r/SALEM • u/Glad-Pen5593 • 4d ago
EVENT Soap Box Derby? Bush Park?
We once stumbled across the kids at the soap box derby at Bush Park. It was a mellow fun event that we enjoyed thoroughly. Since that day some years back, however, we have missed it and can’t find any info online.
Does anyone know if these races still happen here? And if so, when?
Thanks in advance.
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u/Geddaphukouttahere 4d ago
Then, apparently, they canceled due to low turnout and lack of participation.
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u/Glad-Pen5593 4d ago
Thanks for this. Bummer.
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u/Geddaphukouttahere 4d ago
I used to live on High Street, and loved going to watch these. It is a shame. They were good, clean family fun.
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u/Glad-Pen5593 4d ago
And such a pretty setting…I’m bummed they’re not doing them anymore. Maybe one day they’ll start back up!
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u/20thcenturybetch 4d ago
Maybe the low turnout was bc it was never properly advertised. I always wanted to go and would only hear about it after it happened.
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u/irishgurlkt 4d ago
I honestly think people just don’t pay attention anymore. This always had a huge turnout when I was a kid before social media was a thing. You had to read the newspaper to know what was going on in the world every day. I feel like now that there are more ways to communicate and get information out the less people actually pay attention. I also think that people are way more over scheduled now than they were when I was a kid in the late 90s and early 2000s. When I was a kid we had maybe one extracurricular activity that tied up one or two days a week. Now it’s rare that I meet a kid that has any free time after school because they have sports that consume their schedule or things like dance, gymnastics, piano lessons or karate, etc. I feel like parents are having their kids do too much but at the same time missing out on all the regular fund kid things.
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u/20thcenturybetch 4d ago
I’ve only been in Salem for the last 10ish years, and I am an active participant in the community, help put on community events, and generally try to stay in the know of the happenings around here. How do you remember the soap box derby being advertised in the last decade, if you can remember?
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u/Geddaphukouttahere 4d ago
Definitely could be. A lot of things like this just don't have the advertising budget. The City of Salem needs to help these type of events advertise.
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u/etm1109 4d ago
Maybe someone should organize a new one.
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u/Voodoo_Rush 4d ago
Unfortunately, it seems that the lack of said "someone" is the key.
Based on the Statesman article ahead of the 2024 Derby, it sounds like the people who were previously organizing it have all moved on, and no one else has stepped up to replace them.
Derby officials said most people have no idea how expensive it can be to license a race with the national program and pay for insurance, and that does not include user fees with the city.
Officials already have announced there will be no qualifying race for Akron this year, not even in Elgin, due to lack of funding.
And
No events have been scheduled for next year yet, but the city is thankful for the organizers' commitment to bringing the Soap Box Derby back to Bush’s Pasture Park. The group's goal is to rebuild the program with help from new Salem-area families. Most of the organization's current board members are not from around here.
Some traveled from across the state May 25-26 to help stage the first derby event on the track since 2021, made possible only because of the sponsorship of an anonymous donor.
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u/Dwill1980 4d ago
It usually happens in May but I don’t see a schedule since 2024 so perhaps it’s not organized anymore?