Rolling return All-American Soap Box Derby makes a comeback Memorial Day.(Neighbor)

0 Comments | Daily Herald (Arlington Heights, IL), April, 2003 | by Billings, Mark

Byline: Mark Billings Daily Herald Correspondent An Elgin tradition for hundreds of local youth until 1959 is returning to the city on an event-filled Memorial Day May 26. Kicking off at 11 a.m. at the corner of Kimball and Douglas in downtown Elgin, the 2003 Greater Chicago All-American Soap Box Derby will spark memories of racers zipping down Division Street around 1915, on Mill Street in the 1930s and later on Jefferson and North Grove.

Those were the days when boys and girls pieced cars together from old wagons and spare parts to create their own 300-pound push- mobiles and coasters. This year's race in Elgin is open to children from throughout the Chicago area. Organizers sponsored the first All-American Soap Box Derby in Elgin in 1952 under the...