The Madison Area Soap Box Derby is now in its 72nd year with the Madison West Kiwanis Club sponsoring and hosting the event for the past 16. This is one event that would have been cancelled if not for our club. This year’s event is scheduled for June 26, 2010 right next to Garner Park on Rosa Road.
What is the Soap Box Derby, well it’s been called “The Greatest Amateur Racing Event in the World”, “The Gravity Grand Prix”, and many other expansive euphemisms, but to the more than a million youngsters who’ve participated, it’s just the “Soap Box Derby.”
It was christened such back in 1933, when a Dayton (Ohio) Daily News Photographer encountered three boys racing home-made, engine-less cars down an inclined brick street. Myron E. (“Scottie”) Scott was known at the News for his creative thinking as much as for his photographic ability, and one of the best ideas of his life hit him at that moment: Why not hold a coasting race and award a prize to the winner? He told the boys to come back to the same hill with their friends a week later, and they could participate in a race with a “loving cup”- as it was called in Depression America-as a prize.
The week passed, and nineteen boys arrived at the site in suburban Dayton to contest for honors. One of the cars – which did not win the cup – personified Scottie’s vision of a “Soap Box Derby” racer. Obviously handcrafted, painted black with a big white “7″ on it, the racer had been built by Robert Gravett, son of a Dayton metal stamping plant employee. “Scottie” got his pictures – and “Old No. 7.” as he christened it, would become the symbol of the Derby for the next thirty-five years.
The following year, the race was moved to Akron because of its central location and hilly terrain. In 1936, Akron civic leaders recognized the need for a permanent track site for the youth racing classic and, through the efforts of the Works Progress Administration (WPA), Derby Downs became a reality.
Each year since, youngsters from throughout the United States, and several foreign countries, have raced in their neighborhood Soap Box Derby, driving to earn a spot in the International Soap Box Derby held at Derby Downs. While not everyone earns that chance, every child that participates clearly benefits.
The goals of the Soap Box Derby program have not changed since it began in 1934. They are to teach youngsters some of the basic skills of workmanship, the spirit of competition and the perseverance to continue a project once it has begun. Most importantly, it is a chance to be a kid and HAVE FUN.