Many packs have lost access to meeting venues due to COVID-19 concerns. Schools and churches are not letting outside groups into their buildings and it is hard to find a space big enough. Now with COVID cases and deaths on the rise in Kane County and Illinois, it is not even safe to gather for a traditional Pinewood Derby. 

We all want to keep each other safe and minimize the risk for our Scouts.

Ottawa District and Three Fires Council are offering a virtual Pinewood Derby option that will solve these challenges for your Pack.  As one Scout leader recently said, Cub Scouts without a Pinewood Derby is like Christmas without Santa! This provides the scouts an opportunity to still have a Pack Pinewood Derby in these challenging times.

This Leader’s Guide will explain how it will work and what you need to do for your Pack to have a great Pinewood Derby despite COVID. 

Packs can sign up to run their Pinewood Derby in T-Lodge at Camp Big Timber during the last two weeks in February 2021. We will offer 2-hour time-slots for each Pack, have an aluminum 6-lane track set up, with start and finish gates, and track racing software tested and ready to go. We will also have video equipment on hand to record these races for distribution to your pack.

This event is being run as a council event and is open to all units in Three Fires Council. As this is a service to help packs run their races and is not replacing district races there is a $100 registration fee to cover costs. This fee covers the IT equipment and software to record the races.