PORT ANGELES — Trivia buffs and music fans take note: The fourth annual Trivia Night Extravaganza takes flight this Saturday at the Masonic Lodge in Port Angeles.
Doors will open at 6 p.m. for jazz performances, dancing, visiting, table selection, eating and perusal of auction items. Trivia will begin at 7 p.m.
During the contest, teams of six to eight people compete against others for first-, second- and third-place cash prizes, along with bragging rights, said Cheryl Baumann, Port Angeles Band Booster president.
Entry is $10 per person, and registration forms are available at Port Book and News, 104 East First Street in downtown Port Angeles, or at the door.
“It’s a wonderful place for people to come and play trivia and listen to music, as well as laugh and contribute to a great cause,” said Doug Gailey, Port Angeles High School director of bands.
All proceeds raised fund scholarships for graduating band members.
“Individuals, families and couples are all welcome, and if you don’t come as part of a team, the Boosters will incorporate you into one,” Booster Secretary Jonelle Chapman said.
The evening includes four rounds of trivia, jazz performances and live and silent auctions.
Once again, Andy Griffiths of Port Angeles will serve as Trivia Master. Griffiths has a cult following among local diehard trivia buffs, according to Baumann.
He alone is responsible for creating all questions for four rounds of trivia, she said.
The questions span a variety of topics and time periods including sports, music, literature, history, film, geography and what Griffiths calls “the usual bizarre cross-section.”
Griffiths said the night’s beauty is team members working together to answer questions. Someone might only know one or two answers, but those might be key to that team’s success. Griffiths has been leading trivia contests for almost a decade. He and his wife, Port Angeles educator Susan Dekreon, had two students who participated in the PAHS band program.
Area broadcaster and Port Angeles High School alumnus Todd Ortloff will serve as honorary auctioneer.
“Todd’s a former band kid himself,” Gailey said. “So it’s really fun to have him involved and contributing to a new class of seniors.”
Ortloff played trumpet in just about every band group offered: marching, concert, wind and stage, which is now the jazz ensemble.
The band program “was like my entire high school life,” he said, adding that band taught him leadership skills and how to work with others.
“There were just a lot of life lessons that being in the band helped me with,” Ortloff said.
One of the items he will auction is a one-of-a-kind wooden sign made from figured maple by Port Angeles Hardwood carpenter Steve Menkal, another Port Angeles High alumnus.
The sign will be customized for the buyer. When the buyer picks up the finished sign, he or she will tour Port Angeles Hardwood with the plant manager.
Other items range from sports-, entertainment- and outdoor-themed baskets; to a night at Lake Crescent and kayaking; 50 pounds of troll-caught salmon, halibut and albacore tuna from Joe Cammack; a cord of firewood; and Doug Gailey’s renowned cheesecake.
The Port Angeles High Jazz Ensemble will perform such classics as “Stompin’ at the Savoy,” “I Left My Heart in San Francisco,” “The Days of Wine and Roses” and “In the Stone,” popularized by Earth, Wind &Fire.
Gailey said many of the musicians have been studying and performing music since the fourth grade.
Ensemble members include Kelsey Cammack, Mason Coppage, Christian Curtis, Kennedy Cameron, Jared Van Blair, Allison Winters, Olga Palenga, Jane Rudzinski, Nathan Denton, Aron Trubow, Peyton Cable, Sean Hanrahan, David Homan, Caleb Mathison, WesLee Laughman, Kelly MacIntosh-Ryan, Jordan Nicolas, Alden Riski and Jae Harrell.
Gailey said 15 deserving seniors are eligible for Band Booster scholarships after having participated in the band program all four years of high school.
For some kids, Gailey said, college appears “really unattainable.” These individual, community scholarships “add up, and they help students see college as a real possibility.”
The scholarship funding raised at the event “helps send the seniors off to their next education experience, which we know is getting more and more expensive,” Gailey said.
Graduating band seniors include percussionists Cody Brown, Max Hornack and Laura Rooney; clarinetists Amber Benoit, Alyssa Potter, Slade McLaughlin, Lexie Peabody and Jennifer Robbins; flute player Jasmine Moniz; bassoonist Christian Middlestead; French horn and trumpet player Grace Sanwald; bass player Jared Van Blair; trumpet players Justin Parker and Alden Riski; and baritone saxophonist Kennedy Cameron.
The Boosters noted that the event would not be possible without support from event sponsors 7 Cedars Casino, State Farm Insurance, Hermann Brothers Logging and Port Angeles Hardwood, with round sponsors including Shaltry and Rudd Orthodontics, Sound Community Bank and Laurel Dental Clinic.
