Chili Cook-off & Pine Car Races

Get ready for a sizzling good time at our Chili Cook-Off and Pine Car Races!

Whether you’re tasting, racing, or competing, it’s going to be a day full of flavor and fun. Bring your best chili, face off with other top cooks, and see if you can take home the title of Chili Champion! Trophies and medals will also be awarded to the top Pine Car racers!

Costs:

Chili Entrance Fee:
$5 per entry
Prizes to be awarded

Pine Car Kit Fee:
$7 per kit
Includes a block of wood for the car body, and wheels. Weights are not included.

Race Entry Fee:
$5 per car
Anyone entering or re-entering a car into the race will be subject to the entry fee.

Important Dates: 

In Person Registration & Sales
Closes - Nov 16, 2025
There will be a sign-up sheet in the great hall after each Sunday service.  It's alright if you don't pay at sign-up as someone from the Social Committee will follow afterwards for payment. 

Online Registration & Sales:
Closes - Nov 16, 2025
We accept debit, or credit card (Visa or Mastercard)

Final Check-in: 
Nov 22, 2025 9-11 am
Check-ins can take place during any of our build workshops or as stated above. 

Instructions for the Chili Masters:

If you are bringing a chili the drop off time is 9:30-10:30am, Race Day (Nov 23rd), at that time you will fill out a card with basic ingredients for people with allergies and special diets. Please provide Crock Pots or some kind of insulation to help keep the Chili warm until we can eat at Noon along with our Pine Car Races. Also consider filling out a registration form to let us know how many are bringing chili (optional).

There will be an entry fee for each chili entered into the contest (prizes will be awarded).

What is the Pine Car Derby?

The Pine Car Derby is a race where Children and Adults build cars to race them down a track and see who's fastest. The idea is simple but the trick is building the car in the right way to maximize it's speed. Erskine has an aluminum track with four lanes where four cars can race head to head.

You might need to do further reading if you want to win! https://www.wired.com/2010/12/pinewood-derby-physics/

How Can You Build your Dream Car?

We’re offering 3 FREE workshops where racers can build, paint, and decorate their Pine Cars with everything they need—saws, drills, sandpaper, patterns, paint, glue, decals, and more—all provided on-site. Don’t worry if you prefer working solo—these workshops are completely optional, so you can build your masterpiece at home if that’s your preference.  For more information, click the button below.

How do we get a Pine Car Kit?

Once you have registered and paid for the pine car kit (including the entrance fee) we will supply you with a kit after a Sunday service or at our workshop.

What are the Race Divisions/Classes (and why do we have them)?

Race divisions are a way we divide the different cars into separate divisions so that everyone can race and have a chance to win!

Every division will be split up between Adult and Youth.

Street Class
Weighing no more than 4 ounces. A special competition for those who didn't pack enough weight into their pine car.

Muscle Class
Weighted and no more than 5 ounces. This is the standard race division and requires some precision engineering if you want to stand a chance to win.

Funny Car Class
Anything goes and let your imagination go wild (includes cars weighing more than 5 ounces). The goal could be to make a Christmas Float Car or maybe you just don't like the constraints of 5 ounces. Making it through the finish gate is not required nor is the wheels staying on for that matter.

Are there other ways to win?

You are a winner just for coming! But also we have some other competitions based on the Cars appearance. There are four categories which everyone will vote on including: Most Colourful, Most Realistic, Most Intimidating, and Most Imaginative. The cars are on display before the race, come check them out!