The technology has changed since the first Pinewood Derby ran in 1953, but the attitudes of the Scouts involved have remained the same.

A group of Bow Cub Scouts gathered at the community center on Saturday, Jan. 12, for this year’s annual event, and everyone involved came out a winner.

Each Scout was given a pinewood car kit in early December and, with the help of a parent, turned it into a colorful racer with signature designs.

Cub Scout Kieran Fahey, 10, built his car to look like a nacho and was excited to participate in his fourth Pinewood Derby.

“It’s one of my favorite parts of being a Scout, and definitely the most fun part,” said Fahey. “I liked designing it and painting it almost as much as racing it.”

Sawyer Duhaime, 8, was taking part in his second competition, and his snake car design came out with the Strangest Shape award.

“I was excited for the whole week, and we worked on the car a lot,” said Duhaime.

“Building it and the race were really fun, and I learned some different things having raced last year. I learned to buy weights instead of finding some in my garage.”

The first round included about 30 races, with each car getting multiple runs down the track, as a computer system recorded the times before displaying them on a projector screen.

After all the races were completed, each participant was given a ribbon with a unique award for their car. But winning wasn’t necessarily the most important aspect of the day.

“With the Scouts, they just learn a lot at every meeting,” said Scout leader Andrew Richardson. “I don’t think there is any organization that is better in terms of teaching character, leadership and teamwork.”

Cubmaster Randy Knepper of Bow Troop 75 said the Pinewood Derby is something Scouts enjoy more than any other event.

“It’s by far our biggest event of the year, and the kids really look forward to it every year,” said Knepper. “It’s great because everyone comes out a winner, there are no losers.”

Sam Neff’s sporty looking car notched the fasted time of the day, as he blazed down the track in only 2.46 seconds, followed in a close second by Drew Wunderli’s time of 2.498 seconds.

Sean Leary had the third fastest time of the day at 2.566.

Knepper said the race also presents another opportunity. “The cars require tools, so you want to make sure the kids don’t get hurt. It’s a good opportunity to have fun, and spend some time with their fathers doing projects together,” he said. “Scouts gives kids a different range of things to do, and it really fits the mold of the variety of things that kids in town like to do.”