Supporting Family Fun

By: Evan

Dave Barret has done a lot for the community one of those things is working with and helping with the Soap Box Derby.

Dave got involved with Soap Box Derby because “my daughter has always been competitive and I have always liked racing.”  Dave has two daughters they started racing when they were young. When they were competing in the races, they were on the street; the effort that it took to put a race on the street was a lot more work than people who were involved in Soap Box Derby. Today to put on a race it takes 40-44 volunteers a weekend to put on a race.  “So we wanted to build something that would draw people, and when we did it we wanted to do it right,” Dave says.  They also strived to be the top track in the U.S.A. and they are.

All of the funds to build the Soap Box Derby came from donations, foundations, and fundraisers. 
Dave’s jobs with the Soap Box Derby are to get kids involved with Soap Box Derby, keep races fair and competitive, and to keep the facility safe.  To get kids involved with Soap Box Derby they go to home shows; though they mostly focus on the word of mouth to spread the word of Soap Box Derby.  Dave wishes that they did a better job at spreading the word of Soap Box Derby.  To get involved, kids can buy their own cars, but most racers use cars that are owned by businesses around the local area. Since Soap Box Derby started in Ogallala in 1997, it has gone from two participants to 52 participants last year.  Most of the racers in Soap Box Derby are from Ogallala, Grant, Paxton, and the surrounding areas. 

To raise money for Soap Box Derby they hold raffles, have card parties at the Moose Lodge, hold car washes, and trash pick ups.  Most of the money that they raise goes to send kids to Akron for nationals.  This year they have started to raise money to light up the track.  They want to  start races later and let them run later into the evening.

Another thing that Dave does for the community is participating in the 4-H livestock sales.  Dave says that he got into buying 4-H livestock from his father; he also does this to support the kids' parents that do business with him at his tire store.  Though Dave hopes that the 4-Her’s use the money that they get for their livestock to help pay for college.  Dave usually buys more than three animals a year and in the past forty years he has bought around one hundred and forty animals.  Usually he keeps about half of the animals that they buy, and he gives some to his employees he also keeps a few for his family.  Dave says, “that he very much enjoys going to the sales and seeing all the effort that the kids put into their animals."  He wishes that there were more kids involved with 4-H livestock and believes that it offers a lot of educational values.”  Dave has done a lot for the community, and without him we may not have our own Soap Box Derby track, and thanks to Dave, he has also supported kids participating in 4-H to look forward to doing it again next year.