Some collectors choose to collect badges with a particular theme
The catalogue in the Club website now provides a way for thematic collectors to search for particular badges of interest. For example, Pinewood Derby badges.
The Cub page on the Scouts Aotearoa website (https://scouts.nz/cubs/) includes this:
Cub Packs offer learning programmes where children are encouraged to experience, experiment, and explore…
As a Cub you will:
Make new friends and have lots of fun!
Go on exciting new adventures like camping, bushwalking, kayaking, and rock climbing.
Spend time in your community, work in teams with others, and learn about different cultures.
Learn new skills and test your creativity.
Participate in Events such as Pinewood Derby, Mudslide Day, and JOTI (Jamboree On The Internet).
There are local issue Pinewood Derby badges going back many years. It’s only in recent years that there has been a "national" badge available from Scouts Direct. (2018 was the first).
What is the Pinewood Derby?
Pinewood Derby is a fun event which originated in the USA, back in 1953. Cubs, Scouts (and parents, leaders, etc.) race small model wooden cars down a sloped track.
The cars are powered only by gravity. In the weeks leading up to the derby, Cubs partner with an adult helper to build their pinewood derby car using a kit that includes a wooden block, plastic wheels, metal axles, rules and instructions. The kit includes a link to a 16 page guide that walks through everything you need to know to design, build, paint and tune up a car.
See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinewood_derby.
It is also very popular in Canada. Here is a picture of a kit from Canada for an 18-wheeler!
My search of the Club website found the following, although we don’t yet have images for all the badges. I’ve shown a selection of them here, so if you are a Club member you can have a look at the website to see others. (And if you happen to have badge for a NZ Pinewood Derby that isn’t illustrated on the website, please let me know).
Wellington
Paparangi - [undated]
Silverpine - [undated]
Otago
Otago Pinewood Derby [undated 1998]
Otago Pinewood Derby [undated 2000]
Otago Pinewood Derby [undated 2001]
Otago Pinewood Derby [undated 2003]
Pinewood Derby Otago [undated 2004]
Scouting Otago Pinewood Derby [undated 2008]
Pinewood Derby Otago 2010 – white binding
Pinewood Derby Otago 2010 – red binding
LSI Pinewood Derby [undated 2012]
2014 Coastal Otago Pinewood Derby
2016 Coastal Otago Pinewood Derby
2018 Coastal Otago Pinewood Derby
Pinewood Derby Coastal Otago Zone [undated 2020].
Christchurch
Pinewood Derby 2015
2nd Torlesse Pinewood Derby 2016
Torlesse Pegasus Bay Port Hills Pinewood Derby 2017
Torlesse Port Hills Pegasus Bay Pinewood Derby 2018
Torlesse Port Hills Pegasus Bay Pinewood Derby 2019
Pinewood Derby 2020 [Greater Christchurch]
National
Pinewood Derby 2018
Pinewood Derby 2019
Pinewood Derby 2020
Have there been any Pinewood Derby events elsewhere in NZ, for example in Auckland, which have had their own badge?
There are many Pinewood Derby badges from USA, Canada and no doubt other countries, so it should be quite easy to build up a good collection of badges with this theme.
Rex Moir
