Last night we had our 2nd Annual Savory Ponds Ward Pinewood Derby. We have been working hard over the last three months to prepare for this exciting event. The oldest four (Steven, Myself, Hannah and John) each made our own car.
Steven: Last year Steven's masterpiece was a dragon. It looked fantastic! How could he improve on a dragon? Well, last year, his dragon was so awesome that there was no place to put any weights in, so it was severely underweight (2.3 oz) and couldn't reach the end of the track. So... This year he figured out a way to add weight. The story is this: Dragons like gold. Dragons like to guard gold. His dragon decided to eat gold to keep it safe... and died of gold poisoning (and maybe starvation since Steven never fed it anything.) This year's car is a dragon skeleton with gold weights inside. Steven was the only one of us who injured himself enough in the making of his car, to require stitches.
MaeLyn: This was my first pinewood derby car to create ever. I wanted to do something kind of different, but not too difficult, so I made a covered wagon, complete with luggage. I made a canvas top for it, but took it off before the races so it wouldn't slow it down too much. It was really slow anyway... I think maybe it was being pulled by oxen because it was "oh... so... slow." It looked cool though. (Hannah made the little man to go with it. Pioneer Bob!) I was the only one of us who was not injured in the making of my car.
Hannah: As her first real experience with a carving knife, Hannah had high aspirations. She decided to make a green snake on a brown dirt platform. She named it Snaker. She cut two fingers in the making of her car and still has a small scar, about a month later.
John: He made a green monster with an open mouth. He used a saw to get his basic shape, then carved the mouth out by hand. He was the only one of us to use a saw. All the others were chiseled out completely by hand. John got a small cut on his finger. He got to wear a "Toy Story" bandaid.
We arrived at the church building, got weighed in (most of us had to add a little weight to achieve 5 ounces) and ate dinner. Then the excitement began! Our names and car numbers were called and we got to go up and place our car on the track.
Then the lever was pulled and the cars raced down the ramp. Judges sitting at the end of the track determined, with the help of a digital score board, in what order the cars reached the finish line. Each car got to race four times.
None of our cars was particularly fast, and I'm kind of grateful because the prizes given out were hubcaps. Each person received a certificate though: Steven for "Most Creative", Me for "Most Old Fashioned", Hannah for "Most Ferocious" and apparently they ran out of certificates before they got to John, but they promised to bring him one on Sunday. Steven also got a prize for spending too much time on his car, the "Get a Grip" award. It was the inside of a car door.
In a family race between just our cars (after the awards and everything), Hannah and Steven tied. In a race-off between the two, Steven won by a hair. My wagon came in last place.
It was a really fun activity. I can't wait until next year.
Good wholesome fun, minus the injuries :)
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