Pack 565 Families,

Wow! That was really an exciting time we had on Saturday. I’ve never seen so many cool-looking cars as were lined up – ready to roll.

Before I recap the day’s activities, I want to thank Don R. and Brian D. for helping Friday night at the impound. Many cars needed help getting their weight up or down to the magic 5 ounces.

The Tigers got us off to a great start with a nice Flag ceremony. Then we swung right into racing with the Tigers and Wolves. Each boy and car raced three times, once in each of the three lanes. Besides the excitement of the cheering and racing, there was some excitement with the Tiger results for a minute or two, when the data was temporarily lost. We thought we’d have to rerun the Tiger cars all over again, but Todd (our fix-everything guy) found where the software put it, and we were okay after that.

Then we awarded the fastest cars for Tigers, Wolves, and the siblings/adults. All the fastest times (in seconds) are listed beside the boys’ names. The bragging rights for Tigers belong to:

Tigers
3rd Place (fastest) – Trey W.: 2.627
2nd Place (fastest) – Sean W.: 2.618
1st Place (fastest) – Joey M.: 2.583

The fastest wolves were:

Wolves
3rd Place (fastest) – Noah W.: 2.580
2nd Place (fastest) – Price F.: 2.574
1st Place (fastest) – Angel M.: 2.573

The fastest siblings/adults were:

Siblings/Adults
3rd Place (fastest) – Joshua W. 2.555 (Binky-Engineered)
2nd Place (fastest) – Kelly B.: 2.552
1st Place (fastest) – Joshua H.: 2.539

David W. then stepped in to make an appeal for Friends of Scouting. Here’s an update from yesterday’s results toward the FOS campaign: David says we’ve collected over $1,800 in pledges from Pack 565! That surpasses last year’s total. We’re going to shoot for an even $2,000, though. Our Pack dues and popcorn money help support our Pack activities. The money from FOS will help run the District facilities, including the beautiful Bert Adams and Woodruff Scout reservations. Camping ranks right up there as one of the most fun and rewarding activities that we do in Cub Scouting. Our goal is to have every family in Pack 565 donate just a little something: $25, $10, or $5. Please contact David White if you haven’t pledged yet. Thank you!

Then we rolled right into the style awards for all the ranks. This is one of my favorite parts of Pinewood. Some cars are built to be fast. Some cars are built to look cool. And some cars are both! Here are the style award results for each rank.

Tigers
3rd Place (style) – Grant L. with the “Metallic Gold Speedster”
2nd Place (style) – Jack M.
1st Place (style) – Josh B.

Wolves
3rd Place (style) – Price F. with the emergency vehicle and the blinking light!
2nd Place (style) – Joshua G.
1st Place (style) – Noah W. and his Ferrari

Siblings/Adults
3rd Place (style) – Rachel L. and her Cinderella Car
2nd Place (style) – Caden M. and his Over-the-top Giant Spoiler (with attached car)
1st Place (style) – Kelly P. with the hot dog car! Go hot dog! Go hot dog!

Bears
3rd Place (style) – Mason F. and his “Blue Dragster”
2nd Place (style) – Casey D. and his “Black Demon”
1st Place (style) – Caleb W. with the “Guitar Car”

Webelo I’s
3rd Place (style) – Quinn P. and his “Green Beam of Steam”
2nd Place (style) – Matthew K. and the “Lego Man Bullet Skateboard”
1st Place (style) – Ethan M. and the “Googly-Eyed Yellow-jacket Stinger”

Webelo II’s
3rd Place (style) – Joshua B. and his “Screaming Torch”
2nd Place (style) – Jeremy P. with his Lotus Chaparral
1st Place (style) – Jakob D. and the “Batman Nightrider”

Then we awarded the grand all-Pack trophies for style and coolness. The overall style winners were:

All-Pack 565 Style Trophies
3rd Place – Noah W. for the Ferrari
2nd Place – Ethan M. for the “Googly-Eyed Yellow-jacket Stinger”
1st Place – Caleb W., our grand prize winner for the “Guitar Car” That car had incredible detail. It had a body with a bridge, a neck, strings, and pegs. After the races, Caleb played “Stairway to Heaven” on it as the crowd headed to the parking lot (in a slightly higher key).

Then we rolled right into racing again with our older boys. This is the first year we allowed the boys to be up close and personal with the track. This was very exciting for them. Next year, I think we’ll be putting some lines on the floors and enforcing 5-yard encroachment penalties, though. After the Bears and Webelos raced we awarded fastest time medals in those ranks. Bragging rights for Bears went to:

Bears
3rd Place (fastest) – Aidan H.: 2.584
2nd Place (fastest) – Casey D.: 2.537
1st Place (fastest) – Sean A.: 2.537

The fastest time recorded for Casey Deloughy and Sean Appel’s car was a tie, down to the thousandth of a second, so we did a few tense runoffs between those cars to determine the ultimate winner.

The fastest Webelo I’s were:

Webelo I’s
3rd Place (fastest) – Matthew K.: 2.560
2nd Place (fastest) – Thomas K.: 2.538
1st Place (fastest) – Ada D.: 2.520

The fastest Webelo II’s were:

Webelo II’s
3rd Place (fastest) – Francis V.s: 2.564
2nd Place (fastest) – Hank M.: 2.543
1st Place (fastest) – Jeremy P.: 2.538

Then we had the grand finale races. We raced the fastest three cars in each rank all over again. Each car raced three times, once in each lane again. The final results and bragging rights for the 2009 fastest cars in all of Pack 565 go to:

FINALS
3rd Place (fastest) – Thomas .
2nd Place (fastest) – Jeremy P.
1st Place (fastest) – Ada D., our grand prize winner! Man! That’s a fast car (Mom)!

That was it for the 2009 Pinewood Derby. Thanks to all the parents who helped set up, control kids, break down everything, and clean up. We’ll see you all next year at the 2010 Pinewood Derby!

Carl