The Pinewood Derby
Hygiene Chronicles | August 12
I was 8 years old.
My dad and I were staring at a block of wood on his tool bench. There was a bag of accessories lying next to it; nails, wheels and instructions that were no bigger than a matchbook. The paper had basic measurements, which in the end, could not be exceeded.
They say that artists can look at something in its raw form and see the finished product inside. Standing before this block of wood, it was clear were no artists.
Every boy who goes through Cub Scouts, and every father of said boy, has a rite of passage known as the Pinewood Derby. A contest where the boy wants the fastest car. And a contest where the dad wants the most impressive piece of 9 inch wood to emerge from his basement. (umm, never mind)
I’ll cut right to the chase: we were neither that boy nor dad.
As I packed up my parents last week, we came across many things that marked my past—my beer can collection, a GI Joe with Kung Fu Grip, our first baseball mitts. Lots of memories.
But for me, the items I treasure the most are my three Pinewood Derby cars. I didn’t have the closest the relationship with my father back in those days, but having these cars seems to make that disappear. These were a creation of both of us… a time when we had to work as one.
Looking back, the making of these cars was 100 times greater than even coming in 27th place. (Don’t tell that to the 2nd grader who went to the corner of the room and cried when he was eliminated in the first round.) These represent a time when life was simple and a dad & son really could work together on things.
We meticulously drew out plans. I learned the difference between a jigsaw & a coping saw as well as a screwdriver & an awl. I learned how to hollow out the bottom of wood and melt lead to give it extra weight. We learned that by using the produce scales at the grocery stores, we could weight it to the ounce. (Yeah kids, produce departments had scales back then.) We took a plain piece of wood and created something beautiful from it.
This is not about politics, but it saddens me that Scouting might not welcome my son and me. I totally want him to experience that first form of male bonding; where campfires lit with a red light bulb and farting are the coolest things ever. I want to help him move from being a bobcat to a bear. And I want to build a pinewood derby car with him. (And yes, I’ll make that happen even if it takes some manipulation of the truth.)
This is just one more thing that childhood memories are made of. At 39, I can look back and see what a simple boy and his dad can create when they work together. And in 35 years, I’d like my son to be able to be able to the same.
I quit the boyscouts because of the pinewood derby. Growing up without a father was most difficult when I joined the boyscouts because, it seemed, everything was father-son related. The day my pinewood derby car that I had made by myself barely made it down the track while the sleek, awesome cars around me kicked my ass was awful. Let’s just say, I would have joined you in that corner.
I am also not a big fan of the scouts because of the policies you alluded to. The YMCA has a program called Adventure Guides (it used to be called Indian Guides, but they went PC) and we’ll probably join that.
Good memories for you though!
Ah yes a rite of passage that we all went through. I am with CP2 on this one. This was too close to the science fair stuff. I was a jock from the beginning. I would rather hear about that ball glove and what signature was in the palm.
BTW mine never made it down the track it crashed before reaching the end. I thought that was pretty cool.
Scouts or no scouts, this sort of father-son activity pulls at my heart.
It is for this sort of thing - this sort of bond, this love - that I would love for my husband and I to have a son. Beautiful.
We debated about putting Christopher in Scouts for the reasons you alluded to. We don’t believe in discrimination of any kind, and we believe that you love who you love and it’s all good. We ultimately let him join and he’s quite liked it, if not completely embraced it. We don’t do the “God thing” so that kind of puts him in a quandry at times. However, he won his division at the last Pinewood Derby! Talk about an excited kid!
This will probably be his last year in Scouts because he’s now asking questions about their policies and he doesn’t like the answers any more than we do (he’s nothing if not totally and completely fair about nearly everything). He doesn’t understand why anyone would have a problem with gay unions. “If they love each other, what’s wrong with that?” Indeed.
I see your point. My sons are all into scouting and one of my biggest issues is the anti-gay stance that is mostly part of the national agenda. What happens from troop to troop is, of course, another thing.It’s a program with a lot to offer and it’s too bad that is is also associated with intolerance and hatred. My best friend from high school is gay and an Eagle Scout. The thought that he is considered unqualified to be a leader is tragic. Don’t they know that most pedophiles are HETEROSEXUAL MEN??? It a proven statistic, but we’ve seen that our country’s leaders have little use for statistics. They’re so inconvenient.
Fortunately, our troop is run by two Democrats and there is a lot of open discussion about stuff. We’re raising our sons NOT to be in lockstep with others who want to do their thinking for them. They know what’s right and marginalization of gay scouts or leaders isn’t right.
what, exactly, are the scouts policies on gay people?
are they written down anywhere?
I mean, if their goal is to be as inclusive as they can be - and, say, 75% of the public disagrees with gay unions and 25% agree with them - aren’t they coming down on the side of what most parents would teach their kids (present company excluded, it seems)? therefore, their teachings would be the most in line with what the typical parent would teach.
If their goal was to be the most liberal and anti-discriminatory - then they would want to seek out and embrace gays as well as other groups (polygamists, etc).
I just don’t know enough about what their policies actually are…or what their goals with those policies are. I have the notion that they are pretty much aligned to ‘christian’ values - so you would expect them to line up behind those morals and not support gay unions, polygamy, yadda, yadda. I don’t think it is discrimation - any more than it is if they didn’t allow girls in (which they don’t right?)
BTW - I did solidly mediocre in the pinewood…but do cherish the memories on building one of the ugliest cars in the world with my dad.
I’m scared about what to do it kid #2 (due Sept 2007) is a boy. I’d want to to experience it all like I did. Making cars, learning knots, making friends. I made Eagle just before 18. I wouldn’t throw that away for anything, but they (BSA) have their opinios and they are entitled. The 1st ammendment says so.
@John, are they written down anywhere? They consider the stament “Morally Straight” their highground. At least that’s my interpretation.
http://www.scouting.org/factsheets/02-503a.html