All in the cardboard

Sled derby raises money for adventure course

March 05, 2007|by JENNIFER FITCH

MERCERSBURG, PA. - Thirty gallons of glue, six rolls of duct tape and two truckloads of cardboard is "the redneck way to get down a hill," Dan Powell said.

The 15-year-old from Boy Scouts Troop 20 of Boonsboro joined more than a hundred other people who bundled up and milled about the base of Whitetail Resort's Adventure Snow Tubing hill Sunday at the fourth annual Cedar Ridge Wild & Wacky Cardboard Sled Derby.

The Boy Scouts' sled turned in the fastest time, and the trick, Dan said, was simply "not hitting the wall."

Fifty-five sleds constructed from only glue, duct tape, cardboard and paint entered the derby benefiting the Cedar Ridge Adventures Challenge Course near Williamsport. The course is designed to encourage teamwork, goal-setting, decision-making and problem-solving.

Teamwork also was the main ingredient of Sunday's derby.

When the "Slor Nio" team took best of show, Dan clapped and said they deserved it.

"It's not about the ride. It's about the event, the benefit to Cedar Ridge," said Dustin Showalter, a Slor Nio member from Hagerstown. The team led the others in funds raised, with $290 credited to Slor Nio and its giant whale.

The derby typically generates about $4,000 for Cedar Ridge, CEO Dave Swacina said.

"It was our largest year," Swacina said, explaining there were 13 more entries than in 2006.

Designs included a tractor, a tow truck, a mobile Bible, and several cars and pirate ships. Some withstood the trip down the hill, while others fell apart and sent riders crashing into the snow.

The Git-R-Done team, which took an award for original design, mostly pushed its race car down the hill, especially after a "tire" fell off.

The team's driver lamented the cardboard tubes built onto the sled's bottom.

"We needed a flat surface instead of tubes," said Sean, a 17-year-old from Cedar Ridge's Children's Home.

The team has entered a jet, bobsled and tank in previous years and spent two weeks building the car.

Slor Nio worked on its whale for two weeks, after scrapping plans for a giraffe.

"We spent five nights altogether, seven or eight hours at a time," team member Harmony Wilson said.

The giant blue whale - destined to be burned - was loaded onto a trailer by several people at the end of the day.

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