Evening star., 1939-05-21
Mormon Roccu's Racer
To Take 3-Doy Swing
Into Montgomery
BY ROBERT A. ERWIN.

Three hundred or more boys and
scores of their elders headed today
into the busy season that leads up
to Washington second Soap Box
Derby, scheduled to be run on Sat-
urday, July s.
An entry list of 300 thus far and
survey showing a large number of
boys actually building coaster rae
ers without having registered indi-
Gates a record field for the Derby.
The race course will be announced
next month.
For boys already in the competi-
ton and for those who plan to enter,
the racer building season is here
For the American Legion and The
Star, co-sponsors of the amateur
event for boys 10 70 Is years old.
and for prominent citizens and
Legionnaires who are assisting, the
time for laying actual plans for
Derby day is at hand.
This weeks activities will include
a three-day swing into Montgomery
County, Md. for the racer of Nor
man Rocca that won the 1888 Wash
ington area championship, three
Derby radio broadcastS and ap-
pointment of additional committees
to function before and on Derby day.
Six Schools on Itinerary.
Six high schools in suburban
Montgomery County are listed on
the winning racers itinerary this
week, with two stops a day sched-
uled tomorrow, Tuesday and We'd
nesday. This will be followed by a
four-da.y recess until the following
Monday when the tour will be re-
sumed in Prince Georges County,
Md.
This weeks schedule follows:
Tomorrow-10:30 80 In, Kensington
Junior High School, Kensington:
pm, Takoma Silver Spring Junior
High, Silver Spring.
Tuesday-10:30 am. Leland Jun
ior High. Bethesda; l pm, Mont
gomery Hills Junior High, Silver
Spring
Wednesday-10:30 am, Richard
Montgomery High School, Rockville:
l pm, Gaithersburg High School,
Gaithersburg.
William c. Feddeman, supervisor
OF industrial arts in Montgomery
County Schools, will join the tour at
kenSlngton Junior High tomorrow
The exhibition thus far has COW
cred number of high schools in
Washington and Alexandria and
Arlington County, Va, where hun
dreds of boys have had the chance
to look over the coaster car that
won here last year and represented
Washington in the national Derby
finals at Akron, Ohio.
Broadcasts Scheduled Tomorrow.
There will be Derby radio broad
casts over Station WMAL tomor-
row, Wednesday and Friday this
week at 445 pm, all of Is minutes
duration. Joseph A. Walker, chair
man of the General Committee on
arrangements for the Derby and
chairman of the Americanism Com
mission of the District Department
of the American Legion, will be the
speaker tomorrow.
Paul Lee, 13, of 3415 Rodman
street NV, and Walter Bumgarner,
13, of 6l36 Thirtieth street NV,
students at Alice Deal Junior High
School, will be among the boys who
will be interviewed by Announcer
Raymond Michael on the same
program.
Derby Director o. C. Holleran an
nounced last night that Arts Wat
ers, past commander of Killeen Post
of the American Legion, will serve
as chairman of the Checkers Com
mittee on Derby Day. Members of
this committee will arrange the
soap box racers for prompt move
ment to the starting ramp, from
which four boys will be released in
each heat for the downhill race.
Bill Opitz and C. E. v. Berger are
assistant chairmen of the commit
tee, which includes Carl Rittenhouse,
Francis c. McKenna, Albert G.
Weaver, Raymond J. Quenin, FL
wood McNeely, Harry Heine, Ross H.
Johnson, R. w. Phillips, Martin
Dyer, Ed Wilson, Harvey E. Knott,
Charles B. Eckenrode, Ben Aronson,
William F. Gallagher, A. A. Dibble
and al Shaffer.
Part Of Schools Program.
Thus far, the Soap Box Derby
campaign has become part of the
program of every school system in
the entire metropolitan area, and
large groups of boys are using school
woodshop facilities to help make
their racing cars. The entry list will
be oren for some time to come
In discussing the cases of boys
who are building cars without hav-
ing registered, Mr.. Holleran reiter-
ated last night that "a boy is not in
the Derby until he does register,
and he runs the risk of building the
wrong way if he does not have an
official rule book to follow"
The Derby director pointed out
that every boy who actually races
on July will receive an all-steel
helmet and sweatshirt, both bearing
the emblem of the All-American
Soap Box Derby. These helmets