Evening star., 1946-05-02
Ear|ySoap Box Derby
Victors Are Veterans
OF Services Now

Where are the Washington Soap
Box Derby winners of other years?
pne died in Army service, two are
veterans, and the fourth is in his
third month Of Army duty.
Corp. William Frederick Jennings,
jr- the 1910 victor, was stricken
with infantile paralysis while at
tending gunnery school at the King
mAn (Ariz0 Army Air. Eield and
died there February 26, 1915. He
was 20.
Corp. Jennings was a student at
Alice Deal Junior High School when
he won the Derby. He went to
Akron, Ohio, as the Capitals repre-
sentative in the national finals. He
lost out in the semifinals but
brought home the prize for the best
set of brakes. Later, he attended
Bethesda-Ch Chase MdD High
School and was awarded his dip
Iona after enlisting in April, 1943.
In December, 1914, he won his
wings as a Flying Fortress gunner
at Buckingham Field, Fort Myers,
Fla.
Corp. Jennings was the son of
Mrs. Marion p. Wormhoudt, 69l9
Elgin lane, Bannockburn, Md.
Bean Still Champion.
Gene Bean, now 18 and an Army
Signal Corps private stationed at
Fort Monmouth, N. j., was the 1941
local winner and still is Washington
champion, since the race was sus-
pended during the war.
Gene made the best showing of
any Capital entrant in the national
competition. Racing on the perma-
nent championship course, Derby
Downs, in Akron, he went to the
finals. In a close race, Gene fin
ished third and came back to Wash
ington with a rich collection Of
prizes.
He was a mid-term graduate at
Calvin Coolidge High School this
year and enlisted in the Army a
week later.
His parents, Mr.. and Mrs. Pres
ton c. Bean, live at 608 Rittenhouse
street NV.
The two veterans, one of them
married, now live in other cities.
Rocca Now Out of Army.
Norman Rocca, now %, was the
Capitals first champion, taking top
honors in 1888.
He received his discharge from
the Army last fall after serving
six months as a private in the Air
Forces and later in the Signal Corps,
during which period he served for
a time in Germany.
According to his father, Claude
M. Rocca of TOTO Defense highway,
Landover Hills, Nd, young Rocca
moved to Philadelphia with his wife,
whom he married shortly after his
discharge, and now is hoping to
find employment which will enable
him to make use Of the mechanical
training he received while in service.
Carl Cederstrand. jr., now 10, was
the 1889 winner. He moved to Will
mette, ILL.,, with his family when his
father, an architect in the Off1ce OF
indian Affairs, was transferred to
the Chicago Office of that agency.
Carl graduated from New Trier High
School in 1915 and joined the Navy
as a seaman shortly thereafter. He
received a medical discharge last
February because of an ear infec-
ton. ..-
Many Prizes Offered.
Carl now is designing and build
ing radios, amplifers and record
players. He hopes to enter a uni
versity, probably Cornell, this fall
to study radio engineering. a. =
The boy who succeeds Gene Bean
as Washington Soap Box Derby
champion in July also will receive
large array of prizes, including
medals, sporting goods and trophies,
and a free trip to Akron. There, he
will compete with boys from other
major cities for the national cham
pionship and its grand prize-a four
year college scholarship.
The local race will be sponsored
by The Star and the District De-
partment of the American Legion,
in association with Chevrolet dealers
of the Washington area.
All official derby announcements
will appear in The Star.