Pinewood Derby Event Coordination
August Duties
Reserve the Hollymead School cafeteria and auditorium for Friday Night from 6 – 10 pm for track setup and Saturday from 11:00am - 6:00pm. Contact Nancy Brase in the school office to make the reservations.
November Duties
Attend Pack Committee Meeting for that month
Determine trophies to be awarded. Below are typical examples.
Class I (Tigers, Wolves, Bears) – First, Second, and Third place for speed. Four to Five non-speed categories (e.g. most creative, original, scout-oriented, funny, realistic, etc.).
Class II (Webelos I and II) – First, Second, and Third place for speed. Four to Five non-speed categories (e.g. most creative, original, scout-oriented, funny, realistic, etc.).
Confirm school reservations with Nancy Brase in the Hollymead office.
Determine budget
Event location (Hollymead school is ~$50 – $100)
Car kits (~$5 each)
Food – See previous food coordinator (will need to recruit a volunteer for this role for the upcoming event) or treasurer. Food includes hot dogs, buns, chips, and drinks.
Extra decorations – Include one or two derby signs, derby banners used for controlling people traffic flow and to separate the boys from the track. Many / most of the decorations can be re-used from previous years. Decorations are stored in the pack shed at Hollymead. New decorations can be purchased from this website: www.derbychamp.com
Pit Station Supplies – Check to see what the pack already has in the shed. Supplement with added weights, glue, spare wheels, tape, etc.
Trophies – Cost is ~$7 - $10 per trophy. Trophies can be purchased from one of the websites below.
Drivers License Photos – See previous photo coordinator (will need to recruit a volunteer for this role).
Update Rules online and print out copy from the Pack 206 website, one copy per scout.
Purchase and pass out car kits and rules at November Pack Meeting. One car kit per pack member is funded by Pack. Car kits can be purchased from the Charlottesville Scout Shop in Seminole Square or online at: www.scoutstuff.org.
Attend the Pack Meeting and review the details of the derby (date / time, procedures, rules, etc.).
Encourage boys to start working on their cars.
Clarify that Webelos should be creating their cars without adult help, while Tigers, Wolves, and Bears can have help.
Emphasize to race participants that no additional cars can be added after the race begins. It is critical to arrive early enough to register for the race! This is due to how the software is set up – once the heats are established they can’t be easily modified.
Pass out the car kits to the den leaders.
Test track to ensure everything is working and determine if race software should be updated (last updated in 2011). Load software on a laptop that will be used during race day.
A projector is needed to display the race results during the event. Hollymead can provide a projector if needed – contact Nancy Brase in the office. The Hollymead auditorium has a built-in screen on the stage.
Check to ensure we have regulation boxes to test for car height and width to ensure cars will work with our track.
Invite Boy Scouts Troops to help. See pack committee chair for names and contact information for local Boy Scout troop leaders. Boy Scouts will help in the pit with car modification, will help with the race running, and will be the judges for the non-speed trophies.
Get volunteers for below stations by recruiting at the November, December, and January pack meetings. A sample sign-up sheet can be found on the Pack 206 website.
Registration Station – Three people to sign everyone in, put numbered stickers on their cars, weigh the car, and check the car dimensions with the sizing box. If the car is ready a boy scout will take it to the racing table on the stage. If the car is not ready the scout will take the car to the pit station.
Pit Station – Three people to help get cars ready - will need a scale, weights, crazy glue, graphite, car sizing box, tack hammer, extra car parts, drill, dremel, hot glue gun. Once a volunteer has confirmed the car is the proper size and weight (and still has the numbered sticker attached) a boy scout will take the car to the racing table on the stage.
Racing Station – Two people to organize the cars as they come in and race the cars.
Computer Station – Two people who know the computer program and have tested it with the actual projector well in advance.
Food Station – One person to lead scouts in food sales. Typically a Webelos Den with Boy Scout help.
Photo Station – One person to take photos of the Scouts with their cars to make drivers licenses to pass out at the Blue and Gold.
Setup and Clean – Lots of people to help. 6 – 8pm to help setup track on Friday night and clean-up on Saturday.
Optional Pre-Race Activity – Organize an activity to occupy the cub scouts between registration and the start of the race.
December Duties
Attend Pack Committee Meeting for that month to provide planning update and discuss any problems.
Make sure to order trophies. Two possible websites:
Suggested trophy engraving, done by trophy provider, is below:
Line 1: Award Name (e.g. First Place Class I)
Line 2: 2011 Pinewood Derby
Line 3: Cub Scout Pack 206
Attend the Pack Meeting and review the details of the derby (date / time, procedures, rules, etc.).
Encourage everyone to start working on their cars.
Clarify that Webelos should be creating their cars without adult help, while Tigers, Wolves, and Bears can have help.
Emphasize to race participants that no additional cars can be added after the race begins. It is critical to arrive early enough to register for the race! This is due to how the software is set up – once the heats are established they can’t be easily modified.
January Duties
Attend Pack Committee Meeting for that month.
Send e-mail out to the Pack reminding them of date / time of event and the importance of getting there early to register their cars. Registration begins 1.5 hours prior to the race.
Confirm volunteer duties.
Confirm Boy Scout troops that are helping
Confirm with Station volunteers
Confirm MC – typically Cubmaster
Ensure you have the trophies.
Friday Night Set-Up
Set-up is typically from 6 – 8 pm and six to eight volunteers are needed.
Primary tasks:
Set up and test the track, software, and projector.
Set up photo station as first stop.
Set up registration station as second stop.
Set up pit station as third station. Make sure someone can bring in a hot glue gun, dremel, and electric drill, and a general assortment of tools for event day.
Set up chairs for adult spectators.
Hang flag banners around track and to direct the traffic flow through registration.
Hang signage at individual stations.
Pictures are included at the Pack 206 website illustrating the set-up.
Event Day
Volunteers arrive at noon.
Food coordinator sets up Food Station.
Registration begins at 12:30pm.
Race begins at 2:00pm.
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Cub Scouts Belong to Packs and Dens
As a Cub Scout, you will be part of your own pack.
The pack is divided into smaller groups called dens. Each den has about six to eight boys. All of the Cub Scouts in your den are in the same grade and may even go to the same school.
The Cub Scout pack belongs to a church, a school, or some other group of people in your community or neighborhood. This group makes sure your pack has good adult leaders, a place to meet, and exciting things to do. The group gets help from the Boy Scouts of America, which is part of Scouting around the world.
Cub Scouts Do Things and Go Places
Have you been to the local police station and talked to the policemen on duty? Or visited the fire station and sat in the driver's seat of the pumper truck? Or visited the local TV station and sat in the news anchor's chair? These are some of the places you might go with your den or pack.
You might also build a pinewood derby car and race it on the track, build a sailboat or trimaran and race it in the raingutter regatta, or build a spaceship and race it to the stars in the pack space derby.
Cub Scouts Earn Awards
Each time you complete an accomplishment or learn a new skill, you will be rewarded. Sometimes the reward is a loop for your belt, a pin, or a patch. Sometimes it is a smile on your parents' faces to see you grow and learn.