A Georgia Girl in Germany

Benjamin is a Tiger Cub this year, which means he got to participate in his first Pinewood Derby. He was excited about making his own car, and diligently sat in my lap as we searched the internet for design ideas. I had in mind a traditional car or perhaps a superhero themed-car, but he had other ideas. Or rather, he had one idea: a guitar. However, he didn’t like any of the online designs (they were too blocky for his liking), so we searched guitar sites to find a design he liked. He finally settled on a Fender Starcaster guitar and asked me to trace it off the computer monitor to make the template for his car.

I think his car turned out pretty well, if I do say so myself. Fortunately, it wasn’t terribly difficult to design (and Zachary was helpful as well). Once we transferred the pattern to the block of wood, we took it to the wood shop on base to have it cut -- that was $2 very well-spent! Benjamin wasn’t thrilled that we left extra wood above the rear wheels, but the car needed it in order to hold the rear axles. That was the most difficult part of the car to work on since Zachary and I essentially cut chunks of wood out by hand from above the axles so the guitar neck would look more like it should. The white body was the easiest part to design -- we cut it out of white paper, had Benjamin draw the frets and glued it onto the car. The strings are photo hanging wires wrapped around tacks representing the tuning pegs on one end and stapled into the wood on the other for the bridge.

When it came time to race, Benjamin’s car had a pretty decent showing. They had all the cars race together, regardless of den (age) bracket, and each car raced once per lane to ensure a fair contest. Benjamin’s guitar-car came in second during his first heat, and first in his next three heats. His wasn’t the fastest car in each of the rounds, but when they broke out the standings for the individual dens, he came in first place for the Tiger Cubs! Not bad at all for his first Pinewood Derby!

After they completed the race, the cars were judged on design merits. There was one other guitar car (similar to the blocky design that Benjamin didn’t want to use), and the rest were more or less traditional car (or truck) designs. I had a feeling Benjamin’s car would place on its design merits, and it came in first. Benjamin was excited! I don’t think he understood how well he actually did in the derby -- he definitely has a hard act to follow come next year!

Actually, he gets to participate in the District Derby next month since he was one of the top three Tiger finishers. I’m sure there will be more steep competition at that derby, but hopefully he will still enjoy the race.

Here he is with the other two Tiger Cubs who placed ... well, they were the only three Tigers who participated in the derby, but that’s beside the point.

After the race, everyone received a display stand to hold their cars. Benjamin quickly placed his car atop his stand. I love the fact that he had his puppy “Benji” share the spotlight in these last two photos -- such young innocence! He and Zachary even wore matching guitar shirts in honor of Benjamin’s guitar car. Don’t know if that added to the good vibes surrounding his car, but I’m sure it didn’t hurt.

Labels: Benjamin, Cub Scouts