Sharon Tutland
Every Saturday at 11 a.m. the corner table at the MountainView Bar and Grill is filled with members of the SaddleBrooke Singles Club Trivia Team. Calling themselves the Blind Squirrels, a group of 8 to 10 Singles Club members competes with other trivia team regulars with catchy names like the Misfits, Crazy Eights, Winners’ Circle, Javelinas, Quail Runners, and Something Old, Something New. On any given Saturday between 8 and 14 tables participate.
Trivia questions and a live host are provided by a private nationwide company known as Team Trivia. Weekly questions cover a wide range of topics. MountainView Bar and Grill offers gift certificates for the winners: $30 for first place, $20 for second place, and $10 for third place.
Discussions about the correct answers are lively, and the games create a perfect venue for getting to know one another. The competition is serious but friendly. Some groups wear T-shirts printed with their team’s name.
Just before the game started on Sept. 28, the Blind Squirrels were presented with a box containing a special gift from one of their “fiercest” competitors, the Misfits. When the box was opened, a fuzzy, gray object lay nestled inside. Upon close examination, the furry creature turned out to be a stuffed gray squirrel with black blinders on both eyes. In its little paw was a blind man’s cane made from a Chinese chopstick. The “cane” was painted white, and a little black ball was attached to the end.
The Blind Squirrels appreciated the gift from the Misfits but wondered if perhaps it was a jinx. After winning first, second, or third place for several weeks in a row, on Sept. 28 the Blind Squirrels came in fourth and the Misfits came in first.
The Saturday competition is open to any member of the Singles Club. If there is enough interest, a second Singles Club table can be reserved at MountainView for Saturdays at 11 a.m. You don’t have to know the answers to all the questions. You just have to want to have fun.