ALTON - The annual Piasa District of the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts of Southern Illinois Pinewood Derby should attract a large number of entries and spectators Saturday morning and afternoon at Alton Square Mall.
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The boys will have their races from 9 a.m. to noon, while the Girl Scouts will follow with registration at 1:30 p.m., followed by racing.
The boys expect at least 50 racers, while the girls have 75 already preregistered.
The Piasa District of the Boy Scouts chairman for the event Joel Simansky said this is always a great event.
“It is great fun for both the boys and girls,” Simansky said. “We have some girls in Boy Scouts and also the Girl Scouts who will compete. The idea of this originally was to give the kids and parents something to do together. Sometimes it is a dad or mom or grandparents who help build the cars.”
Simansky said he wants all the participants to be competitive, so about five years ago, he started a builder clinic for some of the youth who did not have a parent or grandparent who could help build their entries. He said the clinic has made such a difference for those youth.
“We have a bunch of helpers at the clinic for the kids,” he said.
Jennifer Melton coordinates the Girl Scouts of Southern Illinois Unit 101 entries in the competition. She said there are participants all the way from kindergarten to 11th grade. The older girls are all combined in one category race, she said.
She thanked the Boy Scouts for allowing them to use their track to practice.
“What I love is the camaraderie this builds,” she said. “The girls show such good sportsmanship and cheer on everybody else when they are racing. It is a great experience for them that they get from building the car.”
