Carrying on for Kent:  Pinewood car workshop honors late scoutmaster

WHITMAN — Cub Scout Pack 22 hosted a tri-town Pinewood Derby workshop Saturday at the Cardinal Spellman Center in Whitman.  Dozens of volunteer carpenters and parents loaned and operated tools for the carving and building process of the wooden cars.

BUILT FOR SPEED: Jackson Preskins, top right, holds up the winner of the practice trials during the annual Pinewood Derby Workshop Jan. 9. Photo by Stephanie Spyropoulos

Going forward, the workshop will be named the Scott Kent Workshop for Pinewood Derby after the longtime scout leader and volunteer. Kent lost his battle with pancreatic cancer just days before Christmas less than six weeks ago.

He was a longtime Whitman resident — a volunteer for many years as well as a cabinet and furniture maker and a union tradesman. He was phenomenal with his hands, said Mike Warner Boy Scoutmaster and longtime leader and friend.

“He always organized the volunteers for the pinewood workshop,” Warner said. “The kids would draw what they wanted and he would work with them on how they could achieve the finished cars.”

Kent was strongly involved while his son was younger and then he often gave his time volunteering for events and racing his own pinewood car in the adult races.

“Something will be in the works to honor Scott we are working on that,” Warner said.   

Kent’s son Hayden, who is in his early 20s completed his rank as Eagle  Scout and is still very involved with the troop as an assistant scout master.

“Scott was one of those people who came to work behind the scenes,” Warner said. “At the pancake breakfast he would cook. He was the guy who would quietly make it happen. He was never concerned over recognition. He was just there for the boys.”

Warner’s own son, now 22, is also still a volunteer for the 11-18 years of age group.

“He was a friend to all,” Warner recalled about Kent.  “He was the first guy to say, ‘What do you need and how can I help?’”

In Saturday’s workshop, which had been started by Kent in the early 2000s and ran for approximately four hours, Cub Scouts applied pictures of how their wooden cars would look in pencil for the  upcoming derby, which is only a few weeks away. They were assisted with light direction but for the most part each Cub Scout finished his own project.

Gabe Newman, 11, of Whitman designed his car to look like an ant. It was black with a white eye on the side. Some scouts chose sports car designs, others the classics. Numerous designs lay to dry at the paint station with unique details such as lightning rods, flames, lucky numbers, as well as stripes and initials.

The Pinewood Derby is a long-standing tradition at the beginning of year for each age group of the scouts.

Building their own wooden car from start to finish and completing the project for the most part on their own is a great self-esteem builder, said volunteer and mom Crissy Pruitt.

She assisted her son in a few of the stations, mostly involving tools, but Tyler, 7, wanted to create everything himself.

“They can see they are a part of something,” said Pruitt who said her older son Jake, 10 won two years.

“It is a great project for them to be involved in,” she said.

Saturday was a day of completion carrying out their vision in a five-ounce piece of wood.

Cubmaster Robb Preskins and other volunteer den leaders and assistants took turns at the official weight center. Some of the boys held their breath as they eagerly watched to see if their car made the weight limit.

Each year the kids enthusiastically await the event, but believe it or not the parents have officially been entered into the “friendly competition”.  It has long been a passion of many den leaders to have their own cars while evoking childhood memories of their own Pinewood Derbies.

Helen O’Reilly said she loves watching the kids make their “cool” cars.  They understand the event is just for fun, but there is a bit of competition that arises, she said.

Growing up with brothers O’Reilly always wanted to be included.  Throwing back to the good ole days she re-created an original 1970 midget car, which she unveiled to her son, Jon, 9, who had no idea his mom would be competing.

“I’m going to beat her,” he said after taking a nanosecond   to gather his thoughts. Suddenly, the pair knew they had their own discreet competition he eyed her like a competitor and ran off to finish painting his car.

The practice track was open to competing siblings and families in the name of amusement.

Hanson family displaced by fire

At eight o’clock Friday night the Alexopoulos family was home decorating for the holidays. Just five hours later they were fleeing a raging fire, barefoot, screaming for one another to get outside as flames tore through their home on Stringer Lane.

The family was awakened by smoke detectors at about 1 a.m.,   Saturday, Dec. 5, and had safely evacuated the home by the time firefighters arrived, said Hanson Fire Chief Jerome Thompson in a press release.

TOTAL LOSS: Following a house fire that destroyed a Hanson house Dec. 5, the blackened interior can be seen while Christmas decorations on the front lawn remain undamaged. No one was hurt in the two-alarm blaze. Photo by Stephanie Spyropoulos

The family is being assisted by the Red Cross and there were no injuries reported.

John Alexopoulos and his wife Wendy, married for 20 years, have lived in their home at 40 Stringer Lane for the last 15 years, raising their two children Drew, 18, and Carly, 15, there.

Still shaken and distraught with the flames gone, but the smell of charred wood still permeating the air, John and his son salvaged baseball memorabilia from his son’s high school career.

The family is well known in town and league baseball, and dozens of neighbors and supporters offered comfort and a shoulder to lean on throughout the morning, as they stopped by with clothing and food to assist the family who had a long, sleepless night.

With appreciation to those who extended their sympathy and friendship the Alexopoulos family said they were all safe and that was what mattered.

Wendy recounted seeing the flames grow with in seconds of their smoke detectors sounding.

“I was screaming ‘Get out! Get out!’ but I don’t know if they even heard me, the whole thing is a blur,” she said, still stunned and weeping. “I saw about a foot of flames, near the couch. I ran and grabbed pants and ran out without shoes.  We just had to get out.”

Son Drew, who was home from school for the weekend said his room was at the back of the house and was hopeful he could salvage some items.

He heard the smoke detectors and went downstairs.

“I saw flames near the ceiling,” he said.

He described the area as the front of the house, a family room, where he saw the flames. He ran out a side door that they normally use and in relief saw his family had gotten out and were safe.

Carly, 15, a junior at Whitman-Hanson had a friend sleeping over. The girls were also were unharmed. The family dog was rescued safely, too.

Upon arriving at the call for a structure fire a crew of four Hanson firefighters encountered heavy fire conditions. After sounding a second alarm the towns of Whitman, Pembroke, Halifax and East Bridgewater assisted at the scene while Hanover Fire covered Hanson headquarters.

The flames were knocked down within an hour, however crews remained on scene for several hours due to extensive overhaul, said Chief Thompson.

The family was planning on staying with relatives.

“We just finished decorating the house for the holidays.  It was beautiful,” said  John Alexopoulos in disbelief. Staring at the outside of his home where Christmas decorations remained untouched but the inside of the home completely destroyed. Fire, smoke and water damage was extensive throughout the house, which is uninhabitable, said Thompson.

The cause of the fire is currently under investigation by the Hanson Fire Department and the Massachusetts State Fire Marshal’s Office but is not suspicious in nature.