From Staff Reports

More than 40 members of Van Alstyne's Pack 6 Cub Scouts participated in the annual Pinewood Derby recently, showing off their racing and building skills in one of the most popular of all Cub Scout events.

While the scouts do receive an assist from the parents when it comes to the power tools, by and large, the scouts carve, sand, paint, glue and build their own cars, which this year included a variety of themes, from a "Star Wars" car to a dinosaur car to one shaped like an arrow.

The cars race down a nearly 50-foot track, three at a time. Each scout races six times, twice in each lane of the track, to ensure all cars have an equal opportunity in every lane. Consistency is the key, and in this year's event, it was the two Bear Dens - made up of third graders - who had the most consistent racers.

Each Den had a first, second and third place winner, which were determined in a race-off, after the top three times were computed from the first six heats. The top three times overall came from the two Bear Dens, and so the Bear Den race-off also determined the first, second and third place overall winners for the event. These were Rick Mustard, Brendan Murphy and Tyler Duren.

Other winners at each Den level were: Tiger Den (first graders) - Miguel Tarango, Calder Laessig and Parker Ritchie; Wolf Den (second graders) - Aaron Ethridge, Samuel Patty and Ernesto Alonzo; and Webelos (fourth-fifth graders) - Riley Lay, Nick Cain and John Paul Cason.

The scouts have been busy with several other activities in the community recently, including the annual Scouting for Food drive held every February. This year, Pack 6 Cub Scouts and Troop 44 Boy Scouts worked together to collect 1,671 food items for local food pantries. The Wolf Den also pitched in to do some sweeping and scraping at the Van Alstyne Habitat for Humanity project, which was much appreciated by this home's future owner.

The scouts also have a busy spring to look forward to. This year is the 100th anniversary of scouting, so the annual Blue & Gold banquet to be held this Saturday, Mar. 6, will be a gala occasion, with as many as 200 scouts and family members in attendance. During the banquet, the Cub Scouts who have completed their achievements toward becoming Boy Scouts will participate in the Arrow of Light Ceremony. This is a great tradition in scouting, and the number of boys participating this year is a testament to the great heritage scouting has here in Van Alstyne.