Special needs children experience soap box derby.
POTTSTOWN » There’s no denying the exhilaration that comes with gliding down a hill in a soap box car.
That’s exactly why just a week after the Pottstown’s annual Soap Box Derby, kids who otherwise would never have the opportunity to experience that thrill are getting their chance for the ride.
The Soap Box Derby Challenge race, now in its 19th year, takes place the weekend following the annual Pottstown Soap Box Derby race and is designed to give children with special needs the opportunity to experience soap box racing. On Saturday, around 30 kids climbed into cars to speed down the hill with a codriver and get their chance to compete for the top times.
The event is sponsored by McDonald’s, the Pottstown AMBUCS and the TriCounty Rally Association.
“The Pottstown area is big on soap box derby and have been doing it for a long, long time,” said Bruce Graham, co-owner of McDonald’s, 101 Shoemaker Road, Pottstown. “Originally we were sponsors of the soap box derby and after they had done this race for the first time, we found out and decided we wanted to be a major sponsor for this race.”
The race is similar to the soap box derby in that each driver is guaranteed to go down the hill four times and winners are determined by double elimination. The races kicked off at 10 a.m. Saturday and continued until the group took a short break for lunch at noon.
Before and during the race, kids had the opportunity to meet Ronald McDonald and take pictures along the sidelines of the course.
“It’s just been really rewarding to get the opportunity to watch these kids get a chance to actually participate and do the soap box race. It’s great,” said Marcia Graham, co-owner of McDonald’s. “After the first year when we saw all the reaction to it and the enthusiasm and the excitement, we knew it was a right fit for us.”
Races resumed after lunch and continued until around 3:30 when the final races took place. After a long day of speeding down Wilson Street, kids were invited to a banquet to receive their trophies at Cedarville Methodist Church, 1092 Laurelwood Road, Pottstown.
“It’s difficult for families to have a place where they can go to and have the kids do something different, have fun, be outside and not be judged. Here, they can just be kids and do their thing,” said Bruce.
At the end of the day, the fourth place winner was first-time racer Evan Coffeey and third place was awarded to Matthew Colgan. Lloyd Dollinger took second place in the races and Natasha Sanger walked away the first place champion.