ELORA - It's a tradition that just keeps going in the village of Elora.
Every Canada Day since 1991 they hold the annual Canada Day Soap Box Derby, racing from the top of Geddes Street in pairs and finishing up near downtown.
There were 20 contestants in this year's event, which got underway at 8 a.m., with a nearby pancake breakfast in full force. Some drive soap box kit cars and others home-made versions.
The OPP was on hand to wave the checkered flag at the finish line and also use the radar gun to gauge speeds, with the fastest soap boxes on the day topping out at 32 km/h.
"We have the second and third generations of families taking part now," said Kristen Drexler, organizer of this year's event, which helped raise money for Big Brothers Big Sisters.
"A lot of people fall upon a soap box car and its a great tradition to use it once a year. Once you get one it's such a fun thing to be able to participate in," Drexler said.
It's also a fun for a family to put one together.
"I had one family showing me pictures of the progress of their car,'" Drexler said. "I think there's a lot of dads living vicariously through their kids."
Deb Dalziel, Centre Wellington's tourism and destination coordinator, said the derby started in 1991 on the south side of the Grand River.
No ramp was used, it was a steeper hill and the races ended at the river. The next year it was thought best to switch to its current location on the north side of the river, with a more reasonable hill and no water awaiting out of control drivers.
Some families got together and built the two-car ramp that is used to launch the vehicles down the course.
There are two age groups: 6 to 9 and 10 to 16, and two car classes: wheels over 10 inches wide and wheels under 10 inches.
Drivers have to wear helmets and the cars have to have a brake. There are straw bales at the end of the course for drivers that forget to apply those brakes.
