From the Wisconsin Rapids Daily Tribune, April 11, 2005:

Trivia fans survive 54 hours
Teams have various means of keeping awake

By DEB CLEWORTH
Daily Tribune Staff

Phones down.
The points were tallied, the questions answered. "Keep on Trivia ... 36" kicked off at 6 p.m. Friday, and the WWSP-FM 89.9 annual contest ended at midnight Sunday. This is what the 54-hour event was like for five Wisconsin Rapids-area teams.

The "Grecian Formula One Racing Team" sat near at least six computers and shushed everyone as the first question was read Friday.

Surviving Trivia 36 We asked participating teams in the area what they need to survive the 54-hour trivia contest: Amp (an energy drink) Caffeine and computers Conversation and Frappucino Communication, humor and patience Family and friends Trivial resources What's the best resource for trivia weekend, according to local teams? The most popular choice was the Internet. Common search engines included Google and refdesk.com. Another team used instant messenging services to communicate with others outside of the listening area. Books, magazines and note-taking worked for other teams. Final results To find out the standings of the trivia teams, go to uwsp.edu/stuorg/wwsp/ and click on Trivia.

"What is the first and last name of the actor who portrayed a big screen character who made the following statement, 'There are levels of deception; this one is a whopper'?"
Everyone typed keywords into search engines.

Technology is the name of the game in Trivia 36, and computers are a main source of information. Grecian Formula did have some old sports almanacs on hand, and four or five Robert Crumb books, a theme for the contest.

With the instant access of the Internet, questions were harder, team members thought.

"Teams were warned they might have a lot of book questions," said Lisa Kniprath, 32, of Nekoosa. "We might kind of get caught with our pants down this year."
Cell phones came in handy.

"We've got pictures of us in previous years, and we have phones on each ear," said Amy Scheide, 35, of Wisconsin Rapids.

Teams often record every question and answer because they say questions are usually repeated in different years.

Technology isn't perfect, however, and one of the team's computers went down during the first question.

It took three hours for "Fear and Loathing in Port Edwards" to get their computers going. But once they did, the team was on a roll.

By 6:30 a.m., Saturday, team member Andy Quaschnick was the only one had who stayed up all night. A couple more members were up and about, but Andy, 15, was getting a little slap happy.
"I just drank a lot of Mountain Dew Live Wire," he said.

Other team members were asleep on couches.

"We wake the bodies of people who have kids, who might know the answer (to questions)," said Dwight Quaschnick, Andy's dad.

A question was asked. It referred to a commercial in which a large man runs around weight machines and checks his weight again. The team called in 208; the right answer was 249. Groans circulated around the table.

"The team has never been the same, and we always change the name," said Dwight Quaschnick. In addition to the Internet, the team made use of instant messenger services to contact out-of-town family members for answers.

Dwight Quaschnick was in the kitchen making breakfast; the cupboards boast signs and certificates from past contests. He dashed out of the kitchen to call in an answer, and went back to cooking.

The atmosphere at "The Banger Sister Sorority" in Nekoosa was a little quiet at 9:30 p.m. Saturday night, but the energy level kicked up, as more people started arriving at about 10 p.m. Youngsters in their pajamas ran in and out of the living room, playing with a ball, while team members searched for answers.

Pillows and sleeping bags were piled in a corner of the living room, but they weren't being used - yet.

The team had 15 to 20 members, said Jamie Emery. Like for most of the local teams, the contest wasn't really about winning.

"I think our goal every year is to do better than we did last year," said Kelly Smith, Emery's sister. "It gives us a chance to stay up all night and have fun."
Smith was on the phone, talking to team members in Stevens Point, trying to help them find clues.

"Just don't run through any stop signs, cause you'll have to stop twice at the next one," Smith tells the driver.

Emery laughed.

"It's getting to that point where everyone's a little goofy," Emery said. "I would say between 11 and 12 tomorrow night, that last hour (is going to be the hardest)."

At 1:30 a.m. Sunday, it wasn't hard to find the "Lords of Jackie Gleason's Other Pants." There were about eight cars outside the Wisconsin Rapids home. The lights were on inside, and a sign on the door said, "Come on in."
Four team members were downstairs, awake and somewhat alert. Other team members were in various bedrooms upstairs, catching what sleep they could. And others drove down Stevens Point streets in search of running question answers.

Team members wore their own versions of the trivia shirts and showed off their version of a team mascot - a pair of size 48 pants, with past team logos.

At that hour, the team was about No. 68 in the contest. Not bad, considering that about 475 teams were participating.

"We've been doing a lot better than we've ever done," said Phil Hartley, 38.

The team got off to a good start.

"We're very excited, because in hour two, we were No. 1," said Tracy Rice, keeping one eye on his computer monitor.

It had been an exciting moment.

"There were about 15 people down here, and the house rose," said Hartley. "We were having a good time."
Like many of the teams, this group had a lot of family involved. The wives of Hartley and Rice would getting up at about 6 a.m. to hit the road in search of more running question answers.

The team's digs have improved considerably over the years.

Rice and his wife, Dana, slept in a van the first year they were on the team, he laughed.

At about 2:15 a.m., three more members came down the stairs. They were teenagers, who were out on the running questions. Sleep deprivation started to show, and suddenly, almost everything was hysterically funny.

"I'm getting tired. I can't type anymore," Hartley said.

The hardest hours to survive?
"The last three hours," said Lynn Glinski.

The contest was winding down. It was about 5 p.m. Sunday, hour 48. Team members for Wendy's Chili ... Finger Lickin' Good were in 86th place. A support team played cards in the garage. The "serious" trivia players were downstairs.

Trivia posters and mugs from past concerts served as decor. A wall was lined with books, and a table was covered with different references.

Members averaged about three hours sleep each. Members said they laughed so hard at about 4 a.m. Saturday that they cried.

There was strategy to get through the final hours.

"Just to hang in and try to make an attempt at every question," said Tim O'Day. His wife, Sandy, was the team captain for this year's contest. It's a family and friend cooperative. The couple's daughter, Corrine O'Day, 24, started on the team when she was about 8 or 9, and traveled from Milwaukee to join this year's effort.

"It's a tradition that keeps growing," said Rick Durrant, who has played for 20 years.

In addition to having computers upstairs and downstairs, members on the team save everything, from TV guides to magazines. They start taking notes on commercials during the Super Bowl.

Clean-up will take place today.
"Everyone comes back and cleans up," said Maggie Muleski, team host.

The team planned to get together again next year. In fact, trivia dates through 2008 are posted on the door.
"It's kind of nice to leave life alone for three days and just trivia," Durrant said.


Planning to have a team next year? Get off to a good start. According to veteran players, the answer to the first question every year is Robert Redford.

You can reach Deb Cleworth at 715-422-6730 or dcleworth@wisconsinrapidstribune.com.

PHOTO: DOUG ALFT/Daily Tribune
Paul Barton, clockwise from left, Kevin Kniprath, Michelle Young and Rachelle Hilgendorf of the "Grecian Formula One Racing Team" trivia crew keep playing the game early Sunday morning.