Rain Gutter Regatta

The past few years the Rain Gutter Regatta has been a church event for us.  The 8-11 year old girls have participated along side our cub scouts.  There has been a big picnic and everyone has been involved.  This year we are going to have it be a pack meeting activity.  We are also trying something different with the boats this year.  Normally we use the BSA boats, but to save some money we are going to try out soap boats this year.  I'll let you know how that goes when we get there!

We used to just use the actual rain gutters for our regatta.  When the BSA switched over to the trimarans though the gutters were just a little too skinny.  Handy husband to the rescue again!  My husband built our current gutters from scratch.  He utilized the sides of our old gutters, some plastic lining, some wood, screws, and some caulking.  And voila!  New gutters that fit the trimarans perfectly.  They are slightly bigger and bulkier than the old gutters, but they are also more stable.  For setting the gutters up we use some saw horses my husband and the Webelos made during one of their activities.  They needed to make something useful and boy are these useful!  Here is our set-up:

When it comes to trophies the Google Sketch-up comes out again, along with the milling machine, and some paint.  When it came to painting the backs of the trophies I thought of a real boat race.  I used that as my inspiration.  A boat race starts in the day, can run through sunset and into the evening.  Hence the morning, sunset, and night trophies for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd places.  These also are made to be display trophies.  So there are grooves for the trimaran to sit in.  Then the boat is sailing in front of the sky.  We will have to tweak our trophies some this year since we are using different boats, but we will keep them as similar as possible.  

The last issue we had when it came to the regatta is what do you do with all those boats?  Seriously, what do you do with them?  Well if you are married to my husband you have a dry dock built. The dry dock was built using random pieces of wood that we had in the garage.  Thus our dry dock was born.  It can fit 16 on the top and the bottom shelf for a total of 32 boats.  Much better than the previous year when we threw them all in a plastic bucket!  For storage purposes with the removal of a couple screws in the side panel it all compacts down.

Pre Dry Dock Days

Post Dry Dock Days

Pinewood Derby

Thankfully the Pinewood Derby isn't too hard for us to pull off.  Since we are LDS, our Stake puts on the race.  The track and software to keep track of the times is provided, along with training to run everything.  We provide the scale for weigh-in, awards, and the fun.  My husband used Google Sketch-up to write a program for our awards.  He just has to update the year, but otherwise it is ready to go.  He uses a milling machine to cut out the lettering after he has cut the wood to size.  Afterwards he gives it a clear coat and paints out the front face in either gold, silver, or bronze depending on the award.  The top portion of the trophies is a display base for the boy's cars.  So it is a two in one!  The trophy becomes something functional, which as a parent is great.  Our boy won 2nd place as a Webelos and loves having his car displayed this way.

That takes care of the big three awards.  What about the rest of the boys?  Obviously not everyone can win a trophy.  All our boys do receive a certificate and a chocolate bar.  They all worked hard making their cars, so we do give them something to acknowledge all their hard work.  

This is the certificate we give the boys.  We mount it on blue and yellow card stock so that it has a little more weight to it.  We have done 8" x 10" before, but this year we went with a 5" x 7" one which seemed a little more manageable.  The hard part is coming up with what the award title will be for each car.

A piece of paper is all well and good, but we decided what the boys really wanted was chocolate!  So we made up Pinewood Derby chocolate bar wrappers.  We just update the year on it each time.  I used Microsoft Publisher to make the wrappers.They fit perfectly on a Hershey's bar.  We just use the plain to avoid any nut allergies.

Lastly, what do you do with all the kids during check-in time?  The boys are busy with last minute car prep, but the siblings are bored.  So after searching the internet, we found this printable.  It kept the kids busy and from running rampant all over the building.  As we want you to visit the website that made the printable, you can find it here:  http://www.papertoys.com/nascar.htm

Just a few steps before the race made for a successful race and happy Cub Scouts (and siblings) at the end of the day.

Thrown into the Deep End

I became the Cub Master for our Pack in January 2014.  The following week was the Pinewood Derby, followed closely the next month by the Blue and Gold Banquet.  I won't lie, I almost freaked out!  Then my husband, who was the Webelos leader, told me that everything was already planned out.  I just had to show up and be in charge.  Sure, not a problem.  And so began the craziness of the last two years.  At this point we have had 3 Pinewood Derbys, 3 Blue and Gold Banquets, 3 Rain Gutter Regattas, and approximately 12 pack meetings.  Every time there is a frantic question running through my head of "what are you going to do this time???".  We want our activities to be fun and to include the whole family.  So far, so good.  As I continue on my quest for fun pack meetings I will share what we have done/are doing here.  I find that as a Cub Master figuring out these meetings is the hardest part of the job.  Once everything is figured out and in place it seems to run fairly smoothly.  You just have to figure out what it is that you are going to do.  Often easier said then done.  I hope that you find this blog useful.