Construction industry puts fundraising on fast track Painters, carpenters, electricians, construction managers, even a banker or two were at the track March. Leach Painting Co. Rolling stock ranged from the standard Pinewood Derby block of wood with four wheels to models customized to reflect the team's industry. "And construction guys are hard to please. The event drew more than 100 participants and spectators to Gundaker Theatre at CBC High School for the after-work competition March 27. An employee of Thomas Industrial built a jet car — a car with a fan on back and a computer chip that ran off an I-phone, Wienstroer said. The fundraiser was the idea of Ron Green, the new Scout executive and CEO of the Greater St. This was the inaugural Construction Industry Pinewood Derby — a fundraising event that put burly construction workers and men who wear pinstripe suits to work in the same room to run small cars down ramps to see who had the baddest racer in that room. Every penny raised — from participation fees, sponsorships and advertising sold in the souvenir booklet — went to the Boy Scouts of America Greater St. Green, the former Scout executive in Columbus, Ohio, started March 1. The fundraiser was put together in less a month and raised more than $25,000. "Eagle Bank had quarters on the wheels, so the car was worth at least a dollar," said Wienstroer, executive director of the Painting and Decorating Council. Thirty-one teams had cars in the competition, including construction stalwarts such as Thomas Industrial Coatings, the Painters District Council, the Painting and Decorating Council, Sachs Electric and SM Wilson. "It was a large amount of fun," Wienstroer said. |