As if a symbolic checkered flag were flapping in his face, the race is over for Art Hasselbach Sr.
But instead of celebrating victory after the final lap, the creator of the Pinewood Derby kit is wondering why he’s suddenly left in the pits.
For more than 40 years, Hasselbach’s New Jersey company, Beta Crafts, created the kits for the motorless speedster that millions of Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts all over the country re-crafted for their local derbies.
But that’s all over for Hasselbach now.
The Boy Scouts of America have decided not to renew his company’s $1million contract for the ever-popular kits, which had generations of boys sanding, shaping and painting with their proud pops looking on.
“It was disappointing and I’m still trying to fathom why,” Hasselbach, 86, said from his New Jersey office. “But I have no hard feelings. The Scouts is a good program.
“It’s just that somebody down there doesn’t like me and it’s a shame. I put a lot of time in this thing — over 40 years.”
The Scouts were getting the kits from Hasselbach’s company and one other. He was hoping they’d only cut back, not eliminate his contribution altogether.
But now there’s just one supplier again, he said.
Hasselbach suspects his advancing age prompted Scout leaders to drop him from the race.
Renee Fairrer, a spokeswoman for the Boy Scouts of America, steadfastly denies the octogenarian’s age had anything to do with the decision not to renew his contract.
Hasselbach is reluctant to let go of a 44-year tradition. He started shipping his first orders in 1956 and by 1998 his company had crafted and packaged nearly 2 million kits of a block of wood, wheels, axles and nails.
“I know the Scout oath and what it says,” he said, referring to the promise that reads in part: “To help other people at all times” and “To keep myself … morally straight.”
“But sometimes someone will vary from it and I don’t know why.”