DERBY PATCH — Joe Kovaleski, longtime chair of the Two Chiefs District Pinewood Derby, holds a picture of what is this year’s derby patch, which is given to all participants in the annual event. The derby racing begins at 9 a.m. Saturday at the Fort Steuben Mall in Steubenville with family racing on Friday, beginning at 6 p.m. -- Janice Kiaski

STEUBENVILLE — The 2019 Boy Scouts of America Two Chiefs District’s Pinewood Derby next weekend is expected to involve 14 Cub Scout packs — two of them new ones — and as many as 150 racers.

And in that mix of Cub Scouts on Saturday, there will be some girls, a first for the local event, according to longtime Chairman Joe Kovaleski.

“We do have girls participating, yes,” Kovaleski said. “Right now I think there are somewhere around 12 girls registered in the different Cub Scout troops and hopefully we have most of them race in the Saturday race.”

The female presence on Saturday is a reflection of what’s part of a bigger picture as the Boy Scouts of America announced in October 2017 that it will be fully inclusive for girls for the first time in its more than 100-year history.

“I welcome them,” Kovaleski said in overviewing what’s involved in the upcoming racing event for “unpowered, unmanned, miniature cars.” It unfolds at the Fort Steuben Mall’s center court beginning at 9 a.m. on Saturday.

All Cub Scouts — Lion, Tiger, Wolf, Bear and first- and second-year Webelos — may participate in the derby, even if they didn’t win in their pack races. The entry fee is $5 if received by Tuesday. It is $8 afterward, but names and fees must be received by Kovaleski by Friday in order to participate.

Kovaleski can be contacted by phone at (740) 632-7500. Registration names also can be e-mailed to him at josephkovaleski@sbcglobal.net. Checks can be made out to Joe Kovaleski and mailed or dropped off at 167 Rosslyn Blvd., Steubenville OH 43952

Trophies will be awarded to the final six winners. Derby patches are given to every racer, and race ribbons are awarded to the heat winners.

Last year’s winners were: First, Jacob Ramsey, Pack 3 in Steubenville; second, Jack Lawson, Pack 39, New Cumberland; third, Andrew Sikora, Pack 39; fourth, Baric Bernhart, Pack 141, Toronto; fifth, Austin Ocobock, Pack 334, Weirton; and sixth, George Zadanski, Pack 415, Wintersville.

The Two Chiefs District, Ohio River Valley Council, encompasses Brooke and Hancock counties in West Virginia and Jefferson and Harrison counties in Ohio. “It covers from New Manchester on the West Virginia side down to Bethany and on the Ohio side from Wellsville, the farthest north, down into Martins Ferry, so it covers a good chunk of area,” Kovaleski said.

“On Saturday we get started at 9 a.m., and it ends somewhere in the vicinity of 5ish, depending on how many kids race and stuff like that,” he said.

For spectators who have never witnessed a Pinewood Derby, what might they expect to see?

“Lots of people,” responded Kovaleski. “Next to Black Friday, it’s probably the most people that are at the mall,” he said. “It brings a lot of people in there, because the Cub Scouts bring parents, grandparents, brothers, sisters, aunts and uncles and friends. It’s real busy in the morning race part where we are narrowing down the racing field. We do triple eliminations on all the races all through the entire day, so each Cub Scout gets to race his car a minimum of three times in the morning, and then we pick three winners out of each heat of races, and then those move on to the afternoon races, which they’re again broken down into triple elimination until we get down to the final six racers at the end of the day,” he explained.

“We have two new Cub Scout packs, one in Brilliant and one in Wellsville, that are in our district, and so that’s a welcome addition,” said Kovaleski, whose wife, Suzan, serves as co-chair. “In addition to my wife and me, we usually have about 12 to 14 other people who are involved as volunteers to run this race,” he said.

Overall, the derby involves an age range spanning from kindergarten through age 11.

While the actual derby race is Saturday, the Family Pinewood Derby races are a night-before attraction. Again this year there will be two family races on Friday, beginning at 6 p.m. at the mall. It is for 11-year-old and older registered Boy Scout, Explorer, Adult Scouter or a family member of a Scout in the Two Chiefs District of the Ohio River Valley Council.

The entry fee is $5 per participant per race (stock/hot rod) at the registration location, or registration can be done the night of the race. No late fees will be charged, but participants are encouraged to register early.

The first family race will consist of cars built following all of the regular Cub Scout rules.

The second race will be the hot rod class in which speed wheels, axles, etc., are permitted. Anyone can enter the second race for an additional $5 fee. Trophies will be presented to the final six winners in both races.

Last year’s family race stock class winners were: First, Nick Roski, Pack 14; second, Ed Hill, Troop 415; third, Joe Kovaleski; fourth, Kyle Johnson, Troop 737; fifth, Suzan Kovaleski; and sixth, Jessy Reynolds, Pack 49.

Last year’s family race hot rod class winners were: First, Joe Kovaleski; second, Suzan Kovaleski; third, Karen Hill, Troop 415; fourth, Robert Kovaleski; fifth, Ed Hill, Troop 415; and sixth, Nick Roski, Pack 14.

“It adds a little to the event and makes it a little more family oriented,” Kovaleski said, explaining that the Friday family races evolved out of what once were adult races.

“People are welcome to come and watch,” Kovaleski extended an invitation for either or both days. “Friday night we usually start signing people up around 6 with races starting between 6 and 7. We race until pretty much 9 when the mall closes.”

“For the the family race, we have a stock race, which is just cars that follow the same rules as the Cub Scouts do on Saturday, and there are six trophies, first through sixth place on that, and then there is a hot rod race where it is almost anything goes with the car other than putting a motor in it,” he said. “There’s a bunch of rules that can be bent for the hot rod race, we call it. They can change different wheels, different axles, different body styles and stuff like that. It’s just an extra little added competition for a handful of people. It used to be 10 or 12 years ago, we had a couple of the packs they had some adults that really were gung ho into participating in that, and their boys moved on, and they moved on, but there’s still a lot of people that say, hey we can do that,” he said.

Many of the Boy Scouts who race Friday night used to race as a Cub Scout and got “the Pinewood Derby fever,” Kovaleski said.

“It’s a good family event and a busy day on Saturday,” said Kovaleski, who has been involved in the Pinewood Derby since 1987 when his sons were in Scouting. “A few years later I became chairman,” he said. “People say how long are you going to keep going. My wife and I enjoy doing it, and it’s for the kids, and that’s the whole thing. You have to have something for the kids to do other than sit and play video games all day long.”

He said he enjoys the camaraderie of working with the Scouts, Cub Scouts and their parents. “It’s something that we need, something for the kids to do, and so we’ve just kept up with it.”

Throughout the years of the event, Kovaleski has seen a lot of different cars that are made by the participants, typically a project that involves assistance from an adult helper or relative, for instance.

“One year a car was made to look like a big, fat pencil like you would have in kindergarten,” he said. “We’ve had some neat looking dinosaurs, various assorted trucklike cars and some pretty fancy sleek race cars. It’s all across the board. There are some really neat looking cars that show up,” he said.

Asked what he’d like to get across to readers about what the Pinewood Derby is or isn’t, Kovaleski noted, “It’s about competition, yes, and competition among youngsters other than sports. There are more things in life than sports,” he said. “A lot of parents wonder what can my son do because everybody doesn’t do sports, and this gives an opportunity for kids to do something else.”

The Pinewood Derby has been a local tradition for many years and used to be held at The Hub in downtown Steubenville.

(Kiaski can be contacted at jkiaski@heraldstaronline.com.)