THE QUIZ 2014
April 4th 2014 - the date of the Friend's annual quiz night. Once again we convened at the Barnhall Community Social Club - an excellent venue (large hall, plentiful parking, good toilets and a bar stocking real ale.) We all hoped that we would not appear too ignorant, but we knew that we would have an entertaining evening anyhow. And we were not disappointed!Once again, Michelle came up with original questions. Who would have thought that China has only one time zone? All our calculations - comparing the size of China to the USA, and trying to remember how many time zones there are in America - came to naught. Some answers could be worked out - which animal can run faster uphill than downhill? Well, the hare (the correct answer) has bigger hind legs, so we worked out that it could probably fare well uphill, - just a pity we changed the answer to rabbit! How many teams, like us, played the joker on what proved to be our low scoring round - although playing the joker early does tend to put you in the lead so that for a short time you can enjoy having the leader's balloon on your table.
The marathon round, mainly cryptic clues to names of London Underground stations, had the commuters in the room listing all the stations on the various lines - but which station was 'bigger than big'? Most of us were challenged by the anagram round - a big clue, the anagrams were of OSCAR winning films, but it is amazing how difficult it can be to unravel 'Shakespeare in Love' and 'Slumdog Millionaire', although judging by the cheers most tables managed 'Driving Miss Daisy'. Whose last words were 'Goodnight my darlings, I'll see you tomorrow'? It was Noel Coward - perhaps an indication of the age of some of us that a murmuring of 'we thought it was Charlie Drake' was heard when the correct answer was given. Further indications of age were apparent by sighs of relief or disappointment when it was announced that the music round would not be pop music!
A fun, light-hearted and rather noisy evening and congratulations to the winners, Basildon and Wickford Lions. The losing team, who shall not be named, were rewarded with lemons. Thanks to all who contributed to the evening, which was a sell-out, and especially to Michelle, Nikki and Mike who did the bulk of the work, and to the Barn Hall Social Centre for hosting us. The event raised over £650, money that will be spent on the Country Park.
We look forward to next year's quiz, so please book early, some teams had to be turned away this year.
Written by Dorothy Cundy
On the night at Barnhall, heads down, glasses full, thinking caps on!
A poem, which perfectly summarises the occasion, has been written by one of the contestants :-
Thinking caps at the ready
From our homes we did embark
For the grand quiz of the year
In aid of Wick Country Park
25 Tube stations later
We arrived at round two
Martin already in the corner
Where Michelle found these questions, no-one knew
After a raffle and some drinks,
We put our thinking caps on once more
With Nikki and Mike still busy marking
We keenly awaited the mid-way score
The rounds just kept on coming
Then the night soon came to a close
Such a great night made better by
The great cause where the money goes
(Written by Nicolle Warren)