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Brain drain comes to town
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| Everyone taking the test was challenged to find the right answers during the Verdugo Hills Hospital's 20th annual Smart-A-Thon on Wednesday. (Tammy Abbott/Glendale News-Press) |
Smart-A-Thon raises thousands and puts contestants’ knowledge on notice.
By Ryan Vaillancourt
In a quirky knowledge quiz, that might have befuddled Alex Trebek, the Crescenta Valley Chamber of Commerce’s 20th annual Smart-A-Thon raised about $6,500 on Wednesday for local educational initiatives.
More comedic, trick question-laced trivia than Jeopardy or Trivial Pursuit, the annual fundraising event invites teams of four to tackle a 68-question quiz for the chance to win small prizes and, by paying a $30 admission fee and bidding in a silent auction, help raise funds for the chamber’s educational endowment fund.
Most of Wednesday’s 130 participants — most of them local business, civic and education leaders — approached the event with a lighthearted gusto, but some repeat Smart-A-Thoners are known to scour trivia books in the preceding months in preparation, said Sharon Collins, executive director of the Glendale Community Foundation, which manages the endowment fund.
“People like coming to this because it’s fun and you get to test whether you’re smart enough to win,” Collins said. “Though it does get competitive — some people strategize for months.”
But with questions like: Who changes their underpants the most — the French, Germans, English, Spanish or The Rolling Stones (according to the Smart-A-Thon answer key, it’s the Spanish), other participants insist that preparation is futile.
“The questions are so obtuse that it’s very hard to prepare,” said Steve Ropfogel, whose Glendale Educational Foundation team correctly answered 49 questions to win the contest for the second year in a row. “A lot of it is common sense.”
Mary Pinola, founder of the Mary Pinola Crescenta Valley Chamber of Commerce Education Endowment Fund, which the event benefits every year, creates the wacky questionnaire.
“When you see this test, you’ll think, ‘Oh this lady has lost her marbles,’” Pinola said.
Throughout the year, Pinola maintains a near-constant brainstorm to dream up plenty of trick questions and random trivia, she said. There are a few go-to sources for good questions, but Pinola keeps her tricks closely guarded.
Once the questionnaire is completed,” Collins said, “it might as well be locked in a vault.It’s like Price Waterhouse with the Oscars.”
The secrecy makes sure extra-curious participants don’t get a beat on what questions to expect, Pinola said.
Many participants were stumped by multiple-choice questions like: Which is the only Great Lake that does not border the state of Michigan; Lake Superior, Land O’ Lakes, Lake Ontario, Rikki Lake or Lake Michigan?
Members of team Glendale Community Foundation went with Land O’ Lakes: “That’s the butter,” they agreed. But the correct answer is Lake Ontario, as Land O’ Lakes and Rikki Lake are not Great Lakes.
The chamber’s endowment fund has grown to about $150,000 since its inception 20 years ago, when it was opened with a $1,000 deposit, Pinola said.
Each year a board of advisors uses interest generated from the fund to award grants to local educational initiatives and organizations like the YMCA and Crescenta Valley Library, she said.
The advisors decide which initiatives will get funds in December and the grants are awarded in January, she said.
In the meantime, Pinola said she’ll be looking for questions for next year, questions that the more competitive participants won’t soon find in a popular trivia book.
“It’s nothing you can study for,” she said.
More comedic, trick question-laced trivia than Jeopardy or Trivial Pursuit, the annual fundraising event invites teams of four to tackle a 68-question quiz for the chance to win small prizes and, by paying a $30 admission fee and bidding in a silent auction, help raise funds for the chamber’s educational endowment fund.
Most of Wednesday’s 130 participants — most of them local business, civic and education leaders — approached the event with a lighthearted gusto, but some repeat Smart-A-Thoners are known to scour trivia books in the preceding months in preparation, said Sharon Collins, executive director of the Glendale Community Foundation, which manages the endowment fund.
“People like coming to this because it’s fun and you get to test whether you’re smart enough to win,” Collins said. “Though it does get competitive — some people strategize for months.”
But with questions like: Who changes their underpants the most — the French, Germans, English, Spanish or The Rolling Stones (according to the Smart-A-Thon answer key, it’s the Spanish), other participants insist that preparation is futile.
“The questions are so obtuse that it’s very hard to prepare,” said Steve Ropfogel, whose Glendale Educational Foundation team correctly answered 49 questions to win the contest for the second year in a row. “A lot of it is common sense.”
Mary Pinola, founder of the Mary Pinola Crescenta Valley Chamber of Commerce Education Endowment Fund, which the event benefits every year, creates the wacky questionnaire.
“When you see this test, you’ll think, ‘Oh this lady has lost her marbles,’” Pinola said.
Throughout the year, Pinola maintains a near-constant brainstorm to dream up plenty of trick questions and random trivia, she said. There are a few go-to sources for good questions, but Pinola keeps her tricks closely guarded.
Once the questionnaire is completed,” Collins said, “it might as well be locked in a vault.It’s like Price Waterhouse with the Oscars.”
The secrecy makes sure extra-curious participants don’t get a beat on what questions to expect, Pinola said.
Many participants were stumped by multiple-choice questions like: Which is the only Great Lake that does not border the state of Michigan; Lake Superior, Land O’ Lakes, Lake Ontario, Rikki Lake or Lake Michigan?
Members of team Glendale Community Foundation went with Land O’ Lakes: “That’s the butter,” they agreed. But the correct answer is Lake Ontario, as Land O’ Lakes and Rikki Lake are not Great Lakes.
The chamber’s endowment fund has grown to about $150,000 since its inception 20 years ago, when it was opened with a $1,000 deposit, Pinola said.
Each year a board of advisors uses interest generated from the fund to award grants to local educational initiatives and organizations like the YMCA and Crescenta Valley Library, she said.
The advisors decide which initiatives will get funds in December and the grants are awarded in January, she said.
In the meantime, Pinola said she’ll be looking for questions for next year, questions that the more competitive participants won’t soon find in a popular trivia book.
“It’s nothing you can study for,” she said.
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