PREPARING FOR SOAP BOX DERBY: CHILDREN AND ADULTS PITCH IN TO BUILD SOP BOX DERBY CARS

Jarred Harris tightened a bolt on the surfboard-shaped particle board that when finished would serve as the floorboard of his Soap Box Derby car.

The 14-year-old spent hours Saturday working on the gravity-powered race car on the lower level of the St. Francis Medical Center parking garage, sheltered from the rain.

"It's fun. I like putting it together," said Harris as he worked alongside Tamika Wiseman, 14.

The two worked on building one of the two cars sponsored by the Cape Girardeau Police Department. They were assisted by Police Cpl. Rick Schmidt.

"I can't wait to drive it," Harris said, echoing the sentiment of other children who also spent the day constructing Soap Box Derby cars in the parking garage.

Some 50 adults and children spent hours building the lightweight, regulation race cars in preparation for Cape Girardeau Rotary Club's St. Francis Medical Center Soap Box Derby, scheduled for Sept. 16. The hospital is the lead sponsor for the event.

As of late Saturday morning, 10 race cars were under construction. Rotary Club members said each car was expected to take four to six hours to build, but many of those building the vehicles expected it would take even longer.

Another assembly clinic is scheduled for Aug. 12.

The races will take place on a hilly stretch of North Sprigg that runs in front of Barbara Blanchard Elementary School. As many as 27 of the race cars are expected to compete in the event.

The cars will be driven by youngsters, ages 9 to 16.

The Rotary Club sold Soap Box Derby kits to businesses and organizations at cost. Each kit cost about $450, said Dr. Dieter Jedan, co-chairman of the event.

The Rotary Club has raised $5,000 from sponsorships and hopes to raise $10,000 in all to fund youth programs.

Harris and others who participated in Saturday's clinic voiced surprise at the numerous pieces in the kit. Each kit had several hundred pieces, everything from screws to safety wires and wing nuts to washers. Each kit came with nine pages of directions.

Police Patrolman Ike Hammonds helped build one of the department's two cars. Hammonds wasn't expecting the kit would have so many parts. "I was thinking Tinker Toy," he said.

As it turned out, it was more like a "GM assembly," he said.

Each car weighs about 50 pounds when completed. Rules stipulate the total weight of the car and driver can't exceed 200 pounds.

Tim Blattner, the event's co-chairman, said the drivers have to help build the cars.

"This is a slight challenge," said Cape Girardeau resident Glenn Schneider as he helped his son and daughter build a race car. "I hope ours rolls."

Sarah Schneider, 11, said her 14-year-old brother, Alex, wanted to help build the car even though he won't be driving it. Sarah Schneider will be driving the car sponsored by Centenary United Methodist Church.

"I don't want it to be too fast," she said.

St. Francis Medical Center's Mary Spell said the ready-to-assemble kits are far different from years ago when children built homemade cars out of orange crates. "You banged some boards together. It wasn't nearly as complicated," she said.