Once more onto the breeches! PWD is upon us

[rjscout]

I still have fond memories of building my PWD car back when I was a Cub Scout. I might have won a heat or two, but nothing close to winning my Den. When my son was a Tiger, we worked on his car until he said he was done. He wasn't interested in making sure that the car was even up to 5oz, resulting in 14th out of 20. He loved seeing his friends get trophies and thought that it was time for more speed. I did a lot of searching online and found out how we could make the car faster. That was also the first of four years that I was in charge of the PWD for our Pack. I noticed the gap between the winners and the slower cars. I created a document to show everyone how to speed up the cars. We had a few volunteers at check-in to help add weight to the cars. I opened up my basement to help make cuts for scouts&Dads who had no tools. My son learned more every year on how to speed up his car. He won his rank four years, but never won the Pack. last year my wife heard someone mention that my son won the race because I had the track at my house. I didn't have time to setup the track for test runs with all the time I was spending helping other cars and starting to plan for the B&G the following month. Not all of fast cars are Dad built nor bought for speed. Getting the speed is not that hard and a great way to teach the scout about friction and potential&kinetic energy. The more the parents work with their scout, the better the race for all.

 

[Lisabob]

We had a dad like this in my son's pack. It was quite clear who built those cars and he bragged annoyingly about it. His sons were little bullies, who have grown up to be bigger bullies, who show an unsurprising willingness to cut corners and do whatever they needed to do, to get what they wanted. Apples don't fall far from the tree.

 

We had another dad who was an engineer for Ford and had access to all sorts of special tools at work. His kid's cars were always really cool. But this dad arranged for any boy who wanted to, to go with him to work (after school) some day and "try out" those same tools. A couple of boys would do it every year. Very kind of him.

 

Meanwhile, we don't own or have access to any special tools. My son's cars usually came in somewhere in the middle of the pack, but he always had a lot of fun. But I remember when my son was in 4th grade. He & dad spent all kinds of time together on his car. He did a really cool paint job with flames "for speed." His car won the derby that year and came in 2nd or 3rd at district. The other boys who went to district that year from our pack? A brand new Tiger cub, the boy whose dad worked at Ford and helped everybody, and a boy who was developmentally disabled, whose car looked like a rock on wheels.

 

The dad who was annoying and bragged about building his kids' cars was fit to be tied when his creations got beat - not just by one kid, but by four or five kids.

 

 

[Tampa Turtle]

My favorite PWD was when a Tiger, crying, came up with a kit and his car was not ready 30 minutes before the race. His newly divorced Dad was supposed to help but went AWOL. We told the mom have his color the block with crayons, slap on the wheels and race.

 

He did. He won the Tigers and came in 3rd out of 78 in the Pack for speed and went to District. There his wheels fell off...but hey.

[momof2cubs]

Lisabob: I call that just desserts.

[DeanRx]

I just can't believe how some parents act / react to this event!

 

As a father who HAS put in the time (both with my son and the PWD committee AND as a cubmaster) it saddens me. Yes, there are some adult built cars out there, BUT there are a LOT of sore loser parents who are quick to snipe behind the backs of others who help make their kids competitive. Sheesh!

 

Yes, I HAVE (for 3 years now) been the one that hauls the track from the storage shed to the event. I have been the one to calibrate the software and make sure the track and software and laptop all talk to each other. My son has also done very well in the races (1st in his den the past 3 years and won the pack champion twice). He was 3rd last Sunday in his final race as a web II.

 

I had TWO parents snark at me that he must do so well because I have the "track at my house". Well, the track is 46 ft long! I don't have a lot big enough to layout the entire track (even if I wanted to). I have two other dads come over the day before and test out the electronics and thats it. NO ONE ever gets a pre-race / test time.

 

This year (as I have done in the past 2 years), I held TWO workshops in MY garage and let kids use MY tools and break MY saw blades and burn up MY dremel bits, so they could carve out fast cars. I had a handfull of kids show up. Guess what, al those kids were in the top 3 for their dens and many ran in the finals and placed well.

 

In my book, is just as UNSCOUT like to be a snarky parent who doesn't help out and **** es about their kid getting beat, as it is to be the dad who won't let jr. touch his own car!

 

My son plays baseball and soccer as well. The kid across the street has a batting cage in his backyard! My son doesn't cry and I don't **** when my son's batting average is well below the neighbor's kids every year in little league! He puts in the times and he reaps the reward.

 

Get over it.

[Basementdweller]

Dean sounds like your Pack just needs to bag the pinewood derby

 

 

I hate the competitive nature of the parents......

 

 

Playing with making it a single day event.....Show up Saturday morning make your car on site, Break for lunch then race in the afternoon. None of this ebay car nonsense or dads spending hours on axles and wheels.......

 

 

Dean my son crossed over 2 years ago. I have 40+ hours invested in this years pinewood derby. Track repair, 5 workshop nights, Installing new scoring timer and figuring out software, handing out cars, trophies and on and on. We ran a complete practice race the week before the event to make sure everything was working...... I installed a new sound system in the fellowship hall of the church for the event too.......

 

 

Not to diminish your contribution, but there is a lot of us out there doing the exact same thing.

[Tampa Turtle]

Dean

 

Feel your pain. I do not miss some of the PWD dads. I had to guard the cars after check in because on two occasions dads tried to sabotage a car. In one case smashed the wheels down. Another time a dad got into a shouting match with our lady cubmaster; since then we always have a "big guy" at check in. Another time the Race Master dropped a finalist before a final heat--we let the owner check it but since it came in 2nd there was a stink.

 

My sons opted to go for the design side instead of speed and usually won there and had more fun. Though pirate ship cars with a full set of cloth sails produce a lot of drag--they are cool.