Submitted by Alicia Scipioni
On Saturday, January 26, 2019, the Clark, Garwood, and Winfield Girl Scouts held their Annual Powder Puff Derby in the Clark Recreation Center. Over 50 girls, from various troops and from different levels of scouts, came ready to race their cars that they built and designed from scratch. All of the girls created amazing cars that were powered by gravity. Each car raced down the track six times. Many of the races were close and all were very exciting! The girls were grouped by scout level: Daisies, Brownies, Juniors, and Cadettes. There was even a Family Race.
Every girl who entered received a patch for the hard work and participation. First, second and third place winners from each level of scouts received a trophy.
The event was run by Cadette Troop 40791, led by Girl Scout Leader Alicia Scipioni and her husband Valentino Scipioni. The Scipionis were excited to provide an engineering event where Girl Scouts could have a hands-on STEM Project to complete with their families.
The Overall Winners were: 1st Place Allison Normann (Junior) with her car named, The Creepster; 2nd Place Taylor Normann (Cadette) with her car, The Dark Knight; 3rd Place Isabella Papa (Cadette) with her car, Showtime.
Family Race Winners were: 1st Place Melissa Papa with her car, Big Blue; 2nd Place Matt Normann with his car, Nitro; 3rd Place Shane Morrison with his car, Vision.
Winners for Special Categories were:
Most Colorful – Faith Texeira with her car named Rainbow Racer
Most Scout Made – Gabriella DeSanto with her car named Unikitty
Car with the Most Sparkle – Alyssa Miller with her car named Princess Twilight
Sporty Car – Makhaela Gonzalez with her car named Cheer-mobile
Most Unique – Juliette Raab with her car named Pink Fireball
Fastest Looking Car – Taylor Normann with her car named The Dark Knight
Funniest Car – Lucia Junkroft with her car named Sushi Speeder
Most Bling – Jemma Galczynski with her car named The Pearly Jem
Most Cartoonish – Gianna Fogu with her car named Spongebob Mobile
Best Named Car – Catherine Hudak with her car named “Something fast this way comes”
Prettiest Car – Mia Arvelo with her car named Sugar Queen
Most Girl Scout Themed – had two winners: Kayla Roselli with her car named Tagalong Daisy; and Kiersten Mathison with her car named Cookie Cruiser
Best Paint Job – Livia Cantor with her car named I Ain’t Scared
Most Amazing Design – Lauren Gluck with her car Skee Ball Power
Most Animal Friendly – Emily Griffin with her car Emily’s Zoo
Pretty in Pink – Lilijana Jadro with her car Pink Poodle
Flat Tire (lowest car) – Gianna Shatkin with her car Rainbow Horn.
The Girl Scouts would like to thank all the parents and scouts who helped set-up and ran the track, especially Matt Normann. The Girl Scouts thank the volunteers who worked the kitchen during the races, which will help fund future Girl Scout activities. Lastly, the Girl Scouts would like to thank Kings located in Garwood, Manager Domenic Romeo at the Clark ShopRite and Kervin Almonte from BJs in Linden for all of their generous donations.
(above, l-r) Pictured here are the Overall Winners Taylor Normann in 2nd place, Allison Normann in 1st place & Isabella Papa in 3rd place.
