The Fast and the Precarious will blaze down Crystal Ridge Drive yet again.
For the 33rd year, the Rotary Club of Okotoks is holding its annual Soap Box Derby with this year's edition speeding into town on June 3.
“This is the event that we’re probably the proudest of as a Rotary club because we’ve been doing it for so long,” said Trish Henderson, Okotoks Rotary’s community service director and derby chairperson. “To see the kids come out, the excitement of the day, is worth all of it.”
Despite the simple goal of travelling in a straight line down a hill on a cart, racers take varying approaches to designing their soap box, ranging from speed racers to rolling spectacles.
“There was one, it was a dragon, they had a heck of a time getting it up on the ramps,” Henderson said. “I think the cutest I’ve ever seen was a little bathtub where she had bubbles going behind her.
“The look of terror she had going down the ramp, but she never forgot to have her bubbles going every time.”
That creativity and ingenuity never ceases to impress – or amuse.
“I love it when they make them into a theme, because they’ve put a lot of thought into it,” Henderson said. “Our grandson’s friend was in the Mario cart one year. He couldn’t even make it down the hill and he didn’t care – he was having the time of his life, he was just so excited to be there.”
Getting on little more than some plywood and wheels can irk the kids a bit at first, she added, but that quickly gives way to sheer joy – and maybe competitive spirit.
“The kids get up on the ramp and the first one, they’re absolutely terrified, and by the fourth run they’re just having the time of their life,” Henderson said.
“I remember this little girl last year – she must have been eight or nine – she had gotten out of her cart and another girl didn’t stop and ran over her toe.
“I asked if she was able to race again and she said, ‘Well of course I am, she just should not have run over my toe.’ She was just so serious.”
Entering the race for the first time is is Carson Szabo, taking up the mantle from his dad James, who took part in the very same soap box race during his childhood.
“We went out and watched last year and he was really excited to get into it this year,” James said. “It’s just something cool to pass down; me and my dad did it, now me and my son get to do it.”
The two have got their soap box kit from Rotary, built it together, and now Carson is working on a paint design to customize it.
“My dad found a hill to take him on to test drive it a couple weekends ago, and he’s a natural born driver,” James said.
Over the years, of which Henderson has been involved for 11, Rotary has been able to slowly grow, evolve and tweak the event into a well-oiled machine.
“Each year we look at it and try to improve it in some small way to make it more efficient,” Henderson said. “This year we offered workshop for first-time cart builders to get a little bit of help, and we certainly would help anybody at any point if they have questions on how to build their cart.
“There’s a lot of safety there, it’s always our biggest concern.”
For those who perhaps don't have time to build a racer from scratch, the Rotary does have kits available, with approximately 15 remaining as of May 12.
Uptake has also been quite early this year, with 77 already registered as of May 12.
To contrast, last year’s races saw about 88 racers in total.
"We’ve never had this many registered a month away,” Henderson said, adding there’s plenty of new interest to replace those aging out. “We have a lot of new drivers – the last two years we seem to have a cycle of newer drivers.”
They take new registrations until the day before, she added, but always encourages racers to get their entry in earlier.
All of the money raised through the Soap Box Derby goes back into community initiatives for youth, including their Rotary Alberta Youth Entrepreneurship Camp, KidSport, and their scholarships, which are given out on a needs-based basis.
The Okotoks Rotarians are also bringing back their Leaders of Tomorrow program in the same capacity as before.
For more information or to register, visit okotoksrotary.ca.
