- May 9, 2025
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Dexter Trombetta, 6, uses pennies to decorate his car, and says that he wants to work on his car when he gets back home because one of the pennies fell off in the race.
Gabriel McFadden, 8, says that he painted his car to look like Pikachu from Pokemon because that's his favorite character.
The Cub Scouts brought derby cars for exhibition races that have very unique designs, like a thin front to the car.
Drake Trombetta, 8, says that lining up the cars in the beginning of the race gives them a better start.
The cars that the cub scouts brought to the race were hand sanded and painted with different designs.
Dexter Trombetta, 6, and Gabriel McFadden, 8, are in charge of bringing the cars back to the start after they finish their race. They say they do it for the senior cars as well, because they can't sit down by the finish line.
Lee Kness can't believe that the scouts didn't do better against the cars that the he and the other seniors built.
Bob Deam says that next year, he's going to tune up his car to win the whole thing.
Drake Trombetta, 8, says he is a little disappointed that his car didn't win but that he wants to work with his car a little more to get it to go faster.
AJ Davis says he likes to watch the cars as they come down the track.
Even the seniors want to make sure that their cars are lined up for the race correctly, like Dayna Henry, who says that she wants to make sure her car wins.
The seniors were a united front with Brenda Franzese, Dayna Henry and Bob Deam saying they were surprised that they finished as well as they did.
Family member and Sarasota's Deb Deam high fives her father, Bob Deam, after he wins a race, says she didn't think he would do that well.
Dexter Trombetta, 6, and AJ Davis, 6, say that they liked the ice cream they got to eat after the race.
SKIP
Brenda Franzese, the winner of the race, says that the googly eyes she glued on her car probably brought her good luck.
Cub Scout Gabriel McFadden didn't earn a trophy during a Pinewood Derby race Sept. 9 at Inspired Living in Lakewood Ranch.
The 8-year-old did, however, learn seniors like competition, too.
Five seniors at Inspired Living built Pinewood Derby cars to race against Cub Scout Troop 191 entries in a unique event that brought the two groups together for a friendly and fun day of competition.
Three of the senior-built cars eventually zoomed down the track faster than all the Cub Scout entries.
“All the races I’ve ever been in (against Cub Scouts), I’ve gotten second,” said McFadden, whose car was painted to look like Pikachu, his favorite character from the Pokemon series. “At least we get to eat ice cream.”
Inspired Living resident Bob Deam thoroughly enjoyed his first try at crafting a Pinewood Derby car.
“We’re learning as we go," said Deam, who picked up a few tips he wants to use when he builds a car for next year's event.
Besides Deam, Dayna Henry, Lee Kness (the program coordinator for Inspired Living), Brenda Franzese and Jerry Constantino built cars to face against the Cub Scouts, who ranged in ages from 6 to 10. Other residents came to watch and they were delighted when Franzese took the title.
Franzese said the "googly eyes" she attached to the front of her car gave her something extra.
“Maybe they were my lucky charm," she said.
