Pack 101 Cub Scouts Race to Victory!

Tinley Park, Illinois - Cub Scouts and their families from Pack 101 participated in their annual Pinewood Derby this past Saturday, March 13. When the 2020 Pinewood Derby race had to be cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic last March, Pack 101's Committee, Den Leaders, and other volunteers began planning to hold a virtual version of what has arguably become Cub Scouting's most-treasured annual event. With a few ideas shared by other area Packs, some help from Rainbow Council BSA which serves Will County, and the generosity of Trinity Lutheran Church in Tinley Park which allowed the use of its school gym to set up the track, Pack 101 was able to safely broadcast the race to its Cub Scouts at home. Everyone has had to look hard to find silver linings during the past year. In this case, while the Cub Scouts had to watch from afar, family members who normally might not be able to participate in the Pinewood Derby - some as far away as Rhode Island - were able to tune in to this year's race! Awards were won in Best Design, the qualifying heats for Lions/Tigers, Wolves/Bears, and Webelos, in the Siblings Race, and in Pack 101's Finals Race.

This year, to bring the Pinewood Derby to Pack 101's Cub Scouts at home, the Pack arranged a socially distant race car drop-off and weigh-in the week before the race. On race day, volunteers set up the Pack's 4-lane aluminum track with digital timers in the school gym at Trinity Lutheran Church. With 3 computers set up for the racing software, starting line camera, and finish line views to broadcast on a Zoom webinar, along with smartphones to bring different views of the race to Facebook Live, the Cub Scouts were able to see their handmade and elaborately decorated 5 oz pine cars race down the track! Altogether, Pack 101 had 18 Cub Scouts from Lions (Kindergarten) through Webelos (4th and 5th Grades) participate in the race. Six siblings also joined in on the fun with a separate sibling race. The siblings were joined by two Scouts from Troop 732, a girls-only Scout Troop based out of Frankfort Square, to offer them a chance to race in the Pinewood Derby for the first time. A number of girls who joined Scouts when the program began welcoming girls back in 2018 missed participating in Cub Scouts and the Pinewood Derby.

The Pinewood Derby goes all the way back to 1953, when a dad and Cubmaster came up with the idea of racing cars fashioned from small blocks of wood for younger Cub Scouts who could not participate in a kid-sized, gravity-powered soapbox derby race. From there, the event has grown into a beloved family tradition that involves Cub Scout Packs all across America. According to a number of different accounts of the original 1953 race, the track was a handmade wooden 32-foot, two-lane track, complete with a battery-powered finish line that used doorbells and light bulbs to indicate the winners of the race!

Pack 101 offers its Cub Scouting program year-round. Cub Scouts are currently working on finishing their required adventures and electives to earn their badges of rank. The Pack has an active Hiking Club, and brand new Fishing Club that has kept its Cub Scouts outdoors and active during the pandemic. The Pack also has plans to bring a "COVID-Safe" Raingutter Regatta to the community sometime in early June, just after the school year has ended. This "Sail into Summer" event will be for both current Pack 101 Cub Scouts and prospective new families (prior sign-up required - details to be announced) with boys and girls entering Kindergarten in the fall, and children already in school who are considering joining Cub Scouting (Cub Scouts range in grade-level from Kindergarten through the first part of 5th Grade). Families who are interested in learning more about Pack 101 Cub Scouts, which serves girls and boys in Summit Hill School District 161 and the surrounding communities of Frankfort Square, Tinley Park, Mokena, and Frankfort, are encouraged to visit Cub Scout Pack 101 Frankfort Square on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/FSPac...