Cub Scout Pack 40 of West Windsor held its annual Pinewood Derby at the First Presbyterian Church of Dutch Neck on January 21. A Cub Scout tradition, the boys are given a basic car kit featuring a block of wood for the car. The kids (with some help from their parents) carve the block of wood into a racing car. This year, 38 cub scouts and their siblings built pinewood derby cars.##M:[more]##
Each car raced in three heats. The car with the fastest average times was declared the winner.
The fastest car was built by Jimmy Zeoli, also the winner last year. Second place went to his brother Patrick. David Van Dyke finished in third place. Fourth place went to Michael Vogt and David Yaffe-Bellany took fifth place.
In addition to competing based on speed, the cars were also judged on appearance. The overall appearance winner was Daniel Cortell, whose car was shaped like a wedge of swiss cheese, with holes running through it.
“The Pinewood Derby is a great experience for the kids,” said Pack 40 Cubmaster Anthony Zeoli. “They learn to build a car. They learn to handle a competitive situation. They have a lot of fun and in the end everyone wins.”
“It takes a lot of volunteers to run the Pinewood Derby,” said Louisa Ho, the Pinewood Derby organizer. “Everyone worked hard but our emcee and race announcer, Mike Kercheval really gets us all in the racing spirit. So, until next year, as Mike would say, “let’s race!”
