News Photo by Mike Gonzalez Cub scouts from St. Paul Church-based Pack 3092 work on toolboxes on Tuesday night. While they may not be working on wooden cars for their Pinewood Derby coming up on Saturday, the scouts’ minds are focused on woodwork on Tuesday.

ALPENA — Cub Scout Pack 3092’s Pinewood Derby is coming up on Saturday at St. Paul Lutheran Church on 2nd Avenue, leaving parents and about a dozen kids teeming with excitement as they whittle their cars, place some weights on, and stick on some plastic wheels.

Paige Borgeson, Cubmaster of the pack, said that she’s excited to be there for the races as she couldn’t attend last year.

“I wasn’t able to make it because I was giving birth to a beautiful baby over there,” Borgeson said while looking at her one-year-old child. “I’m excited this year because we have a really large pack of the older kids. We have seven kids who are in the fifth grade, so I’m expecting there to be a lot of fun competition this week.”

Borgeson said that the derby is meant to be a fun way for parents to bond with their kids.

To promote children making their cars rather than having the parents do all the work, the pack also holds an adult derby for parents to make their complex and creative cars.

Mark Bailey, a parent working on a toolbox with their kid, said he plans to bring in his own wooden car for the adult derby. He also said that he and the scout need to start working on their cars over the next few days.

“Noah wants to make his car flat like a trailer bed you might attach to a car,” Bailey said while laughing. “I kept talking to him about it and it’s what he wants. He says it’s for the aerodynamics.”

Jeff Stafford, the Tiger and Lion Scout den leader, said that, unfortunately, he can’t make it to the Pinewood Derby because of work, but that his father-in-law is helping his two children make their cars and will attend.

Archer Stafford, a Tiger Scout and son of Jeff Stafford, said he’s really excited to see his car race. Last year, Archer Stafford had a yellow car that was close to winning and he hopes to see it go fast down the track.

The Pinewood Derby goes from noon to 3 p.m. on Saturday at the multipurpose room of St. Paul’s. The derby is open for everyone to spectate and have fun.