KENT—The Sex Panthers have made a statement.
The Quiz Night team pounced relentlessly on the clues once festivities got rolling at the firehouse Sept. 21. As a result, the Sex Panthers edged out the team Rural Jurors, 92-90.
Another team, The Banangrams, snuck past the Agraddays in the final round to take third place, scoring six points to Aggradays’ three on a round called “Live, Laugh, Love.”
Interestingly, the same three teams topped the competition last year as well, although in a different order.
The Sex Panthers and the Banangrams swapped their first and third positions, while the the Rural Jurors have been the runners-up for the last three years.
The Sex Panthers team was composed of Emilio Soto of New Fairfield, Andrew Schoefer of Southbury, Raymond Coletti of New Preston, and Stephen Beck of Bethel.
Playing for the Rural Jurors were Kent residents Gene and Colleen Campbell and Jeff and Kendra Galusha, while Anna Lindenmayer, Ben Brady, Lauren Brady and Mark Amsterdam filled out the ranks for the Banangrams.
The last-place team, the Eagles, walked away with a consolation prize of a jar of pickles.
Library director Sarah Marshall, Andrea Schoeny, Glenn Sanchez, and Alex Sanchez kept the scores, which were entered on the scoreboard by Debbie Moerschell and Brittany McAllister.
Geoff Steward conveyed the scores to the scoreboard scribes.
Two bays of the firehouse were jam packed with enthusiastic competitors for the event.
Two teams of four to each of the 24 tables were arranged. The tables were spread with a variety of treats and drinks, some even bedecked with flowers to brighten the scene.
A whole table was reserved for a VIP team and a feast was set up for the contestants by the library. The team won the privilege in a silent auction at June’s library benefit.
No matter where they sat, the revelers wrestled with brain twisters that challenged them to the max in rounds with titles such as “Traveling at the Multiplex,” a visual round that asked contestants to name movies with fictional locations; “Eponymania,” things named after people; “I Am This Old,” another visual round that asked the names of obsolete items—there was a collective moan and some boos when Marshall insisted on “antimacassar” instead of “chair doily”—and two rounds of “All about Bass,” one musical chords from songs and the other about fish.
Quiz Night found its origins in 1999, when Clive and Diane Lodge decided to repay the community for the warm welcome they received when they moved to Kent from England.
A couple of years after Clive Lodge, a talented horticulturalist, took a position on Oscar de la Renta’s estate, they introduced Quiz Night, a variation on the pub games the Lodges enjoyed in their native land.
The Lodges spent an entire year developing devilish questions for Kent residents to untangle and dedicated the proceeds to a different local charitable organization each year.
The Lodges have since left Kent, but the evening has lost none of its élan. It is now sponsored by the library, with director Marshall and Steve Pener having taken over organization of the event since 2015.
Marshall said the library usually makes about $2,000 from the evening after expenses.
The library is eyeing a $6 million addition and renovation and is currently about $21,000 from that fundraising goal.
During the evening, a 50/50 raffle was held, with C. J. Agro of Norwalk continuing the tradition of turning back his nearly $300 in winnings to the library.
Agro, whose sister used to live in Kent, has attended Quiz Night for the past eight years.
