Join a Fifty-Plus trivia challenge team
Here's a trivia question: What show has been running for the past 50-plus years, primarily on WEWS Channel 5 on Saturday night at 7:00 p.m.? Hint: Don Webster was one of the long-running hosts of this 12-time Emmy Award-winning program.
If you guessed "Academic Challenge," you are correct. If you are 50+ and guessed "Academic Challenge," you should try out for our team!
The senior center in the city of Westlake is participating in an Academic Challenge-style trivia contest which includes 30 senior centers from Northeast Ohio, and we need to form a team! You do not need to live in Westlake to participate, but you do need to be 50 or older, and enjoy trivia competitions.
Team try-outs will occur on Tuesday, Jan. 15, at 10:00 a.m. in our center on 29160 Center Ridge Road in Westlake. A team consists of 4 players plus 2 alternates. If you are interested, please call 440-899-3544 to register your team by Jan. 10. The questions will be fun trivia questions geared toward seniors, so please do not get intimidated.
The contest is called the Northeast Ohio Mind Challenge for the New Majority. (The New Majority is the current buzzword referring to the expanded senior population. It replaces the less complimentary term, Silver Tsunami). Local municipalities will seat a team to compete against other cities in the Northeast Ohio region, mimicking the NCAA basketball bracket format. The Smart Sixteen will occur in February, Elevated Eight in March, Fact Finding Four in April and finally the Mind Challenge Championship in May.
In addition to bragging rights, the top 3 teams will receive cash awards for their senior centers, as well as gift cards for each winning team participant. All participants will receive a Mind Challenge T-shirt.
The early matches will occur regionally, hosted by the various participating senior centers. Other "west-side" teams in the competition include Lakewood, Rocky River and Strongsville. The final championship game will be held at the Solon Senior Center.
Incidentally, Solon High School does hold the Northeast Ohio Academic Challenge record for most wins ... but Westlake High School is the 2018 reigning champ. Perhaps we can get these students to scrimmage against us?
Please call 440-899-3544 if you have any questions or would like more information.
Lydia Gadd
I am the Director of the Senior and Community Services Department for the City of Westlake. I am also a Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor.