Braintree Rotary Club Trivia Raises Money For Schools, More

BRAINTREE, MA — A competition at the South Shore Plaza testing wits in geography, math, pop culture, literature, and more helped raise money for Braintree schools, food pantries, and several international causes.

The Braintree Rotary Club's Oct. 13 trivia competition continued as one of the biggest fundraisers of the year for the organization. Teams were composed of paid sponsors, who donated to compete and raise money for the Rotary Club.

This year's winners were a team from Rockland Trust, which included Braintree branch manager Scott Killgoar, as well as Matt Young, Lori Young and Jeffrey Mead. The winning question was no joke even for the history buffs out there.

“Which US President was the first to get married in the White House?" was the question to seal victory. "The event occurred in 1886," was the hint given.

Despite some second guessing, Killgoar said the team was able to secure victory.

"We changed our answer a couple times, but ultimately, and quickly wrote down Grover Cleveland, for the win," Killgoar said.

A lot of the questions were difficult, Killgoard said, but he was happy to have a well-rounded team. What questions really stumped him were anything about chemistry.

"I personally am not very comfortable with the Periodic Table of Elements questions, and there were a few," Killgoar said.

Starting as an adult spelling bee at first and eventually, becoming a trivia competition in 2016, Braintree Rotary Club President-elect Steve Habeeb said the competition has been a staple in the yearly fundraisers for a while.

“We raise money throughout the year for various events. This is one of the big ones,” Habeeb said.

Habeeb said 100 percent of the money raised supports local, as well as national and international causes. One thing in Braintree that the funds support is a college scholar for a student at every high school in Braintree. This includes Braintree High School, Thayer Academy, Archbishop Williams and Blue Hills Regional Vocational School. Blue Hills is in Canton, but this is the public vocational school in which Braintree students attend.

Other school programs that benefit from the trivia night include funding music departments, giving every Braintree third-grader a dictionary and every fifth-grader a thesaurus. Local food pantries also benefit from the fundraisers.

As far as international work, Rotary Clubs' focus include natural disaster relief and eradicating polio with fundraising and providing vaccinations. Habeeb was particularly passionate about trying to cure the disease.

“We are down to just a handful of countries in the world,” he said.

For more information on Braintree Rotary Club events or if you want to volunteer, check out the club's website here.

Photo used with permission of the South Shore Plaza