School students throughout Copperas Cove ISD are showing their appreciation to hospitalized veterans with construction paper, glue, glitter and a lot of red and pink hearts.
With more than 500 valentines collected, Junior Mister Five Hills Trace Hensley is heading up the community service project to distribute the mass of homemade creations just in time for Valentineâs Day to veterans at the Olin E. Teague Veterans Hospital and the Central Texas Veterans Nursing Home â both in Temple.
Traceâs mother, Lori Hensley, said Trace is very excited to be able to deliver valentines to veterans.
âTraceâs dad is a disabled veteran who spends a lot of time at the Temple VA hospital for appointments,â Hensley said. âBefore Trace was in school, he would attend appointments with his dad and he made a lot of friends with the âregularsâ there.â
VFW Post 8577 sponsors Pack 251.
The Pinewood Derby is a race of handmade cars down a sloped track, propelled only by gravity.
The first Pinewood Derby was held May 15, 1953, in Manhattan Beach, California, according to Scout Life magazine. Boy Scouts of America first published about the event in a BSA publication in a 1954 issue of Boysâ Life magazine.
Since then, many Cub Scout packs have put the event on their annual calendars.
In Copperas Cove, Mason Juhan has been with the Cub Scouts for two years and was this yearâs winner for his entire pack and overall winner of the Pinewood Derby 2021.