2023 Trivia Team Challenge Results

Le Gran Crew, Eponymous, and TECH win top spots

On Saturday evening February 4, 2023, The Scholarship Foundation of Wakefield, Inc. proudly presented the 31st Annual Trivia Team Challenge (TTC) at the Americal Civic Center in Wakefield. A total of 33 teams braved the extreme cold temperatures for a night of questions and camaraderie.  After a 2-year hiatus, in which the event was held virtually, TTC Co-Chairs Cathy Donovan and Gayle Wettach noted that all the participants and attendees were excited to be together for this year’s event.  

As always, the competition was intense with many outstanding veteran and rookie teams competing.   Finishing in 1st place was the seasoned team of Le Gran Crew, comprised of Ted Tyson, Donna Tyson, Stacey Constas, and Chris Constas.  Second place was taken by the always formidable veteran team of Eponymous, which included Dan Crews, Lauren Crews, Cary Mazzone, and Lucy Skeldon.  Finishing in 3rd place was last year’s top finisher, TECH, led by Paul Dixon and including Jonathan Chines, Janet Schuchter, and Anthony Guardia.  The FJ’s comprised of MK Lowndes, Alex Mikulich, Kara Mikulich, and Sara White took home Rookie of the Year honors.  

TSF President Kathy Scanlon kicked off the evening by welcoming the participants and sharing many impressive facts about TSF.  Scanlon shared that $780,000 was awarded to 280 students in 2022.  This year’s TTC proceeds will support increased awards to Wakefield students in June 2023.  

The evening was moderated by TSF Director Michael Kilkelly, who along with his wife Susan, was responsible for crafting the questions that make the evening a fun and challenging event.  Teams competed in three 25-question rounds, with the top-scoring teams advancing to the Final Round.  Question topics included sports, entertainment, geography, history, literature, current events, and picture identification.  

Generous sponsors of this year’s TTC were The Wakefield Rotary Club, The Savings Bank, and the Quannapowitt Mud Turtles.  TSF of Wakefield appreciates the support of these organizations and the role they play in the night’s success.  

Each year the success of the Trivia Team Challenge is due in no small part to the TSF Student Directors. This year 15 enthusiastic high school volunteers assisted during the evening, under the supervision and guidance of TSF Director Meg Delory. The student volunteers passed out picture questions, collected answer sheets, and helped in the drawing of the winning raffle tickets.  Thank you to the students directors who assisted during the event: 9th graders  Alla Othman, McKayla Herzog; 10th graders Ahmed Othman, Andrew Nett and Brandon Nett;  11th  graders Joseph Patt, Lauren Mangarelli, and Sofia Macaluso; and 12th  graders  Charlotte Rossicone and Samantha Marshall.  

There are many additional individuals without whose hard work and attention to detail an event the size of the Trivia Team Challenge would not be possible.  A special thank-you goes out to Linda McManama, Cathy Wensley, and Gayle Wettach for coordinating the raffle table, to Mike Boudreau for acquiring the card tables and assisting with the setup; to Frank McLean who coordinated the bar supplies and setup assisted by Mike Boudreau and TJ White with additional support from Jay Pinette; and to Jennifer and Rich Walter who reprised their role as scorekeepers for the night.  TSF Director Mary Anne Power was the event’s official greeter.  Faith Hodgkins chaired the snack table and manned it with her husband Don as well as donated a beautiful sheet cake with the TSF logo. 

This was an all-hands-on-deck event that was comprised of the entire Trivia night committee as well as many additional directors and Friends of TSF participating. The following participated in many of the most important work which was the planning, set up and clean up.  Thanks to the following for their participation: Jo-Ann Bourque, Cathy Wensley, Tricia Desrocher, Kelley Chapman, Linda McManama, Kathy Scanlon, Stacey Constas, Jay Landers, Michael Kilkelly, Cathy Donovan, Gayle Wettach, Mary Anne Power, Frank McLean, Mike Boudreau, TJ White, Faith Hodgkins, Steve Nixon, Anne Miller, and Jennifer Walter

Co-Chairs Cathy Donovan and Gayle Wettach also thank TSF Administrators Anne Miller and Jennifer Walter for their work behind the scenes. The preparation before and after the evening is crucial and proved to be “the glue of the event”.  They both ensured that everything from the early planning to the wrap-up was beyond precision. The co-chairs added, “we can’t thank them enough for the over-and-above role they played in this year’s Trivia Team Challenge.”

Following the 2nd round of questions, raffle tickets were drawn and the lucky winners were notified of their prize just prior to the start of the final round. There were many terrific prizes and special thanks go out to those that generously donated or procured a prize including Lisa Erban, Lucy Skeldon, Jay Pinette, Anne Miller, Stacey Constas, Katie Fallon, Jo-Anne Bourque, Mike Boudreau, Mary Anne Power, Linda McManama, Jean Maio, Jack O’Leary, Gayle Wettach, Cathy Donovan, Tricia Desrocher and Denise Drinkwater of Candlewarming.  

The popularity of the event this year was no doubt aided greatly by the publicity offered by local media. In particular, TSF sincerely thanks Glenn Dolbeare and Bob Burgess from the Wakefield Daily Item.  Appreciation is also extended to TSF Director Ann Hadley, President of JC Marketing Associates, for taking the sponsorship publicity photos.  Special thanks go out to Jennifer Walter for handling the social media posts.

The 31st Trivia Team Challenge was a tremendous success thanks to everyone involved. The co-chairs wanted to give a big thank you to the Wakefield community and beyond, adding: “the support of events such as Trivia night is a testament to the ongoing support TSF receives from so many. We were grateful to come back in person and continue this tradition and we look forward to many more nights like this.”

Proceeds from the annual Trivia Team Challenge go directly to TSF of Wakefield’s general scholarship fund.  TSF has awarded $15.5 million in scholarship assistance since 1960.   In June of 2023, TSF plans to award approximately $800,000 in aid to Wakefield students pursuing post-secondary education.