rekindle Pinewood Derby
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Hayden Cub Scout Pack 193 Pinewood Derby
Will Green cheers as his derby car crosses the finish line during the Hayden Cub Scout Pack 193 Pinewood Derby on Saturday at Hayden Valley Elementary School.
Taylor Otto watches his derby car race down the track during the Hayden Cub Scout Pack 193 Pinewood Derby on Saturday at Hayden Valley Elementary School.
Grant Pohlman, 6, holds up his first-place plaque for a photo at the Pinewood Derby competition Saturday at Hayden Valley Elementary School.
Hayden Cub Scout Pack 193 members and onlookers watch as derby cars fly down the track Saturday during the Pinewood Derby at Hayden Valley Elementary School. Saturday's derby was the first time the Hayden Cub Scouts have held a derby in about five years.
Steamboat Springs Greg Pohlman says it has been at least five years since Hayden Cub Scout Pack 193 has used its 30-year-old Pinewood Derby racing track.
"The troop kind of dissolved and has been non-existent for a few years," he said.
But Pohlman, along with other Hayden parents, revived the troop and held its first meeting in October 2006. A big part of the Cub Scout experience is the Pinewood Derby. It is a competition that requires scouts to craft small derby cars from a block of wood, attaching wheels and adding weights to optimize the car's potential for speed. Scouts then paint their cars and put them to the test, with dueling races down the long, sloped wooden track.
"It's very classic," Pohlman said. "It's one of the biggest events of the year for Cub Scouts."
To prepare for Saturday's race, Pohlman repainted the track and made a few minor repairs.
He said the lights that signal which car came in first were set up years ago by an engineer who worked in the mines, and they worked flawlessly for Saturday's derby.
"It's good to have the precision because sometimes it's hard to tell who comes in first place," Pohlman said.
Pohlman's 6-year-old son, Grant, took home first-place honors in the derby race with his low-profile car painted with an American flag design.
"I wrote on a piece of paper what design I was going to do," Grant said. "It's a shape that goes fast."
Trenten Mitchell took home the second-place plaque, while Richard Hallenbeck came in third.
The other six racers were Garrett Pohlman, Taylor Otto, Tyler Hockaday, William Green and Justin Falk. Justin's sister, Nocona Falk also raced a car. Taylor's father, John Otto, assisted Greg Pohlman in running the derby.
Scout dad Dennis Hallenbeck said he is glad the derby Scout tradition and the Hayden Cub Scout Pack 193 have started up again. They teach his son about helping others, community involvement and other principles that come from the Scout Oath such as "to do my best, to do my duty."
"You can do fun things in the pack," Taylor Otto said.
The Boy Scouts of America organization was founded in 1910. According to the organization's Web site, the mission is to prepare young people to make ethical and moral choices during their lifetimes.
"It's something for them to do," Hallenbeck said. "I support him all I can."
Greg Pohlman said keeping the Hayden Scouts going hinges on getting the parents involved. They also are looking for additional kids to join the pack.
A marshmallow roast is planned for May 23 to introduce kindergartners to the pack.
Camping and fishing trips are being planned, including a weekend Father's Day camping trip in the Flat Tops Wilderness.





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