Alpine District

MARCH 6, 2010 - SAMMAMISH, WA.  The Pinewood Derby, probably the most beloved and well known of Cub Scout events, began with one Parent’s idea in one small Cub Scout Pack in the 1950’s and spread like wildfire nationwide. Currently, Pinewood Derby races are held in almost all Cub Scout Packs. Some Districts provide a Championship Derby Race for even more fun and excitement.

On The evening of March 6th, our local Alpine District held it's largest Pinewood Derby ever at Eastlake High School in Sammamish. Over 100 Cub Scouts competed for prizes in their age rank divisions as well as for the overall Grand Champion. The Alpine District includes 33 Cub Scout Packs and stretches from Newcastle to North Bend and from Sammamish down to the northern part of Renton. “This is an extremely special Derby, and coincides with the 100th Anniversary of the birth of Scouting in the United States. We are very proud of these boys and their participation in this extremely fun event” said Philip Boynton, Alpine District Chair & MC of the event.

The Cub Scout program is designed to build values and character in elementary school age boys. Another such Volunteer and fellow MC, Julie Reed, stated “The Pinewood Derby in particular promotes Sportsmanship, Citizenship, Personal Achievement, and Family Understanding. “We take great pride in partnering with parents to reinforce these fine values in the young boys of our communities. It was wonderful to watch the boys open the evening with a Flag Ceremony and then work through the ups and downs of both winning and losing. As Lord Baden Powell, the Founder of Boy Scouting was fond of saying, ‘Scouting is FUN with a purpose’, and that is certainly what we’ve seen here tonight.”

The Event organizer, John Eberhardt, explained “This represents a great opportunity to teach our Scouts through an exciting Scouting event, and I am so happy to be serving with all the other dedicated volunteers that make events like this possible.”

The Scouts with the fastest cars at this year’s event are:

• 1st Place: Trevor H. (Pack 200, Issaquah)
     and his car, the “Silver Bullet”
• 2nd Place: Jacob A. (Pack 571, Sammamish)
     and his car, “Dragon Fire”
• 3rd Place: Ben A. (Pack 571, Sammamish)
     and his car, “GTS”

The Alpine District is part of the Chief Seattle Council of the Boy Scouts of America. Cub Scouts learn values and build character, while serving their local communities and participating in fun events like Pinewood Derbies. Serving nearly 2.8 million young people between 7 and 20 years of age at more than 290 councils throughout the United States and its territories, the Boy Scouts of America is the nation’s foremost youth program of character development and values-based leadership training.

For more information, contact Christina Coonradt, Alpine District Executive via email at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it & phone: (206) 902-2309, or John Dietz, Alpine District Membership Chair at (425) 204-0234.