Pinewood Derby cars w/ AS colors

[Airdog]

Well done Mr Mossyone and family. This former Cub and Scout leader says well done. Enjoy this precious time. They will be grown and off to College the next time you turn around.

[Overlander & Sea]

Nice Pinewood Derby cars! It reminds me of good times when my sons were both in the Cub Scouts. Each year they would do more work themselves on their car-my wife just would not let our 7 year old use the band saw alone! One year, as I watch my oldest son take 1st place in his den & 2 place in the pack, I also had to watch my youngest one's car get slower with each race because of a loose axle. That was before I knew InLandRV Andy.

Even though they're now 15 & 17, they still have every one of their cars on display in the their room.

[Steve & Susan]

Originally Posted by mrmossyone

My wife said I shouldn't even respond but my son took some of the pictures and I let him read the comments with me ( Icertainly didn't think I would have to worry about theses kinds of comments)

Maybe you should ask first before you critisize, as my son was upset that he was called a cheater.

This is my sons 4th car and I will detail for you all that he did himself. You know a father with the knowledge can teach his son the same knowledge.

Luke's car. His own design and paint scheme. He helped cut the car, did all of the sanding, drilled the holes to hide the tungsten weight in the car, did the primer coat and first base coat of paint, he redrilled axel slots with drill press to ensure they were perfectly aligned, he deburred and trued the axels (he used a tool made to true axels with), he polished the axels, he beveled the axel heads (with the same tool mentioned above), he shaved the outside wheel tread and inner wheel rim to true wheels and then sande them, he spun the graphite into the wheels and axels and he inserted the wheels and axels into the axel slots. He put a total of about 30-40 manhours in this car and he is very proud of his car.

As I said in my post, if the cars were built by the kids, I apologize for the criticism, and if they weren't, I did not. I did not mean to blow out anyone's candles nor did I intend to upset your son. And I certainly did NOT call him a cheater. He built the cars and did a fine job so there is no criticism intended or directed at him or you. I'm sorry if I didn't make that clear in the original post. I applaud your dedication to the den and pack and for sharing your skills,tools and knowledge with them to even the playing field, or in this case, the pinewood track.

I've had to mediate several disputes on race day because cars that were built almost entirely by parents were entered against cars that were built entirely by kids with predictable race results. It's never a fun thing to do and there are always hurt feelings. My concern in these matters is always for the kids. There is no worse job on race day than consoling an 8 year old who built his car himself and lost to a car that was built by an adult. We do not run pinewood as a district event anymore for that very reason.

Again, I apologize to you and your son and I hope to read here some day that he has made it to Eagle Scout!

[Airslide]

Originally Posted by Steve & Susan

Ummm - the oldest Cub Scout is 10 years old and there are some REALLY talented kids out there apparently. I HOPE these cars were entered in the 'adults' class and not with the other 6,7,8,9 and 10 year olds who actually built their cars themselves. If these were built by the kids, I apologize for the criticism. If they weren't, I don't.

Sorry to be a wet blanket, but this is one of my pet peeves.

As a former cub master.. LOL.. i agree with you. However we had one kid win with a car that had a rock taped in the drivers seat because he was way under weight.. who knew..

Vin

[mrmossyone]

Originally Posted by Steve & Susan

I HOPE these cars were entered in the 'adults' class and not with the other 6,7,8,9 and 10 year olds who actually built their cars themselves.

I imagine it was this statement that made him feel that way. You see this is what the boy's dad who wins every year does, builds the whole car and his son never even touches the car. Luke and I have had talks about how this isn't right and Luke clearly sees this as cheating. Luke was very excited about winning first place and getting the trophy but as we were leaving he turned to me and said, with a big ole grin on his face, "Dad what's even cooler than winning was beating Mr. Hubbard's car".

[mrmossyone]

The kids really think it's cool that all there cars are on the internet. I told them I am going to put some of the video on Utube and my youngest son said that was almost like them being on TV, which he says is very cool. They also liked seeing the other pictures of other kids Derby cars, if anyone else has some pics of past or present Derby cars the kids and I would love to see them.

Thanks for all the kind words.

[Airslide]

Funny.. i was just checking through the closet when you made your comment. My wife yelled out and said our son took all his cars when he moved a few years ago. Why did he take his cars?? He is probably going 10 times before he settles in.. hope they survive it...

[mrmossyone]

I've been meaning to show you what I did with the Jersey. Here it is:

[BillTex]

Hey mrmossy-very cool!
My Son, took 2nd in his Pack and will be going to regional in April.

We have a Friends/Family division also so others can get in their laps too...

I was a Scout for Many years and am excited that My Son chose to get involved. Looking back on my life, Scouting was without a doubt one of the best opportunities I ever had. We had a ball! Great leaders, great adventures. This gives me a chance to be a Scout (leader) again too! Took the Boys skiing yesterday for "Snow Sports" belt loop!

Good luck with the racing!

Cheers-Scouting Rocks!

Bill

[78GussyTX]

I guess things have changed since I was a kid, or have they?

I loved reading through this today, pictures were great. I am a little perplexed ... when I was a kid the pinewood was a father-son thing. We just had our pinewood derby last weekend, my first one since I was a kid (I'm 49 now), and the first ever for my 9 year old and my 7 year old. They joined Scouts about 6-8 weeks ago.

What I remembered from my childhood was hands-on from both dad and son. Seems today there is purest strain among folks who feel that Dad's not allowed to touch? I had surgery on my shoulder a few weeks ago, and went through great pain and trouble to help my boys build their cars, was this a bad thing? They did the designs, I did the rough cut (as did every other dad), I did most of the power tool work, they did the painting, and we did the decals together. I just can't imagine a 7 year old using those power tools, maybe I'm just old fashioned?

Anyway, I do not have good pictures at this moment, mostly video, and just pics from the video camera. Here they are. The "Phantom" won 5th place and will go to next level of competition, the Phoenix (red car on the launch rack, sorry for bad pic) placed 8th.

We watched a HILARIOUS movie as we got ready for this, called "Down and Derby" that goes right to the heart of this parent / child thing ... Down & Derby - Official Site the slogan is "The biggest race of your (Dad's) life!" Very cute.

[BillTex]

Scout Leadership training taught that the Boys should do as much of the work as is practical. Of course this would vary by age/individual ability. My 8 yr old Son did NOT use the power miter saw. He did drill holes, sand, glue, paint, etc...
Talking to some of the Parents of older Boys (Webelos) the Boys did pretty much the entire car...

It is supposed to be fun, teach some skills, and promote sportsman ship. As with many activities, some Parents lose site of this. I coach Soccer/Baseball and am a Scout Leader. I do NOT keep score, I give everyone equal playing time, and make every effort to build self esteem and confidence. I also make a lot of effort to get the kids outside in the woods and just let them be Boys. I sometimes have a special award for the smallest, slowest, least able kid...he probably needs a boost more than the kid that "won". I do much of this at great expense (time and money) because other families may not be as blessed as ours, they may be single Parent homes, or who knows what else, but I have a blast doing it, the Boys all seem to have fun. If I have to buy pizza and ice cream once in a while, then so be it. I think I enjoy it as much (or more) as they do.

Anyway, keep it fun, keep it real. Don't worry about winning-HAVE FUN!

Bill

[78GussyTX]

Sound like you are a great dad and contribuotr to the community Bill!

We have seen the full spectrum on the kids sports routines ... here in Alvin my boys did a number of years in the little league, we finally just decided to take a year off due to frustration with some of the league leaders. The league kept the same groups of kids together, so same relative stats each year, they should mix it up. We had a number of bad coaches showing CLEAR favoritism to their kids (does having dad as a coach automatically mean first base position and 1st, 2nd, or 3rd in the line up? Deos here!) and last time around we had a coach that for the first half of the season played one our kids for ONE inning per game --every game but alternating between the the two boys -- because he got mad at us, until we complained to the league. This even went on when they were doing very well, hitting well, even scoring winning points in some cases. It was often clear that for them, the game was political power trips and winning -- not fun for the kids. For those kids who were not very good, how could they ever become good if some self-centered ego trip coach kept them on the bench every game? So yes, I see your point! But all that said, I confess .. I am BIG on score keeping :-)

[BillTex]

Yes, score keeping will become part of the game soon. To date, I have been working with younger Children. I always put the Kids first, and keeping score is not encouraged with the younger ones.
Some times Parents have other opinions, I simply tell them "we volunteer our time. If you would like to help, please step up". There is professional development involved, security clearance, etc. Most Folks won't take the time...and that usually quiets them down for the rest of the season. I guess I have been lucky, my Parents for the most part, are pretty supportive and don't complain. But I have heard horror stories.

My three rules;

1. Safety first
2. Equal time for all
3. Have Fun

As they get a little older, there will be score keeping, try outs, etc...now is is when we build the foundation of good sportsmanship, fair play, etc. Hopefuly, when they do start "competing" they will understand it is not about winning, but about making an honest effort.
In all areas of life.

I think this is why Scouting appeals to some kids; it is not competitive, it is more about the "Group" and achievements...not "winning".

Bill

[Overlander & Sea]

Originally Posted by BillTex

My three rules;

1. Safety first
2. Equal time for all
3. Have Fun

As they get a little older, there will be score keeping, try outs, etc...now is is when we build the foundation of good sportsmanship, fair play, etc. Hopefuly, when they do start "competing" they will understand it is not about winning, but about making an honest effort.
In all areas of life.

I think this is why Scouting appeals to some kids; it is not competitive, it is more about the "Group" and achievements...not "winning".

Bill

Scouting, camping, and Airstreamin', in my opinion, they all go hand-in-hand with good family fun & values.

[BillTex]

Yeah, too bad I can't take the AS to Scout camps!
The tent gets old after a couple of nights...

[Overlander & Sea]

Originally Posted by mrmossyone

These are pics of all the cars we have built minus one. I believe my youngest son's first car is at our barn. I will be making a display shelf to hold all of our previous, present and future cars in the next two or three weeks. Here they are:

The truck was my first parent car, it was supposed to be a rally race truck.
The car with the fan I built for a no rules parent race, it blew the rest of the field away with a scale speed of 250 mph.
The group shot is all our cars that we have built.
The two together are my son's cars from last year (the gator skinned one aptly named Gator Racer was Lukes'. It was very fast during test and tune but he broke it the night before the race playing with it, it was to delicate. We had to build a new car the night before the race, needless to say it did not win), (the silver, red and blue one was Vann's sibling race car it took first in the sibling race and also best paint. It was named Blade Cutter.).

Originally Posted by mrmossyone

I've been meaning to show you what I did with the Jersey. Here it is:

Years of Pinewood Derby cars & a Favre signed Packers jersey, sounds like the contents of a "Man Room" to me!

Originally Posted by BillTex

Yeah, too bad I can't take the AS to Scout camps!
The tent gets old after a couple of nights...

The tent is why a 48 year old Airstream sounded so good to me!..and it is!

[78GussyTX]

Originally Posted by BillTex

Yeah, too bad I can't take the AS to Scout camps!
The tent gets old after a couple of nights...

--
Ok, that answers that question! The scout camp out was cancelled, but I was wondering if I could take the Argosy! didn't think so, now I know!

[mrmossyone]

I've taken the Argosy on Pack camping trips when bad weather was predicted but only my wife and little girl stay in it (it is also parked at an RV site away from our group site). Some of the other mom's are welcome as well if the weather gets nasty. Mine will sleep six adults and my little Carrie girl.

[mrmossyone]

Originally Posted by Overlander & Sea

Years of Pinewood Derby cars & a Favre signed Packers jersey, sounds like the contents of a "Man Room" to me!

Yep. I believe I'm going to turn our barn apartment into the man hangout. At least until I get an addition to the house built (which has been put on hold for obvious reasons).