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Knowledge put to test to benefit arts center

It wasn’t the “What did you know? And when did you know it?” kind of grilling but the fine points of geography, literature, sports and history that were involved in Super Ted’s Super Trivia Night to benefit the Durango Arts Center on July 16.

The grand inquisitor, er, host was none other than my former colleague, Ted Holteen, who is well-known for his trivia hosting at Ska Brewing Co. on Tuesdays from September to May. He put together five rounds of questions to test – and stump – about 12 teams of five who anted up to support the Durango Arts Center.

Holteen definitely ramped it up as host when the teams were paying to play. He assumed the persona of a Southern gentleman in a seersucker suit and white shoes, convincing his partner in crime, Bryant Liggett, to “play” him onto the stage with an old radio-style introduction. Liggett, the station manager at public radio channel KDUR-FM also put together a music round that was killer. Where’s the classical, jazz, show tunes, Liggett?

The Durango Bootlegger’s Society really came through, with Ska, Steamworks and Carver brewing companies and Brew Pub & Kitchen all coming through with a keg to the winning team of each round. (Liggett and Holteen pointed fingers at each other as to whom had failed to pick up the certificate for the keg from Durango Brewing Co., but in any case, it would have been a prize if only ...)

The grand prize winners won five one-day lift tickets to Purgatory at Durango Mountain Resort courtesy of CEO Gary Derck and communications director Kim Oyler.

Holteen also had a trunk full of bonus prizes collected by John Edens. Once again, Durango’s businesses came through, including gift cards to all kinds of businesses, books from Claude Steelman and the Open Shutter Gallery, and so on and so forth. Amazing time and again what these businesses do.

Perhaps the most interesting prizes came courtesy of John Dunn and Dunn Deal Resale Store.

Last spring, one of the questions asked at Holteen’s trivia night at Ska was, “What is the formal name for a spittoon?” The answer was a cuspidor and that was the prize Dunn had come up with – just what every modern home needs. The other prize Dunn donated was a framed 1990 poster for the Cowboy Poetry Gathering. Historical all the way, I guess.

When the dust settled, it came down to two teams, Festivus and Charlie, who had to do a face-off to see who would reign victorious. (They’re die-hard competitors at Ska, too.) The question was to name as many mayors of Durango in the last 25 years as possible. First team to repeat an answer, get one wrong or take more than five seconds to answer got the gong, so to speak.

Sorry, Charlie. (I couldn’t resist.) Festivus managed to out-mayor Charlie, going home with both a keg for winning a round and the five lift tickets, so they have a fun day and après-ski party to anticipate. They felt they were on such a roll, they headed down to the Irish Embassy for its Wednesday night trivia contest. Team members are Michael Valdez, Chris Hall, Eric Prosser, Eric Huggins and Steve DeBeling.

My team, the Poor Choices – a name I fear affects our karma, as every single time we were guessing between two possible answers, we guessed wrong, in one case depriving us of a keg – had fun but always came this close. Thankfully, John Peel got a question right about the names of Salvador Dali paintings, so we didn’t go home empty-handed. (And he beat the Delectably Audacious Chicks, which was an all-female team of artists and DAC staff, to the answer, too.)

Want to try your luck? Answers are after the birthdays, and no peaking until you at least give it a shot.

1. What is the actual full name of the George Foreman grill?

2. Who was Henry VIII’s third wife and the mother of his heir?

3. What do Mickey Rooney, Artie Shaw and Frank Sinatra have in common?

4. In the world literature category, most of the action in what novel takes place aboard the ship Le Roi de Belge?

5. In the 1600s, soldiers from England brought back what potent potable from the Netherlands after fighting in the 30 Years’ War, which is why it’s called “Dutch courage”?

6. This hit movie was based on author Pat Conroy’s life growing up with a brutal father.

7. In the movie “Apollo 13,” this actor played Fred Haise, the astronaut who was grounded and had to stay behind.

8. What is the scientific process of a solid becoming a gas?

9. Where is the Hockey Hall of Fame?

10. The name of this well-known world capital is 21 words long in the country’s native language. What do we know it as?

HHH

Happy birthday greetings to the first of the roaring Leos – Lois Bartig-Small, Greta Cahill, Anne Chase, Joan Forry, Lauren Rardin, Nellie Boyd, Tom Compton, Marian Hamlen and Brenda TeBrink.

HHH

The answers:

1. The George Foreman Lean Mean Fat-Reducing Grilling Machine. Whew.

2. Jane Seymour.

3. They all married Ava Gardner.

4. Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad.

5. Gin.

6. “The Great Santini.”

7. Gary Sinise. Note: Holteen said the answer was Bill Paxton, who played Fred Haise, which was the original answer here. But astute reader Jerry Phillips noted that it was actually Gary Sinise, playing Fred Mattingly, who was grounded because he had been exposed to measles. The Poor Choices answered Sinise, so we would have gotten the point.

8. Sublimation.

9. Toronto.

10. Bangkok, Thailand.

And there you have it. If you aced those 10 questions, you would be a contender at any of the trivia nights in town. In addition to Holteen’s on Tuesday’s (in the offseason for softball) and the Irish Embassy on Wednesdays, the Powerhouse Science Center has a great competition on Thursdays.

HHH

Greetings to Dan Martin and Melinda Riter, who are celebrating their anniversary, perhaps with some refreshing chilled bubbly?

HHH

Here’s how to reach me: neighbors@durangoherald.com; phone 375-4584; mail items to the Herald; or drop them off at the front desk. Please include contact names and phone numbers for all items.

I am happy to consider photos for Neighbors, but they must be high-quality, high-resolution photos.



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