Hundreds of Chestermere residents cheered on over 50 youth during the Lakeridge Community Church fifth Annual Soap Box Car Derby on Sept. 14.
“Every year we put it out there, and we wonder who is going to join us, so to have over 50 kids really makes us super happy, and is worth all of the effort,” said Lakeridge Community Church Pastor Dr. Preston Pouteaux.
“We think that’s a big success when everybody gets to come out and cheer on a bunch of kids racing,” he said.
He added, “We really try to make it accessible for kids in the community. We want to see this as a sustainable community event where anybody in the community can participate.”
The Lakeridge Community Church Annual Soap Box Car Derby first began with families getting together to build cars, and youth being pushed down a pathway in a park.
“We thought we could do something pretty fun here,” Pouteaux said.
“We decided that we would create something that feels as big as we could possibly make it, so kids feel like they’re in the biggest race of their lives,” he said.
Throughout the years, the Lakeridge Community Church has tried other hills in Chestermere for the race, however, the Rainbow Falls Link hill is the best because youth don’t drive too fast or too slow down the hill.
“One of the hills goes right into the lake, and we thought that wouldn’t make for a great day if kids were in the lake by the end of it all,” Pouteaux said.
The annual race now has an announcer, ramp, banners, tents, food, and music, while Chestermere RCMP ticket youth for speeding.
“We try to make a big deal of it, everybody gets medals, there are trophies, and we have a big celebration,” Pouteaux said.
“All of this helps kids to know that they are loved, and they are important to adults and to our city,” he added.
Year after year, Pouteaux enjoys watching the racers build the soap box cars with their parents and grandparents, and seeing the racers faces while driving down the hill.
“The big highlight is seeing the faces on the kids when they’re racing down. It’s a mixture between sheer terror and joy,” Pouteaux said.
Although the Lakeridge Community Church Annual Soap Box Car Derby started as a small neighbourhood event, it has now grown and received sponsorship from local businesses such as Edward Jones, and Tirecraft.
“We want to encourage anybody in Chestermere who has a dream to create community fun things for kids and families to just be brave, plan, and make great things happen,” Pouteaux said.
“That’s what makes Chestermere a great place for anybody to live. We can dream up some crazy idea like having a soap box derby, and the next thing you know it’s become an annual event and people get pretty jazzed about it,” he said.
