pinewood pet peeve

[Eamonn]

Boy Oh Boy, did I miss the point!!

I thought that the boy was there without his parent.

I don't like big books of rules, because of situations like Hunt described.

I think who ever is in charge of the race (The Pack Committee?) Should treat each case on it's merits.

Eamonn

[EagleInKY]

Eamonn - While I'm not a fan of the big book of rules either, judging each on a case by case basis leaves you open for criticism and second-guessing. I just spent several hours this weekend with a couple of parents that were upset over some decisions that I have made. All of them were perfectly legitimate, within the bounds of the BSA and in accordance with BSA policy and our troop's practice. Nevertheless, when it comes to a gray area, people will question it if they feel like they've been treated unfairly.

 

Hunt - I think your solution might work. It's a nice balance between hard-nosed rules and being understanding of situations that cannot be helped.

[cajuncody]

I think I found the reason for the insanity. It turns out that Little Johnny is actually the COR's son. If he gets special treatment on this is he getting it on advancement? As I said before, I have never seen him at an activity or an advancement.

Kristi

[dan]

A possible suggestion for next year, this is going to raise some eyebrows.

Many years ago, when my son was in Cubs, We had the boys come up and get their cars from the staging table, and to stand behind the starter at the track. Once they give the car to the starter they would go to the end of the track to watch the race. The finish line person would take the cars back to the staging table. We would have the scouts get the cars right before the previous race was started. We put up with a lot of criticism for doing this, but none from the scouts. We felt that it helped with keeping the scouts more involved with the race. We heard the complaints, that they may modify a car while doing this,(it never happened) that the scout may drop the car and damage it (this did happen), but the scout where allot happy, than just sitting next to the track and watching, something about keeping them busy! We usually had around 70 cars racing.

[Eamonn]

I agree with what Hunt wrote. I have no argument with it what so ever.

But add it to the Big Book Of Rules and let's look at the gray area

Hunt posted:

the Scout is EXPECTED to be present to race. If he absolutely can't be present, he should arrange with his Den (not the CM) for his car to be raced by proxy.

Hunt had a very good reason why his little fellow was unable to be there.

The word absolutely is open to all sorts of interpretations.

So we would take it to some other level.

A Doctors excuse? I don't know about your Doctor? As a rule it takes three days to see our Doctor, by which time most kids are feeling better.

At the end of the day it comes down to a judgment call anyway!!

Rules that will cover every gray area just get bigger and bigger and more cumbersome.

If someone is not playing this game as it should be played, it falls on us the leaders to show that we are playing the game by the Scout Oath and Law. If we use this as our guide, no matter what we will sleep well at night.

If someone is in the wrong they are just wrong we don't need tomes of rules to prove that they are wrong.

Eamonn

[Laurie]

Dan, that has worked well for this pack too. The boys go to the end of the track, though behind the safety tape, and they are handed their cars to take back to the starting point. They love it, and there have been no complaints. No accidents either, but they are cautioned that they need to be careful because if the car breaks they might not be able to fix it. The pack has allowed fixes. The focus is on fun, and the more involvement by the boys, the happier everyone is.

[acco40]

I've seen kids handle the cars - an drop/damage them. However, I've seen adults do the same and I'll tell you what, I sure would not want to be the adult who has to explain to the Tiger Cub why I dropped his car!

 

What I noticed about first year Cubs (primarily Tiger or Wolf) is that the PWD is sometimes the first real competition that they experience. In concrete terms, some car comes in first, some car comes in last. Many are not prepared to handle that. My son "expected" to win as a Tiger and he did. I did NOT like his attitude. Did I do some of the work - yes. I also had him do much of the work (polishing the axles was his duties). The next year was similar - with him taking on more responsibilities. The next year, he didn't want to to the tedious work (filing wheels, polishing axles, weighting, etc.) but still expected to win. He came in close to last and was flabberghasted! He finally learned that you get out what you put in to car. A good lesson to learn - the earlier the better.

[johndaigler]

I'm with Hunt. Expect Cubs to be there, then let DLs accept or deny permission to miss the event (while the car is raced by proxy).

 

jd

 

Sorry you have to put up with your leadership team's ideosyncracies, CC!!

[deltascout]

I have never posted here before but felt I should put my 2 cents in on this subject. This year I chaired our PWD and let me say that overall it was a great experience. I did however have one sour note. In our pack a scout must be present to participate. Everyone knows this rule as it has been in place for years. There are exceptions to every rule and last year a scout whose grandmother passed away was allowed to have another scout race his car for him.

This year one of the scouts had built a car and then made plans to go skiing with his father(mom and dad are divorced). Mom came to me a couple of weeks before and asked if I knew af any scout who did not have a car and would like to race her sons car(a violation of the rule that a scout must build and race his own car). At that point I said I did not know of anyone in that siutuation but would let her know if things changed. Days before the race she called and wanted to know if I would let her 4 year old wear a tiger uniform and race the car for his brother. I replied that he could not since he is not a registered scout. Now mom is getting upset.

The day of the race in the middle of the competition she approaches me and wants me to let another scout whose car has been DQed run her sons car. This is after registration is closed and the DQed scouts den has long since raced. Well a heated discussion took place(outside no scouts present) and I did not change my position. All of this is made much worse by the fact that the mom has been with the pack more than 8 years and has been CC(While I was CM), Den Leader and many other committee positions. I could not make an exception to the rule for her sons car for appearance sake, nor did I want to. I think I made the right decision and have the full backing of the CM and the rest of the committee. I believe she was out of line although she may never admit it and has not spoken to me since.

Bottom line is the scout must be present to race his car. Sorry for the long post I suppose I am just venting

Former CM, Current WDL

 

[EagleInKY]

I'm with acco about handling cars. We only let the boys handle their cars. I don't want to be the adult that accidentally drops a car. If a boy drops his car, we have tools there where it can be repaired. The Cub is allowed to go with an adult (not his parent) to repair the car. After it's repaired it is quickly reweighed and returned to the track. This usually happens about once a year (pack of around 60 boys) and it takes about five minutes to do.

[fotoscout]

After the weigh-in we dont let the boys touch the cars except to lube them before each set of races.

 

This year the weigh-in was on Thursday before the race on Saturday. Final adjustments were allowed; the car was assigned a number and weighed. Then the car goes into a box and the leaders are now responsible for the cars. We urge and encourage everyone to weigh-on on the Weigh-in Day! Of course some dont and wont. In a pack of 60 boys that amounted to only 4 kids this year. On Saturday at race day, we will allow them to weigh-in, but when the race is scheduled to begin we will give no leeway. The late comers are either ready to race or they are out of it.

 

Leaders place the cars at the starting gate. We get some Boy Scouts to handle the cars at the finish line and return the car to the top of the track. For us this works very well. With the electronic timer and associated computer cables we do not want the boys within striking distance of the finish line. This keeps the all the cars in running order until the boys time on the track is over.

 

I can only imagine the damage if we let the boys handle the cars during each run. Not to mention the time factor.