The soap box derby is alive again in Yorkton. Big Brothers Big Sisters of Yorkton and Area, with the support of SaskCulture and SaskEnergy, has revived the old tradition with the Big Brothers Big Sisters Soap Box Derby. The inaugural event brought out five BBBS teams and one crew from the community to race down Roslyn Ave.
Irma Van de Bon-Nichol, executive director of BBBS Yorkton and Area, says that bringing the soap box derby back was an idea that came from the kids themselves as well as the mentors in the organization.
“We talk to the children we serve, and our bigs, and we listen. We thought it would be a really awesome activity for people to work interactively with the children, and to let them experience building something right from the grass roots up. They were part of the build, part of the paint, part of the racing and running the day.”
While assisted by people with some expertise, Van de Bon-Nichol says that it was an event that was lead by the children. For example, the painting of the cars, while the children were assisted by Don Stein, Darwin Keshane and Jeanne Spilak, the design of the cars was driven by the kids and what they wanted to see on their team vehicles.
The gravity-based racers also had a good location thanks to the hill on Roslyn Ave. Van de Bon-Nichol says it was the ideal location to host the event, with the right amount of speed to keep things entertaining while staying safe.
The organization plans to grow the event each year, and the plan for 2016 is to see more teams from the community taking part and building cars of their own.
Those with long memories might remember that the Scouts were the last group to run a soap box derby event in the city. Van de Bon-Nichol says that they are optimistic that the Scouts will again be a part of the race in coming years.
“A couple of the leaders we have talked to are excited about putting this on again and joining us in future years.”
The goal of the event was to have a fun day for kids, and they achieved what they set out to do in that respect.
“The children are having a blast, and we realize how much they like to be part of the whole experience.”
