Russ Southard of Oneonta grew up in Otego, but wondered if Oneonta was active at some time with Soap Box Derby contests.
The reason he inquired was because he has his cousin’s race car which was used in the 1960s. It was sponsored by a lumber company in Otego, Herring’s.
Indeed, Oneonta was active for a number of years.
Nowadays, if you’re driving on Ravine Parkway, you have to watch out for deer very closely. But on one June afternoon in 1964, you had to look closely to find a place to stand to watch the Soap Box races.
Oneonta’s Soap Box Derby was a festive event. The first race was held on Saturday, June 27, 1964. A parade through downtown was held before the race, the main event took place on what was nicknamed “Derby Hill,” and at the end of the day, a banquet honoring the race entrants was held at the Elks Club. The day before the race, participants were treated to a free trip to Cooperstown and the former Woodland Museum, as well as a picnic.
A lot of preparation went into the day’s festivities, especially by the contestants. They came from all around the region. The cars had to be made by the racers, according to standards set by the Derby’s national organization. A racer could only spend $30 for parts, which didn’t include wheels and a steering mechanism. That was paid for by a sponsor, which each entrant had to secure. It was mostly boys who entered the races around Oneonta, at that time.
Johnson’s Garage, the local Chevrolet dealership, was the major sponsor of Oneonta’s Soap Box Derby. Chevrolet was the national sponsor.
For the first year of the Derby, nearly 2,000 lined the sides of Ravine Parkway, to watch the competition with these speedy homemade gravity race cars. Forty-four contestants were pitted two in a heat down the 750-foot Ravine Parkway “track.” The first winner of the Derby was 12-year-old Bobby Giudice of Oneonta. He squeaked by John Sparaco in the final race. “I’m awful happy,” was all Giudice could say as tears streamed down his smiling face.
At the evening banquet, Giudice was awarded a trophy and a $500 savings bond, among other prizes donated by local merchants. Runners up were awarded trophies and gift certificates for their car construction efforts.
By winning Oneonta’s Derby, Giudice’s next stop came at the National Soap Box Derby Championships in Akron, Ohio. Chevrolet paid for his trip. He was one of 239 champions from across the country, competing that year. In front of 60,000 spectators, Giudice was edged out by another boy from Michigan. But the happy memories of the trip and the experience could last for a lifetime.
Nationally, the Soap Box Derby goes back to 1933, when a Dayton, Ohio news photographer, Myron Scott, encountered three boys racing homemade, engine-less cars down an inclined brick street. As creative in his thinking as well as his photographic abilities, Scott had a thought at the moment: why not hold a coasting race and award a prize to the winner? He told the boys to come back to the same hill with their friends a week later, and they could participate in a race with a “loving cup”— as it was called during the Depression — as a prize. Nineteen boys showed up for that race.
Scott had bigger things in sight for future races. His newspaper helped him promote another race in August, where an amazing 362 kids showed up with homemade cars built of orange crates, sheet tin, wagon and baby buggy wheels, and more. There were nearly 40,000 spectators along the hill for that race.
Although Oneonta had a Soap Box Derby for only a few years, Akron is still a desirable destination for youngsters who love to race. A few upstate communities still have races, one most recently held in 2022 in New Berlin by several Boy Scout Troops from Morris, Sherburne and New Berlin.