FireStone Posted June 30, 2019 Share Posted June 30, 2019 (edited) Anyone else at the Pinewood Derby World Championship in NYC today? My son qualified and we went for the first time. It was a fun but long day. Lots of waiting in long lines. No trophies for him or our other Pack scouts, but we celebrated with some really expensive ice cream cones in Times Square. I was honestly kind of surprised at how so many parents and scouts arrive with huge toolboxes of gear, extra parts, tools, etc. We had a backpack with a derby car wrapped in a rag. But then I felt like a real amateur when my son's car failed inspection (rule difference between pack/district and WCPWD that we overlooked) and we had to buy new wheels and borrow tools and glue from other scouts. Lessons learned: Pack more snacks and stuff to keep the kids busy, and read the rules line-by-line. At that level things get a lot more strict than at the local level, especially when it comes to wheels, if they all touch the track, etc. Edited June 30, 2019 by FireStone 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ParkMan Posted June 30, 2019 Share Posted June 30, 2019 10 hours ago, FireStone said: Anyone else at the Pinewood Derby World Championship in NYC today? My son qualified and we went for the first time. It was a fun but long day. Lots of waiting in long lines. No trophies for him or our other Pack scouts, but we celebrated with some really expensive ice cream cones in Times Square. I was honestly kind of surprised at how so many parents and scouts arrive with huge toolboxes of gear, extra parts, tools, etc. We had a backpack with a derby car wrapped in a rag. But then I felt like a real amateur when my son's car failed inspection (rule difference between pack/district and WCPWD that we overlooked) and we had to buy new wheels and borrow tools and glue from other scouts. Lessons learned: Pack more snacks and stuff to keep the kids busy, and read the rules line-by-line. At that level things get a lot more strict than at the local level, especially when it comes to wheels, if they all touch the track, etc. Thank you so much for sharing this. I had no idea this existed. This looks like a fun opportunity for those scouts who want to continue the PWD fun at the next level. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FireStone Posted June 30, 2019 Author Share Posted June 30, 2019 (edited) 4 hours ago, ParkMan said: Thank you so much for sharing this. I had no idea this existed. This looks like a fun opportunity for those scouts who want to continue the PWD fun at the next level. Neither did I until my son qualified. After the district races our CM told us he could enter the World Championship and I said, "The what??" We also didn't have district races last year, so no scouts in our Pack could have even qualified. The World Championship has a rule that qualifying scouts must have placed top 3 in their rank at a district or council race. They used to actually run this event outside in Time Square, but it has since been moved into the Marriott Marquis. Which is still phenomenal, it's a huge venue, right in the heart of Times Square. I highly recommend going if any of your scouts qualify. The event this year was attended by scouts from all over the country. I heard something about over 100 councils and over 20 states represented. Edited June 30, 2019 by FireStone Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ianwilkins Posted July 1, 2019 Share Posted July 1, 2019 14 hours ago, FireStone said: World Championship...The event this year was attended by scouts from all over the country. I heard something about over 100 councils and over 20 states represented. Aaah, the old "only one country takes part but we'll call it a World Championship" trick. Only jesting, sounds like an exciting day, always good to meet lots of scouts from different places. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FireStone Posted July 1, 2019 Author Share Posted July 1, 2019 3 hours ago, ianwilkins said: Aaah, the old "only one country takes part but we'll call it a World Championship" trick. Only jesting, sounds like an exciting day, always good to meet lots of scouts from different places. Hahah. yep, it's one of those. The majority of participants were from the local host council and surrounding areas within driving distance, but I'd call it a national event at least, though not a "world" event. On the race results screens I frequently saw competitors listed from greater distances than the NY area, including Ohio, California, Florida, Arizona, Kentucky, etc. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FireStone Posted July 1, 2019 Author Share Posted July 1, 2019 One other quick note: The organizers of this event were great. Super helpful, generous, and ran the event very well. One thing that stood out to me, and this is purely based on my observation and not on anything I know to be factual, but I'll say it anyway. They gave awards for car designs, one category being "Most Patriotic". I remembered earlier in the day seeing a car that was just amazingly painted, stars-and-stripes done perfectly in what I can safely assume was not painted by a scout. And that car was not the winner. The winning car was a different car sporting a very well-done paint job by a scout. And one more thing... One of the staff took the mic to announce that a $50 bill had been found on the ground and was handed in to staff. Only at a Scouting event do you see that kind of thing happen. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FireStone Posted July 1, 2019 Author Share Posted July 1, 2019 Here's a shot of the tracks. One of the things I've been trying to figure out for our next Pack derby is how to get black lights set up along our track. We run our derby in a school gym with lots of windows, so I'm not sure it's possible at a day-time event. Been wondering if a couple of black light tubes on each side of the track would work. Now that my Pack is allowing those black-light-sensitive wheels, it would be fun to get them glowing for the races. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eagledad Posted July 1, 2019 Share Posted July 1, 2019 11 minutes ago, FireStone said: Here's a shot of the tracks. One of the things I've been trying to figure out for our next Pack derby is how to get black lights set up along our track. We run our derby in a school gym with lots of windows, so I'm not sure it's possible at a day-time event. Been wondering if a couple of black light tubes on each side of the track would work. Now that my Pack is allowing those black-light-sensitive wheels, it would be fun to get them glowing for the races. Shouldn't be a problem at night. Barry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FireStone Posted July 1, 2019 Author Share Posted July 1, 2019 19 minutes ago, Eagledad said: Shouldn't be a problem at night. Barry Yeah, but we're not going to change to a night event. Think I might test clipping a blacklight over the track. Or just put one over the "on deck" area where the cars are set up pre-race. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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