Fort Benning Cub Scouts host Pinewood Derby

FORT BENNING, Ga., (Feb. 4, 2015) -- After a loud and thunderous countdown, they were off. On Jan. 24, a total of 43 cars representing the four dens of Cub Scout Pack 27, held their annual Pinewood Derby race on Fort Benning.

"The experience for both my boys was great," said Margaret Calo, mother of first-year Scouts second-grader Joel Calo and third-grader Adrian Calo. "Both my sons were really excited about building their cars with their father."

"It was awesome to see my car race," Joel said.

The Pinewood Derby is a yearly event where Cub Scouts of all ages build race cars out of a single block of wood, four nails and four wheels. Races are held in heats with three cars racing at a time. Cars are placed at the top of an inclined wooden track at a standstill and race down to a finish line unassisted.

For Charlie Allen, a Tiger Cub Scout, this was his first Derby race.

"The best thing I liked about the Pinewood Derby is designing and coloring my car," Charlie said. "You also get to race against your friends."

This year, Tigers (first grade), Wolves (second grade), Bears (third grade), and Webelos (fourth grade), raced by dens with the top three finishers from each den racing in the Pack championship.

Multiple heats with intense photo finishes proved again that the Scouts creativity and craftsmanship were firing on all pistons. The designs and graphics resembled everything from Legos and superheroes to military vehicles.

"This is his first Pinewood Derby and he was really engaged in the process," said Ashley Allen, Charlie's mom. "All of the kids are really engaged and having a lot of fun. Two of the most important things he got out of this were sportsmanship and working with his dad on his car."

"The Pinewood experience is an invaluable process," said Lt. Col. David Guido, Cubmaster for the pack. "It fits perfectly with teaching the kids the importance of sportsmanship and allows them with a parent or mentor the opportunity to work on a fun project together."

Sponsored by the Boy Scouts of America, the Pinewood Derby started in 1953 by Cubmaster Donald Murphy from Pack 280C of Manhattan Beach, California. Murphy wanted to have an activity where Scouts and a parent would build a car together.

The idea was for the Scout to design the shape of the car, carve the wood and paint the car with adult supervision. He believed this experience would instill confidence and teach the Scout new skills of craftsmanship, teamwork and sportsmanship.

After two hours of fast and furious racing, first, second and third place finishers were in victory lane.