Derby cars are ready to roll down their open track

POTTSTOWN PA – Today is Race Day!

Well, it is if you’re a Cub Scout in the greater Pottstown area. The local scouting district will conduct its annual Pinewood Derby races for the area’s cub packs today (Saturday, April 2, 2011) beginning at 9 a.m. at the First Presbyterian Church, 750 N. Evans St., Pottstown PA.

The Pinewood Derby is a classic, 58-year-old gravity-driven race between hand-held, hand-made cars. They consist of a rectangular block of wood, about 7 inches long and 2 inches square, shaped by carving or sawing into a car-like appearance and fitted with wheels. To ensure fairness, all cars must be built from identical kits manufactured for the Boy Scouts of America.

Scouts and their parents or grandparents usually design and build their cars together. The fruit of such local efforts flourishes today, when competitors will assemble at the church to determine whose car is fastest.

David Faulkner, a former volunteer with Pack 146 in Pottstown who now serves as a Pottsgrove School District director, calls the derby “a great event” that involves tremendous “time and effort (from) these boys and volunteers.”