History was made in Akumal this afternoon, with the first ever Hekab Be Trivia Challenge held at Lol-Ha restaurant. The tension was high as teams battled it out for the first prize of two nights at Casa del Corazon on Soliman Bay.
How would you have scored?!
Quiz master Linda Novak presided over the event, with Marcy Essy asking the (very tough) questions. Just a few were …
- How many states are there in Mexico? (31 plus D.F.)
- What Internet engine was named after a tribe of savage brutes in Gulliver’s Travels? (Yahoo!)
- Who was Watergate’s ‘Deep Throat’? (Former FBI director Mark Felt)
- What is the Mayan word for water? (Ha)
Despite the challenging questions (it was a Trivia Challenge!) everyone had plenty of fun, with answers often provoking groans, exclamations of surprise, and sometimes even laughter. We learned that Elizabeth Taylor had 7 husbands (but was married 8 times), and that the lunar landing module was named “The Eagle.” (The eagle has landed … Of course!)
Winners received prizes from the event sponsors Tulum Luxury Collection and LocoGringo, La Buena Vida, Taverna Akumal, and Cueva Vodka.
They Are So Smart
The winning team got 35 points (out of a possible 50) with a tie for second and third place requiring a special tie-breaker round.
John and Rosemary Johnson and friends AKA ‘The Team from Table Twelve’ amazed everyone with their knowledge to become the 2019 Hekab Be Trivia Quiz Champions and winners of the gift certificate for two nights at Casa del Corazon.
They Are Smart Too
Sara, Mike, Jim and Stuart, a team who met for the first time at the Challenge, are the second most intelligent in Akumal!
They are Smarter Than the Average Bear
Third prize winners Susan, Randy, Enrique and Nancy narrowly lost second place after a nail-biting tie-breaker. Do you know who is the Long Island Lolita? (Hint: It’s not Lorena Bobbitt!)
As well as the top three prizes, a “best effort” prize of Cueva Vodka was awarded to the valiant contestants on Table 16, one lucky contestant received a bottle of wine as a “chair prize” and a 50/50 raffle was held with half the funds raised donated to Hekab Be, and half for the winner. However, in a very generous gesture, the winner donated the money back to Hekab Be, increasing the donations for the event by $3,000 pesos!
The event was an outstanding success, and raised over $20,000 pesos to help fund the after-school programs at Hekab Be. A huge thank you goes out to Linda Novak for masterminding the event, to Kaori Sueki and Betsy Amy-Vogt from Hekab Be for helping with publicity and prizes, and to the amazing Akumal community that came out to attend the event and support Hekab Be.
And while being smart is its own reward, no event would be complete without prizes. We were overwhelmed by the generosity of the Tulum Luxury Collection for donating the first prize, and Katie Datica of LocoGringo deserves a special shout-out for weaving her magic and making it happen.
Laura Bush and Lol-Ha restaurant donated the location and staff for the event, La Buena Vida donated a very generous gift certificate, as did La Taverna Akumal. And of course, no Akumal event would be complete without artisanal vodka from the master distiller himself, Bartley Smith.
Cheers Akumal! We’ll see you at next year’s challenge.
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