HOULTON, Maine — The Houlton Rotary Club met on Monday March 27, for its luncheon meeting and heard a presentation on the Soap Box Derby.
President Matthew Nightingale reminded the group that next week’s program will be to play Bingo in preparation for the annual Bingo Night. On Thursday, April 6, the doors to the St. Anthony’s Hall at St. Mary’s Catholic Church will open at 5:30 p.m. with Early Bird games at 6:30 and regular games at 7 p.m.
There was one guest present, Lucas Grant, who was a guest of Rotarian Nancy Ketch.
Nightingale introduced guest speakers, Rotarians Frank Thompson and Andy Mooers. The two gave a presentation on Soap Box Derby, which included a slide show presentation. Thompson defined the derby motto of “Gravity Powered and STEM Driven.” Science, technology, English and math are all involved in the sport. The “Thrill of the Hill” is a popular slogan.
Houlton has had the nation’s largest local races for five years in a row. Boys and girls from the ages of 8 to 20 can participate in Stock, Superstock and Master races. These categories are determined by the age of the participant. Grant, the Rotary guest, also stated he had experience racing at all three levels.
The first Houlton racer to go to Akron, Ohio for the National competition was Wayne Miller who qualified in the year 1966 after winning in Bangor, Maine. The original Houlton Soap Box Derby races took place on Drake’s Hill. Taking over a neighborhood presented its challenges with volunteers setting up and taking down the race course.
Today, the Wayne Miller Derby Hill has its own campus with a building at the top of the hill that was built in the year 2000. The Houlton Rotary Club helped to build the structure with a $7,500 donation. This derby hill is the largest local race site in the country, according to Mooers.
With “safety first” before any race the pre-race “tech” time is imperative. This is when cars are prepared with the tools necessary to do the job such as allen wrenches to tighten things up. The car must be lined up for aerodynamics for the gravity race down the hill. Weather is a factor and always considered for safety first. Mooers explained the A phase of the sport which is when wheels are swapped out per heat. Using standardized wheels with precision ball bearings, modern gravity powered cars begin the race at a ramp on the top of the hill and can expect speeds of up to 35 miles per hour.
At the Houlton derby hill an electric eye timing device is used to measure the winner. Each heat of the race lasts 30 seconds and races can be either single or double elimination.
World championship finals have been held since 1934 in Akron, Ohio. There one can see the old cars used in racing. Thousands of people are involved, up to 6,700 people attended last year. Many racers from the Houlton races have gone onto Akron. The website is soapboxderby.org for the Akron race information.
For the Houlton derby information the website is also soapboxderby.org but add Houlton to the search. This year’s race is slated for Saturday, June 17.
