Oh, what a trivial night! WFEE bee was a load of fun!

I feel the need to apologize to the Teletub-bees seated at our table during WFEE’s recent Trivia Bee. I was one of the Winchester Newshounds, Round 5, losers.

Reporter Will Dowd and editor Nell Escobar Coakley were my teammates and Will taunted those poor high school girls like it was the Squid Games (I’ve never actually watched the Squid Games, but that sounds right).

He did it all in fun, but I have to say he’s got a competitive side I’m not sure I was fully aware of. 

When we saw that the Winchester Foundation for Educational Excellence was looking for teams for its annual Trivia Bee, I asked Nell if we could play. How much fun would that be – and it was.

Seven rounds, we were Round 5, the Teletub-bees were Round 2 (not even in our round, Will, leave them alone!) And it’s funny how many questions you can answer sitting at your table, on the floor, amid all the other contestants not on stage.

I never feel more brilliant than when I answer final Jeopardy correctly and none of the contestants get it right. The Bee was a little like that. I was on fire – when I was on the floor.

The Teletub-bees lost their round, but they did pick up a prize for best dressed team. No offense Teletub-bees, but frankly that should have gone to the Newshounds – did you not see our press hats! Come on – those were awesome. I’m wearing mine as I write this!

But I think next year Bee organizers need to give an award for best team name because as far as I’m concerned, Tequila Mockingbird killed it! I loved you ladies and I was rooting for you all the way based solely on your name!

I have to admit I was kind of a mess when it came time to take the stage for our round. Why, you ask? Because, I must admit, aside from playing Jeopardy on my couch a few nights a week, I have never taken part in a trivia night event.

I sent a note to one of the Winchester News board members before the big night saying I’d like to say “I hope we make you proud,” but what I’m really thinking is “I hope we don’t embarrass you.”

I don’t think we did.

Our round was a funny one. We missed the first two questions, but so did everyone else! I thought we’re either going to be the dumbest set of the night or we just got the harder questions, but then we kicked in.

Oh, we lost. But we lost in a tie breaker round, which isn’t bad in my book and if Will had just insisted the answer was Taft and not Teddy Roosevelt, we would have won.

Geeze oh Pete (as Will would say) anyone who knew me in high school would tell you not to trust my knowledge of presidential history – or any history for that matter– what were you thinking following me. But as Nell pointed out, we did get the important questions – the literary ones – right. Talk about your optics, the writers can’t name the writers, yikes! 

Along with having a bunch of fun, I also learned a lot. Turns out you learn all sorts of interesting things at a trivia bee.

Who knew that under the right conditions peanut butter could become a diamond – maybe they meant baseball diamond or Neil Diamond because an actual carat weighing shiner on my left ring finger diamond just seems even more outrageous an option.

I also learned, and was disappointed by the knowledge, that Canada invented Hawaiian pizza?

Why, Canada, why? I always had a soft spot for you, your falls, your maple leaves, poutine, Martin Short, Ryan Reynolds, but now I find myself rethinking everything. I know it was a Greek immigrant, Sam Panopoulos, who unleashed the creation, but you let it grow and meander.

There are 22 bones in a human skull, one event in the original Olympics (and yes Judge Frank Hackett, I saw you Googling that answer) and batteries store chemical energy though I liked our table’s answer better. The Teletub-bees and Newshounds went with potential energy – I like the way that sounds – not that we were on stage so our failure didn’t matter – you just can’t help but compete all night.

And I’ll tell you, what I really want is to be in the room with the people coming up with the questions next year. 

Oh yes, I plan on being back next year with my press hat. Even if the Winchester News scores a team of ringers – Nell and Will and I will be back because (Nell and Will were the real ringers answering most of the questions – I just wrote them down) the real takeaway was that the night was a blast. It was just fun and we didn’t totally embarrass ourselves (you’re welcome, Tara!) and I need redemption.

Do I think we could win it all next year? Probably not – but a girl can dream and if I study up on presidential history and discover who invented instant mashed potatoes, ketchup chips and peanut butter (Canada, Canada and believe it or not Canada!) we might have a shot!

Chris Stevens is an award-winning journalist who has spent 25 years chasing, editing and photographing stories on the North Shore. She is the co-founder and managing editor of Gotta Know Medford.