Community Corner
Severna Park EP Church Hosts Regional Shape-N-Race
Eager contestants from Maryland and Virginia competed in a wooden car race using gravity to travel at speeds exceeding 200 miles per hour.
(SPEP) and Stockade Local Post 7117 hosted the annual Regional Shape-N-Race competition on Saturday by Stockade, an organization for boys in third through sixth grade run by volunteer dads.
The local Shape-N-Race held on March 5 produced six qualifying entrants to the regionals. This was the first time SPEP hosted the regional event.
The contestants carefully load their cars onto the four-lane track where the race is is started simultaneously for each lane, competing in heats using all lanes, ensuring that the results are fair. For the shape portion of the event, cars are judged by an impartial panel in two categories: Design and Funny Car.
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The "Top 5" racers and the Best Car for the Design Segment and Funny Car Segment of the local competition can qualify for the regionals.
Each Post can enter a maximum of seven entries, unless a racer places in the Top 5 and also wins another Shape event. Out of 52 total Regional entrants, six participants that competed for Severna Park were:
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- Jeremy Crawford
- Jacob Davidson
- Spencer Haines – Design
- Max Howe
- Quintin Seitz – Funny Car
- Ryan Nix
Nix went on to place eighth in the regional competition with his car “Green Hornet.” Proud mom Tonya Nix said, “I’m really happy that Ryan placed in regionals. He’s been able to compete with his brother [Will], who also placed last year.”
Ryan’s father Bill has been involved since Will started with Stockade four years ago and served as the official race starter.
Parents Phil and Mindy Haines were on hand to cheer for their son Spencer. Mindy said, “Spencer was a little disappointed when he didn’t qualify for speed, but we’re hoping he places for Design.” Haines successfully took second place in the regional design competition.
Some of the qualifying rules for the Shape-N-Race Derby are:
- Cars must be constructed from a supplied wooden block, wheel and axle kit.
- Cars cannot exceed 5 ounces
- Cars must not exceed 6.5 inches from the nose to the rear axle
Stockade is a division of the Christian Service Brigade (CSB) a civic organization dedicated to helping develop the hearts and minds of boys as they mature into men. With a strong Christian emphasis, the organization brings fathers and sons together to share in the adventure of growing up.
At SPEP, two programs are available. Treeclimbers is for boys in first and second grade. Participants can then graduate to Stockade, which serves boys up to sixth grade.
A distinct difference with Christian Service Brigade is that all fathers are encouraged to participate with their sons during Treeclimbers. This helps to develop the relationship between father and son in addition to having the boys learn about teamwork and civic responsibility from a group.
Both Treeclimbers and Stockade have weekly meetings on Tuesday nights at SPEP during the school year. Along with events like Shape-N-Race, the boys and dads participate in games and activities each week and monthly weekend activities such as camping trips, hiking and rocket launches.