Zion Lutheran School Blends Music, Trivia, and St. Patrick’s Day in Annual Fundraiser
 

[March 20, 2024]     The luck of the Irish wasn’t necessary at Zion Lutheran School’s St. Patrick’s Day themed music trivia fundraiser this past weekend, only an extensive knowledge of pop music from the past 75 years and a steel-trap memory.

The annual event drew charitable music lovers to the American Legion on Saturday night to eat, drink, and play trivia. Tables with a maximum of eight players collaborated to answer six rounds of music-based questions presented by Twin City Trivia.

Every table set for eight also had an adjoining banquet table to hold a potluck of goodies for teams to eat before the trivia started. Many trivia participants dressed up for St. Patrick’s Day and brought similarly-themed foods.

Organized by the Zion Lutheran School Challenge Committee and hosted by Jodie Merritt and Elizabeth Wrage, Saturday’s event boasted 18 teams, the most to date. Wrage welcomed participants and stated that most Zion fundraisers are at the school, so they enjoyed having an event to engage the community more.

Zion Lutheran School’s trivia nights started in 2017, and every year endeavor to raise funds to keep tuition fees as affordable as possible for families.

The night also included a silent auction for a six-pack of Spotted Cow beer and a basket of 23 car care items. There were two games of Heads or Tails in between trivia rounds with prizes of another pack of Spotted Cow and restaurant gift cards totaling $75. Trivia players also had the chance to purchase “second guess” opportunities to be used when teams could not decide which of two answers was correct; the “second guess” let them put down both on the trivia scorecard.

The team with the most points at the halfway point was awarded gold balloons for the table, while the team in last place got the dubious honor of black balloons for their decoration. The balloons did not migrate from their respective tables throughout subsequent tabulations.

First place team – (standing l to r) Tom Lockenour, Brian Woodworth, Tom Steiner, and Christ Doherty. (Seated l to r) Kris Lockenour, Dawn Steiner, Amanda Doherty and Lucy Woodworth

The first place team won with 125 points and received an award of the return of their entry fees. The winners generously returned the prize money to the school.

Any future teams earning the black balloons may want to stick around after the trivia long enough to prevent any smack talk. When the trivia host tried to “congratulate” them and discovered they had already left he announced, “They’re out in the parking lot listening to music for the first time.” Perhaps it was best that they had already departed.

Organizers announced Tuesday that proceeds from the Music Trivia night totaled $2,200 from 112 trivia buffs.

Zion Lutheran School is a ministry of Zion Lutheran Church in Lincoln, IL created to assist families in nurturing children through the power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Zion Lutheran School is a preschool through 8th grade school in Lincoln serving families of all denominations across the Logan County community since 1975. For more information, visit www.zls-linc.org.

[Stephanie Hall]