Our first Pinewood Derby | Family Photography, Sammamish WA

On the 5th of February our family, and yes, I say our family, took part in our first ever Pinewood Derby race. I say "our family" because it was definitely a family project and event and we had so much fun with it. Not to mention the fact that the actual event took place on our 10th Wedding Anniversary!

Here is a bit about the history of the event from www.pinewoodderby.org:

The first Pinewood Derby was held in 1953 by Cub Scout Pack 280C of Manhattan Beach, California, operated by the North American Aviation Management Club. It was the brainchild of Cubmaster Donald Murphy. The derby, publicized in Boys' Life in October 1954, was an instant and enduring hit. The magazine offered plans for the track and car, which featured "four wheels, four nails, and three blocks of wood."

The rules of the very first race stated: "The Derby is run in heats - two to four cars starting by gravity from a standstill on a track and run down a ramp to a finish line unladen. The track is an inclined ramp with wood strips down the center to guide the cars. " The cars still roll that way today.

It all started with a simple block of wood for us, which we first proceeded to dry out in the oven. Then Alex and Ben went off to cut and sand that block into a shape that resembled a race car, I was very impressed at the outcome. Alex chose a shape from one of the templates we found online. Once that was done we went to the shop and decided on the color. Alex chose to do a Seahawks themed car and his idea was to put a Russell Wilson Mini-figure he already had in the cockpit - clever young man! So of course we got a tin of metallic blue spray paint. Before painting, Ben added lead weights to the body to get the perfect legal weight and then I did the spray painting. Once it was dry, we added some stickers and Russell got in. And it looked, actually still looks fantastic. Alex was so excited and proud of the finished result. His car was called "Seahawk Racer".

The car ended up doing really, really well. First of all it was voted "2015 Pack 571 Pinewood Derby Overall Favorite Car" by all the contestants and then it won 1st place in his Den and came in 4th place overall - not bad going! Gooooo Seahawk Racer!