The Soap Box Derby was run this past weekend with 33 kids from neighboring communities racing their home built racers down Dana Street in Mountain View at speeds up to 27mph. By the end of the day Sunday, a 9 year old Celeste Greaves of Mountain View, and a 13 year old Tom Nelson of San Jose, were crowned Champions in their respective divisions and will be representing Palo Alto and Mountain View in Akron Ohio next month for a shot at the "World Championship".

We have been getting phone callls from out of State since Monday from families involved in Soap Box Derby racing, asking us if we plan a Rally Race in November as they wish to participate in our event. Rally Races are open to everyone, everywhere who wish to race for points (Like Nascar) Kids that build points from these events up to 180 or higher, also earn a birth in the famous Akron Ohio classic as Rally Champs. If we do hold a Rally, we will see race families visiting from out of State from as faw away as Michigan.

The most satisfying thing to me as Derby Director is when kids, and their parents, tell me that the experiance ranks among the best times they have ever had in their lives. We hear it time and again, we as long as there are people feeling this way, the derby will live on in the Bay Area as far as I'm concerned. One dad told me that his son and he have grown closer in the past three months because of the derby and that he feels that the dad's have every bit as much fun in the event as the kids do.

If you are someone who participated in this weekends derby, I strongly encourage you to share your comments on this forum. Anyone with interest in learning more about the derby and how you and your kids can get involved check us out at www.svsbd.com and then call me!