Quiz night success!

Wader Quest's very first quiz night was held on the 10th January 2015 and what a night it was for us.

A glorious moon hung over the Simpson Village Hall for our Wader Quest Quiz Night. Photo: Elis Simpson

The total raised for wader conservation projects after costs for hall hire and food were deducted was an incredible £457.00.

The well attended event was organised by Pat Hodges who, along with Neil, was responsible for asking the questions and what a variety there was! To our delight they included a picture question round about birds; naturally we played our joker on that one!

Pat and Neil.

The evening started with a sumptuous Fish 'n' Chip supper (included in the entrance fee) followed by the first five rounds of the quiz. Elis and I were part of a team which included our sister-in-law Claire Simpson who is a constant and generous supporter of Wader Quest, Nephew Ian Simpson and Niece Liz Simpson and her partner Paul. We were joined by two lovely, and very clever (luckily for us), ladies called Jean and Alison.

Part of our team (L-R) Ian, Liz, Paul and Claire.

There was a break for tea and coffee at half time which was ably served by our very own Ian and Paul and after which I was called upon to say a few words on behalf of the charity and then the final five rounds followed.

Packed house with me flogging a few last minute raffle tickets. (Bottom left are Jean (red jumper) and Alison, the other members of our team.)

At the end of the quiz, by some miracle (aka Jean and Alison) we came equal first with the Open University team! There was to be a tie break and the question was one of those 'whoever gets nearest' questions. Our answer was way out and the OU team was quite close, so we came a respectable second; which is just as well as it would have been a little embarrassing to have won our own quiz!

Raffle prizes, most of which were donated by participants in the quiz.

My last experience of a quiz night ended up with me being barred from a pub. In similar circumstances to last night I was part of a team that scored equal points for first place; there was to be a tie break. I could not believe my luck when I heard the question. 'How did the table top football game Subbuteo get its name?' The answer is of course, as you all know, that the inventor wanted to call it The Hobby, but it was decreed that name was too generic and therefore not usable, so, the inventor used the scientific name of the Eurasian Hobby (Falco subbuteo) instead. I was cop-a-hoop, I knew we had it in the bag.

The announcement was made. I sat expectantly if not a little smugly, as the quiz master said that both answers were very similar, but that one was exactly correct according to the answer he had. He then announced that we came second!!!! The other team (led by his drinking partner) had the exact wording on his answer sheet. 'The bird is named after the hobby hawk.' I went and protested of course not being a good loser, especially if I feel hard done by, and explained that a hobby was a falcon and no more a hawk than I was. I went on to suggest that there was undoubtedly all sorts of corruption going on when his mate got the exact wording of the wrong answer. This all fell on deaf ears and I was banned from the quiz and the pub for causing trouble! Typical! Since then, until last night, I have avoided quizzes like the plague!

Our little stand in the chilly foyer, note the scarves for sale and the radiator in front of which Elis sat.

Last night's experience though was nothing like the previous and we had a great evening among some very warm and friendly people. Our sincere thanks go to Pat and Neil for the evening and to Jackie, Pat's daughter, who introduced us to her. This event has been a positive boon to our fundraising efforts and started 2015 off with a bang.