Members of the Irish Mafia team pose after winning the Rotary Club of Lake Placid’s latest Trivia Night on Nov. 16 at the Cambria Hotel. From left are Mara Smith, Tricia Preston, Andrew Smith, William Smith, Keith Clark and John Papin. Team member Drew Benware is missing from the photo. (Provided photo)

On Wednesday, Nov. 16, 13 teams of excited and smart people turned out for the Rotary Club of Lake Placid’s Fall Trivia Night. There were lots of new faces this year and over 100 people were in attendance, including volunteers.

Trivia Night’s doyenne, Mary Liz Alexander, said, “The trivia committee feels very encouraged by the turnout and the positive energy in the room. Many first-timers said how much fun they had and that they looked forward to returning for our spring event.”

Chris Newcomb was captain of the Zonta team. It was their first time at Lake Placid Rotary Trivia Night. She said, “The questions were engaging, thought-provoking, and fun. Everyone had such a great time we plan to do it again next time!”

Long time Rotary Trivia Night emcee Sean Donovan challenged the players on categories including pop culture, geography, Adirondack Park Blue Line geography, music and more.

“The emcee was one of the best,” said Zonta’s Laurie Stephen. “He had a great personality and kept up a good pace.”

Trivia teams at the Cambria Hotel in Lake Placid (Provided photo)

It was a close race with third place going to the Literacy Bombers after being decided by a run-off. Once again the Irish Mafia came out on top but it was very close as the Mixed Bag team fell only two points short.

Tricia Preston of the Irish Mafia said, “I enjoyed seeing so many teams back, playing live trivia.”

Donovan said, “While it’s fun to compete and keep score, our purpose was to raise funds to benefit literacy projects in our area. While at the same time providing an enjoyable activity for the community to participate in supporting literacy. We netted over $2,300 for literacy projects.”

The event was held at the new Cambria Hotel in Lake Placid. The minute you walk in, the great room is very open and a welcoming environment with great views. Many players came early to socialize and enjoy dinner in the Haystack Bar & Bistro. A spacious ballroom made for an excellent event venue with light snacks provided by the hotel. The staff was very helpful.

Congratulations to all our players and the winners of our many door prizes. Thanks to the nine Rotarians who volunteered that evening, and all those who provided door prizes and sold tickets.

Emcee Sean Donovan (Provided photo)

There were so many door prizes donated by Rotarians that lots of participants walked away with something even if it wasn’t a first, second or third place finish.

Irish Mafia Team Captain Tricia Preston said, “Our team is comprised of a wonderful group of people, always enjoying competing at the bi-annual Rotary Trivia Night. We have had great success, due to our wide array of interests. This team has changed over the years, started by Mary Kelley, adding members all the time.”

These trivia nights have been going on since 2010, spearheaded by Alexander and assisted by the Rotary “Clue Crew,” a small group of Rotarian brainiacs who like to help write trivia questions.

Rotary’s “Trivia Nights for Literacy” has had quite an impact over the years. In 2011, the Rotary Club donated $2,891 to Lake Placid Elementary School to upgrade the first grade “basal reading series” so that each classroom would have a complete set. For many years the Club has supported Laura Coffin’s LPES summer book program. Most recently, this has been done through the Educational Opportunity Fund of the Lake Placid Central School District. The club has also made donations to the Universal Pre-K program, the St. Agnes School parent-child reading program, classroom magazine subscriptions at LPES, a new reading program at St. Agnes School and before the pandemic for many years to Literacy Volunteers of Franklin and Essex Counties. For the past two years, the club has made grants to the Adirondack Family Book Festival.

“Supporting literacy and education is an important goal of Rotary International,” Alexander said. “Our club is committed to this mission and the Trivia Team is thrilled that we were able to have such a successful event at the new Cambria Hotel.”

Behind the scenes with Carolyn Bordonaro (Provided photo)

The Rotary Club of Lake Placid meets weekly at the Hampton Inn at 7:20 a.m. on Thursdays. All are welcome.

(Martha Pritchard Spear is a member of the Rotary Club of Lake Placid.)