Denise Roehl
Pinewood Derby cars start as a wooden block that are cut down, sanded, painted, have wheels added, and weighted until they’re perfect.
Watertown Cub Scouts Pack 30 provided the following information:
Cheering on cars like “Batman” and “Orange Wedge,” Cub Scouts Pack 30 held its Pinewood Derby races at the Hosmer School March 27, ending a months of work turning blocks of wood into racing machines.
The Cub Scouts have held Pinewood Derbys since 1953. In Watertown, Cubs start designing their cars in January, working with parents to cut them into shape, sand and paint them, and then make them regulation-ready to race. Rules state all four wheels need to touch the track while racing, and no car can be heavier than 5.0 ounces – which is a feat when, like Calvin Ovoian, you’ve made your car look like the Millennium Falcon, or like Henry Woodward, whose car could have been driven by a very small Batman.
Denise Roehl
Westley Roehl, a member of the tiger den, makes some last-minute adjustments to his car. He and his father Chris both raced cars designed by Westley.
The Cub Scout winners for each age group move on to district races this April, matching up against scouts from Melrose to Waltham.
The Pack 30 winners are as follows:
Lion Den 8: Kevin da Silva
Tiger Den 7: Virgil Mathers
Wolf Den 6: Charles Curtiss (also overall Pack winner)
Wolf Den 9: Duncan Syer
Webelos: Tage Weeden
Sibling: Elinor Curtiss
Parent: Chris Oalmann
Denise Roehl
Parents set up the track in the Hosmer School cafeteria. It was a race to set up the race, making sure the cafeteria was cleared out of after-school kids, setting up the track, setting up the cars, running the races and awarding the winners by the time Cub Scouts need to be asleep.