Humor will not be tolerated!! -Portia

How do wards buy pinewood derby tracks? I asked my bishop and he was as stumped as I am. Our ward currently rents one when the time comes, but it takes such a bite out of my primary budget I'd like to just buy a nice one and have it pay for itself in ten years in the interest of being thrifty. I can't set aside part of my budget every year and save up for one since Church budgets are typically "use it or lose it." I can't do a fundraiser for anything other than a youth camp. I know you can build a track yourself, but wooden tracks tend to be really heavy and bulky, which is why I have my eye on a nice four lane track made from ABS plastic. I know it can be done since my last ward had a state-of-the-art track, but I don't know where the money came from. Can I just ask everyone to chip in $20 bucks? I told my bishop I was tempted to buy a track myself and have the primary reimburse me over ten years, and he suggested I actually buy one, rent it out, and if it hasn't paid for itself by the time I move, sell it to someone else. I might do it. So, thoughts? Anecdotal stories? How do wards or stakes buy pinewood derby tracks?

So, my dad says you can get donations, or apparently you can roll over some of the money if the bishop and stake president agree to it.

How much do they normally charge to rent them? I just checked out a couple places and I had no idea that pinewood derby tracks were so expensive.

I'm not 100% sure of the cost since we combine with another ward for cub scouts and they split up the reimbursements between us, but this year our ward paid around $140. Everyone else seems to agree it's a good deal since the guy who owns the track comes and sets it up and calls the races and I think even provides trophies. But when your annual budget is $550, parting with $140 of it (plus the cost of cars) in February kind of sucks. So far this year 40% of my budget has gone to boys representing 9% of my Primary. The track I want to buy is $1300, which, yikes, but I'm at least thinking long-term.

Yowza! Maybe you could get the whole stake in on it, or maybe even get two stakes to share. Aren't the trophies a little unnecessary? I would think some ribbons would work just fine and cost a whole lot less. At least you have an idea of what you can charge to rent out the track to other stakes/wards once you have your own.

I think it would be fun, since 40% of your budget has gone to 9% of the kids, if you also held a girls pinewood derby perhaps later in the day. Or at least include the Achievement Day girls in the regular pinewood derby. (They still do Achievement Days right?)

I'm definitely going to extend an invitation to the Activity Day girls to participate next year.

Serious question: will Pinewood Derby still happen if the LDS Church pulls out of the Boy Scouts?

Portia wrote:Serious question: will Pinewood Derby still happen if the LDS Church pulls out of the Boy Scouts?

Probably not. If boys want to do Cub Scouts they'll have to join a school group. I'm glad you brought that up. I should really wait for a decision from the Church before I try to overthrow the renting plan.

Genuine Article wrote:

Portia wrote:Serious question: will Pinewood Derby still happen if the LDS Church pulls out of the Boy Scouts?

Probably not. If boys want to do Cub Scouts they'll have to join a school group. I'm glad you brought that up. I should really wait for a decision from the Church before I try to overthrow the renting plan.

Yeah, sounds like the wisest course of action.

I was genuinely befuddled about the angry PR letter: the policy has some fairly clear religious exemptions, so.

I'm so happy that you're thinking about building your own. I get a little upset about cub scout budgets too.

I was confused too; I'm kind of waiting on the official GA statement to see what plays out.