It’s all downhill for this Randall Park neighborhood tradition

By Maureen Callahan

It’s kind of a slice of Americana,” laughed Chris Mac-Kenna when he described Fairmount Avenue’s annual Soap Box Derby.
It’s almost like a throwback in time. Picture a neighborhood in 1955. Neighbors socialize up and down the street while kids race down the hill in homemade plywood ‘soap box’ cars. Little ones excitedly launch off the wooden ramp and steer down the course.

Parents clap and cheer on their kids. Each fall, it’s a day to which neighbors on this street look forward.

It all started back in 1999. The first time Chris MacKenna pulled into the driveway of his Fairmount Ave. home, he took note of the moderately steep hill leading up to it. “I turned to my wife, Mereida, and said, ‘this would be a great hill for a soap box derby,’” MacKenna chuckled. “She had no idea what I meant.”

“That first year, it was just a few families, as some people were skeptical to send their kids down a street in a wooden car,” MacKenna recalled. He bought a pile of plywood and assembled the neighborhood dads and kids to build the cars. Over the course of a couple of ‘workshops,’ cars were built and painted. “We used a team approach,” said MacKenna. “Some people were handy with tools, some weren’t, so they got involved in other ways. Some helped organize, and others cleaned up, etc.”

But it ended up being more than a lesson in assembling the cars. Families got to know one another. Neighbors became friends.

Slowly, they began a tradition that carries on more than two decades later. For Shamra Fallon, one of the derby’s current organizers, “the best part of the Soap Box Derby is the opportunity for the Randall Park neighbors and parents to enjoy each other’s company before the school year kicks into full gear while the kids engage in some friendly, screen-free competition.”

Since that first derby, the race has become an annual occurrence. These days, it’s an ‘all hands-on-deck approach fostered by Fallon, along with Matt Butts and Jeff Paul. The event is well run from start to finish. Parents of racers are asked to volunteer for tasks such as setup and cleanup, registration table, ramp assembly, and raising the starting gates for racers. Fallon’s garage serves as the maintenance shop where the pit crew inspects all cars for safety before the race.

In the beginning, the actual racing was more formal. Practices were held before race day, and a bracket was created to line up those of similar ages. “It ended up being more technical than it needed to be,” said MacKenna, “so we talked the kids into being less competitive and just racing their cars down the hill two at a time.”

Over the years, some family racing teams came up with colorful themes. One year, the Scooby Doo gang flew down the hill in the Mystery Machine. The Titanic has sailed. Decorated mini bathtubs, ice cream trucks, and fire engines, along with Tow Mater from Cars, have all made appearances, with drivers in costume. An Amish horse and buggy, accompanied by a family of farmers, remains one of the unanimous favorites.

A potluck dinner has morphed into a catered meal included in the racing registration fee, courtesy of Sam Vlahos from Pierce’s Tavern. As daylight starts to fade and the racecourse gets dismantled, a band kicks up as the neighborhood closes out another legendary derby.

MacKenna and his wife relocated a few years ago. But the derby is never far from MacKenna’s memory. “Those were definitely some of the best days with my kids,” he said with a smile. “I keep the last two cars in my garage for future eras.”