Chariots of fire, hearts of gold

CHARLO — A box with some strings attached, a spirited paint job and a host of animated Cub Scouts provided all the ingredients for fun at the Charlo High School gymnasium last Saturday afternoon. Cub Scouts in the Silvertip District (Ronan, Polson, Mission and Plains) competed in their annual Chariot Races, but this year the boys, and spectators too, were in for some extra special treats and a whole lot of fun.

“Instead of just pure competition like we’ve had in previous years, we’re adding some fun-type races too,” event organizer Tony Siech said. “Some older scouts have talked about how they remember the fun-type races they used to have, so this should bring that fun back. I really wanted to push the fun.”

The chariot race is a long-time Cub Scout tradition. Packs create their chariot with cardboard, string and reinforce it with wooden boards, then decorate it with a custom paint job. On race day, each den shares the pack’s chariot, but comes up with their own cheer, which they recite to the crowd in an effort to intimidate their opponent. One boy sits in the chariot (bicycle helmet on) and four “horses” have the grueling task of pulling him around the gym floor track faster than their competitors. Teams go head-to-head in a bracketed format until a winner emerges.

“You get four kids running as fast as they can around the corner, these things will roll,” Siech said.

It didn’t take Cub Scout Wacey McClure long to realize that fact.

“The turns are the hardest part,” the Mission 4th grader said.

For Scouts who once thought a typical chariot race was a challenge, they now know better after trying to knock down a set of bowling pins from the back of a moving chariot or having to dance around a sombrero five times mid-race. Even the brave moms and dads in attendance could join in on the action. Two pairs of dads raced around the track with chariots on their shoulders, sporting Viking hats, donning swords and screaming their fiercest battle cries, and two den mothers were carted around by their boys, showing off their best “princess waves” to the Frank Sinatra song, “My Way.”

While Siech said the focus of this year’s event was fun, it was fun with a purpose. For the first time ever, the Montana Council of the Boy Scouts of America set a goal to raise 100,000 pounds of donated food in 2010.

“It was a year-long campaign, but they were a long way off,” Arnold Foust, who spearheaded the Silvertip District donation drive, said. “The Silvertip District took it on to try to help get them over that 100,000 pound goal, and we were able to do that.”

With donations from the Mack Days fishing tournament, local farmers, community gardens and door to door campaigning, local Scouts collected any and everything they could to bring to area food pantries.

“It’s worked out really well,” Foust said.

The group’s main concentration was to collect fresh produce that would have otherwise gone to waste.

“There are certain pantries that can handle the fresh produce,” Foust said, citing Scouts who picked apples off trees in their yards to donate good fruit that usually rots on the ground. “None of that needs to go to waste.”

“It’s a good, fun scouting thing and we gather together as a district and have fun,” Siech said of the races.

Who knew so many little guys could do so much good in their community? And who knew that dragging around a cardboard box could be so much fun?