What would you spend extra money on?

[CuriousGeorge]

I am going to have about an extra $175 to spend on our district derby.

All of the trophies and patches are taken care of. Pretty much we have a track, about 200ft of the checkered flag pennants (barrier), checkered table clothes, the display stands to hold all of the cars (this is borrowed from another pack and will hold all of the cars). The track has a timer and we have GPRM software.

I am looking to get some decorations or other items that we could use again for future derbies. I am thinking of the Scout photo-op but that's only $10.

Any suggestions of things you think the scouts might like?

PS: What are your opinions on perpetual trophies? I have heard (from the trophy store guys) that they are a bad idea because someone has to keep them without losing them or damaging them for many, many years.

[doct1010]

Check with local car dealerships. They are willing to give away old media. Mostly large cardboard ads, banners ect. Best part it's free.

[pack529holycross]

We have a Pack Champions Cup that rotates, and it has stayed within the Unit successfully for 8 years. It is a nice chronicle of the history of the pack. I recommend it completely.

As far as decorations.... drive to every single parts depot, autoshop, brake service shop, Home Depot, Lowes, and auto dealership you can find... and ask for discarded NASCAR banners. EVERY supplier of auto parts sends banners to their customers to display in their locations. EVERY customer discards these items about twice a year... into the trash.

I picked up about 6 BRAND NEW banners from different suppliers... Think outside the box... look up racing parts companies online, and write them a letter... I sent out 150 emails and ended up with 5 boxes of stuff delivered to my house with hats, ropes, stickers ( kids love stickers ), banners, "hero cards" of drivers and their cars, wind socks, flags, all kinds of FREE stuff....

NEXT... count the number of kids who will be participating in your event, divide by 4, multiply by 45" to get the total amount of checkerflag fabric you will need to make "Racerchiefs". Go to JOANNS Fabrics and buy the fabric - it comes in a 45" wide "bolt" so you will be cutting 45"x45" sections diagonally to make 4 Racerchiefs. EXAMPLE:

50 kids % 4 = ~13 x 45" = 585 inches, or 48 feet, or 16 yards of fabric. At about $3 a yard, you will be spending $50 bucks to give the kids Racerchiefs as shown in the pics.

The other thing you can do that is VERY lowtech and very much worth the money is to create PVC "Fencing" to protect your track. Each 3/4" PVC pipe can be purchased in 8' sections, yielding two 4' horizontal pieces and a 2' vertical post per unit. use T fittings for the connections ( no glue required ), and cut 1' "feet" pieces for the bottom of the vertical posts, also connected with T fittings. to get the fencing to wrap around the end of your track, use (4) 45degree fittings, with (4) 2" "stubbed" cut pieces of PVC in this order: Tee ( off your last straight section ), STUBB, 45fitting, one straight 4' piece, 45fitting, STUBB, TEE ( with Vert support below ), 4' straight, TEE ( with Vert support below ), STUBB, 45fitting, 4' straight piece, 45fitting, STUBB, then TEE of your last straight section on the other side of the track. I think this arrangement yielded about an 8' wide barrier. We offset the track to one side to give the Finish line shuttle scout a single path to and from the finish line.

[TAL]

Do you have a small PA system of some kind for the derby and or other events.
I believe a great pa system could be purchased for about that price.
How about some of those 4"x6" checkered plastic flags for all participants .