Friday Night Dialogues: Battle of the Brains
Think you’re smart? Now’s your chance to prove it!
The mid-winter, blues-busting “Trivia Night: Battle of the Brains” returns to the library’s Friday Night Dialogues on February 24 — 7 p.m. in the library’s Community Room — a perfect antidote to the daunting days of winter when the days are short and sunlight is sparse.
“It was a pleasure to see a room full of people talking and laughing with one another for two hours,” wrote Bob DeStefano, who developed and launched the popular program last February, and who will again host teams of four competing for prizes, not to mention bragging rights.
Word of this evening of fun is spreading, Mr. DeStefano reports, and he notes that the Rogers Memorial Library in Southampton heard we had such a good time, it will debut its own “Trivia Night: Battle of the Brains” in May.
Could an East End league be in the making?
So, gather your co-workers, your family and your friends and sign up for a night of brain-teasing frivolity and good-natured competition — and try for the title currently held by 2016’s prize-winning team of Becky Cole, Ida Franzoni, Thomas Foster and Jocelyn Ozolins.
With a goal of asking questions that stimulate conversation — the very essence of “Friday Night Dialogues at the Library” — the contest consists of queries based on general knowledge, questions “that somebody in the room will be able to answer, things you should know the answer to but, upon reflection, don’t,” according to Mr. DeStefano. The winners of 2016’s competition got 34 of 40 questions right, handily defeating the runners-up who scored 29. But, he noted, everything that was asked in last year’s competition, was answered correctly by at least one person in the room.
The questions are drawn from books of trivia and, of course, computer searches. Teams of four — with their books closed and smart phones placed upside down on the table — are allotted 30 seconds to hash out their answer to each question and jot it down before the next question. After answers have been collected and checked, members of the team with the highest number of correct answers are presented with prizes from the library, which last year, was (what else?) trivia books. Celebration and refreshments follow.
When you have your team of four, simply call the library at (631) 749-0042 or stop by the front desk to register. If you don’t have a team but want to participate, the library will match you up with other trivia buffs. Not quite ready to play? Then come out to cheer on your favorite team and enjoy the festivities.
There is no charge for any of this hilarity, jocularity or rivalry. Friday Night Dialogues’ “Trivia Night: Battle of the Brains,” like all programs and events at the library, is free, while donations are much appreciated.
Join us — “Laughter is sunshine,” said Victor Hugo not so trivially, “it chases winter from the human face.”
Next Up: “Friday Night Dialogues at the Library” on March 17 at 7 p.m. will host Peconic Estuary Program representatives who will talk about the financial rewards of planting rain gardens and native plantings.
PHYLLIS GATES
