It took about 30 minutes for nearly 30 handmade cars to take turns rolling down a nearly 50-foot aluminum track on Jan. 31 at the Cub Scout Pack 18 Pinewood Derby in Winnetka at Winnetka Presbyterian Church.
“It’s a decent turnout for us, pretty good,” said Cubmaster Khalid Ghantous of Winnetka. “We have a lot of great cars, good designs. This is one of my most favorite events.”
The Pinewood Derby, a popular part of the Scouting program, features derby cars that use gravity to move. Cars have a five-ounce weight limit and are crafted from kits.
Each kit has a small block of wood. The wood is cut, and often sanded and painted, adding official axles and wheels.
Some cars are designed for speed, others for looks, and oftentimes for both. Pack 18 winners are recognized for speed and design.
Makers add details like LEGO drivers and pursue animated pop culture themes like Minions. Some crafters add lights such as one car seen at the Winnetka derby with a camping setting. Pack 18 Scouts received their kits in mid December.
STEM or STEAM principles go into a derby car including science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics.
Despite the artistic direction participants use, Ghantous said the design aspect lean more into the physics.
“What we’re looking for, is, as they (cars) come down the track, they want to gain kinetic energy here so that it turns into energy down here (at the end of the track) which pushes it forward,” Ghantous said.
Weights such as coins or putty are added to get the car at five ounces. Sometimes decorations have to be removed. This could disappoint a child who made the car for looks but the five ounce weight limit is required for compliance and competition fairness.
“So their key is to learn how to properly place the extra weight on their car in order to make it fast so that it comes down the track and picks up speed as it gets down the track,” Ghantous said.
Allyson Jacobson of Winnetka took a photo to remember the final derby car made by son Daniel Albrecht, 10, a fifth-grader.
“This is my favorite event in Cub Scouts,” Daniel said.
The girls of Den 5 had their fleet of cars again this year, but 2024 might be the last Pinewood Derby showing by Den 5 with fifth-graders moving on to Troop 20 of Winnetka.
“We’ve got a really strong group of girls that are going to graduate up,” said Jennifer McDill of Winnetka, Den 5 leader. “They’ve formed some great relationships over the last year.”
So who is going to take Jennifer McDill’s place to keep the girls’ Den 5 going as a pack den?
“We don’t know,” McDill said. “It makes me sad. It may lay dormant.”
McDill said because the girls are all reaching fifth grade and moving on, the den can’t continue unless younger girls join.
“We need more girls, we need more parents, we need to replenish this group,” McDill said, adding some younger girls who were interested went instead to an Evanston group.
Fifth grade is the last grade Scouts compete in the Pinewood Derby meaning this was the last derby for McDill’s daughter Emme, 11, a fifth-grader, who said she felt, “kind of sad.” Emme made a derby car designed as an ice cream sundae.
Jennifer McDill said, “It’s a bit bittersweet,” of the final Pinewood Derby shared between mother and daughter.
Clara Lang, 11, a fifth-grader, constructed a car for looks with a mermaid and beach scene.
Of Clara’s last Pinewood Derby, “I’m sad but I’m excited to become a Scout with all these awesome people,” Clara said, pointing to her Den 5 friends.
Anders Wick of Winnetka, the parent of Anya Wick, 10, a fifth-grader, also said she’s sad about this being Anya’s last Pinewood Derby.
“I’m very proud of the whole group,” Anders Wick added of Den 5. “It’s a really nice group of girls and you read about all these issues with bullying and self esteem and social media. And this just strikes me as being the antidote to that whole thing.”
Anya Wick said she made a car for looks over speed and reported feeling, “really sad because this will be the last year we can do Pinewood Derby.”
Newcomer to the Pinewood Derby circuit was Tatum McCauley, 10, a fifth-grader. This year was Tatum’s first and final year of participating in the Pinewood Derby.
“I’m excited but also kind of sad at the same time,” said Tatum, who made a “cartoony” type of race car. “I’m going for speed.”
Of the learning opportunity, Tatum said, “I kind of learned how to make a car. Girls can do anything.”
Tatum’s mother Julie McCauley indicated that Tatum wants to be an engineer. Tatum collaborated with her father Mike McCauley on construction.
“To watch her and her dad build the car was so fun,” Julie McCauley said. “It was fun watching them work together.”
Tatum’s father Mike McCauley said his daughter did a lot of her own research looking into the vector, speed and weight distribution.
“We designed our car specifically to make it faster based on weight distribution and shape and all that stuff and how the wheels are,” Mike McCauley said, recalling the memory with a smile. “We had a blast.”
Pack 18 is looking to sustain and grow the pack plus recruit girls to keep Den 5 active for a new cycle.
Email neicpack18@gmail.com to express interest in joining Pack 18.
Karie Angell Luc is a freelance reporter with Pioneer Press.
