On Saturday evening, February 3, 2024, The Scholarship Foundation of Wakefield, Inc.(TSF) proudly presented the 32nd Annual Trivia Team Challenge (TTC) at the Elks Lodge in Wakefield. A total of 40 teams, including 13 rookie teams, participated in a night of questions and camaraderie. After five successful years as TTC co-chairs, Cathy Donovan and Gayle Wettach handed the reins to Tricia Desrocher and Kelley Chapman who noted that all the participants and attendees were excited by a new venue and enhanced technology. See Event Photos here
As always, the competition was intense with many outstanding veteran and rookie teams competing. Finishing in first place was the seasoned team of Le Gran Crew, consisting of Ted Tyson, Donna Tyson, Stacey Constas, and Chris Constas. Following closely in second place was Zuzu’s Petals including Judith Terrazano, Carolyn Licata, Jim Licata, and Rich Wronski. Third place was claimed by PAON, with members Edward Eriksen, Geoffrey Eriksen, Brian Eriksen, and Chris Koch. The Elmcrest Eccentrics, composed of Bob Manning, Eileen Manning, Vin Sylvia, and Mary Sylvia, took home Rookie of the Year honors. See all results HERE
TSF President Kathy Scanlon kicked off the evening by welcoming the participants and sharing many impressive facts about TSF including that $800,000 was awarded to 289 students in 2023. This year’s TTC proceeds will support increased awards to Wakefield students in June 2024.
The evening was moderated by Michael Kilkelly, who along with his wife Susan, was responsible for crafting the questions that made 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, pop culture, and picture identification.
Generous event sponsors of this year’s TTC were The Wakefield Rotary Club, The Savings Bank, One-on-One College Consulting and Newgrange Design. TSF of Wakefield appreciates the support of these organizations and the role they played in the night’s success.
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 Faith Hodgkins for chairing the snack table with many desserts donated by the TSF directors; to Jo-Anne Bourque and Beth Sullivan for handling pizza coordination and sales; to Katie Fallon for being our official timekeeper; and to Frank McLean and Rick Desrocher who took on the role of scorekeepers for the night, and again to Frank for all the heavy lifting and equipment setup prior to the start of the evening. We thank Jennifer and Rich Walter for their many years manning the scorekeepers role until now. Thanks also goes to Mary Anne Power who was the event’s official greeter.
This was an all-hands-on-deck event that consisted 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 tasks including the planning, set up and clean up. Thanks to the following for their participation: Jo-Anne Bourque, Beth Sullivan, Cathy Wensley, Tricia Desrocher, Kelley Chapman, Linda McManama, Kathleen DeCosta, Kathy Scanlon, Stacey Constas, Michael Kilkelly, Cathy Donovan, Gayle Wettach, Rob Wettach, Mary Anne Power, Frank McLean, Faith Hodgkins, Katie Fallon, Kim Penney, Anne Miller, and Jennifer Walter.
This year 11 enthusiastic high school volunteers assisted during the evening, under the supervision and guidance of Meg Delory. The TSF student directors passed out picture questions, collected answer sheets, and helped in the drawing of the winning raffle tickets. Thank you to the student directors who assisted during the event: Yash Patel, Riya Patel, Wisely Chea, Marc Gagne, Ahmed Othman, Brandon Nett, Joseph Patt, Aidan Martin, Gina Drinkwater, Alla Othman and Maya Palic.
Co-Chairs Tricia Desrocher and Kelley Chapman 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.”
A special thank you also goes out to The Wakefield Elks Lodge and Erik Jeter who made our first year at our new fantastic location a smooth experience.
Following the second 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 our thanks go out to those that generously donated or procured a prize including Beth Sullivan, Cathy Donovan, Cathy Wensley, Charles Gagne, David & Kelley Chapman, Faith Hodgkins, Gayle Wettach, Jay Landers, Jay Pinette, Jennifer Walter, Jo-Anne Bourque, Kathleen DeCosta, Katie Fallon, Linda McManama, Lisa Erban, Lucy Skeldon, Mary Anne Power, Meg Delory, Merry and Bob Eldridge, Rich Bondi, Rosanne Phillips, Stacey Constas, Tricia Desrocher, Wakefield Soccer Association, and Wegmans. We also want to thank Brian Shield for his generous raffle donation of a Red Sox experience.
The popularity of the event this year was no doubt aided greatly by the publicity offered by local media. Thank you to Jon Pinkney from the Wakefield Daily Item for promoting the event. Appreciation is also extended to TSF Director Ann Hadley for taking photos of the winners and participants. Special thanks go out to Jennifer Walter for handling the social media posts.
TSF extends a special thanks to WCAT and Ian McDermott for the equipment loan and setup assistance that was vital to providing the visual presentation.
The 32nd 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 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 $16.3 million in scholarship assistance since 1960. In June of 2024, TSF plans to award approximately $820,000 in aid to Wakefield students pursuing post-secondary education.