Former Canadian Coast Guard Lightkeeper Wins
First-Ever ALF “Lighthouse Trivia Challenge”
So you think
you know lighthouses and their history?
On May 16,
2008, sixteen brave individuals put their lighthouse knowledge to the
ultimate test by participating in the American Lighthouse Foundation’s
first-ever ‘Lighthouse Trivia Challenge’ as part of the organization’s
2008 Spring Spectacular weekend
Photo by Ann-Marie Trapani
Finalists in the 2008 'Lighthouse Trivia
Challenge' (L to R) Paul Conlin, David
Biggy, Jeremy D'Entremont who served as the contest's judge, Chris Mills
and Nina-Marie Trapani
in
Portsmouth, New Hampshire.
American
Lighthouse Foundation 1st vice-president Jeremy D’Entremont was
the brainchild behind this exciting event that proved to be a lot of fun for
both the participants and the audience.
D’Entremont explained the
event to the audience prior to beginning, saying, “Welcome to the first ever
American Lighthouse Foundation ‘Lighthouse Trivia Challenge!’ We’ll be
playing four games, with four players in each game.”
“After that, the winners of each game will play each other in
the final championship match. They’ll be competing for a grand prize that
includes
Photo by Ann-Marie Trapani
Jeremy D'Entremont was the creator of the
'Lighthouse Trivia Challenge'
a night’s stay at Race
Point Lighthouse in Provincetown on Cape Cod, a night’s stay at the
Lighthouse Inn in West Dennis on Cape Cod, and an artist’s proof Harbour
Lights replica of the Isles of Shoals Lighthouse.”
“Every player will
receive a copy of the “The Lighthouse Handbook: New England” and a
scrimshaw-style lighthouse magnet
donated by the Cape Cod
Store. We’ll also be giving prizes to the winners of each round.”
“In each game,
there are two rounds. The first round, called the “Category Quiz,” has a
Jeopardy-style game board with five categories and five point values. Unlike
Jeopardy, you don’t need to answer in the form of a question. All the
questions are multiple choice, with five possible answers.”
“The second round,
called the “Classic Quiz,” consists of ten multiple-choice questions that
appear in random order. The first question is worth
100 points,
and the point value of each subsequent question goes up 100 points.”
“Each player
has a buzzer, and the game is set up to recognize the player that buzzes
in first. You can buzz in while the question is being read, but please
wait until the entire question is read before saying the answer.”
Photo by Ann-Marie Trapani
ALF executive director Bob Trapani, Jr.
played the role of host for the contest, reading each question to the
participants
“If the first
person gets the question wrong, the other players can buzz in to answer. In
both the Category Quiz and the Classic Quiz, if a person gives the wrong
answer, no points are deducted.”
For the audience
-- feel free to root for our players, but please be very careful not to say
any answers out loud.”
Categories
included topics such as ‘Name that Light,’ ‘Lighthouses of New England,’
‘Notable Quotables,’ ‘A Little Can Con,’ ‘Keepers of Today,’ ‘Ode to a
Lighthouse’ and ‘Spooky Stuff.’
The four finalists
that proved victorious in the preliminary rounds of the 2008 ‘Lighthouse
Trivia Challenge’ were David Biggy, Paul Conlin, Chris
Photo by Bob Trapani, Jr.
Chris Mills is presented a
certificate from
ALF president Dot Black for winning the
championship round of the
'Lighthouse Trivia Challenge'
Mills and
Nina-Marie Trapani.
Chris Mills, a
former Canadian Coast Guard lightkeeper and noted lighthouse author,
ultimately bested Biggy, Conlin and Trapani in the championship round to
win the trivia contest. According to Mills, the ‘Lighthouse Trivia
Challenge’ was “Great fun! It was a blast. I’m feeling proud – though
not big-headed, of my win!”
