Clee Engineering Team wins 1st place in Literacy Connection's Trivia Bee
Clee Engineering became first-time champions at the 18th annual Trivia Bee. Twenty-two teams competed on Saturday, April 18, in The Literacy Connection's fundraiser.
First-place honors went to the Clee Engineering team. The team members included Sue and Steve McCracken, Wendy Molof, and Bud Wilson.
Second place went to the "Quartet of Doom" team with Christopher Denault, Walt Kilmanas, Mike O'Brien, and Mike Seiler. The "Bee Team" took third place with members Lane Hiland, Maggie Margeson, Steve Smith, and Ged Trias.
First- through third-place team members received individual trophies and gift cards.
The event took place at the Grand Victoria Casino in Elgin.
Stew Cohen, news director for WZSR Star 105.5 and SFXF 103.9 radio stations, was the master of ceremonies. Cohen read the trivia questions in three increasingly difficult rounds of competition.
The Top 15 teams were: Clee Engineering; Quartet of Doom; Bee Team; Elgin Community College; High Hopes; Elgin Noon Kiwanis; Team ECCFA; The Fab Four; Community Crisis Center; Altrusa Club of Elgin; Elgin Courier-News; Gail Borden Public Library; Team Christenson; Densa; and Rotary Club of Elgin.
The fundraiser included a grand prize raffle drawing and more than 40 raffle basket prizes. This year's grand prize raffle winners were Sue Humbracht, Nora Dolensky, and Howard and Kerrie Russo.
Humbracht won a New York City trip for two, with two round-trip Southwest Airlines tickets, a two-night stay at Affinia Hotel and tickets to see "Stomp"; Dolensky, a scorekeeper for the event, won the second prize, tickets to see U2; and the Russos, also scorekeepers, won the third prize, an Apple iPad Air.
Prizes were donated by businesses, organizations, community members, board members, volunteers, and staff of The Literacy Connection.
A "Fund-A-Need" campaign seeks donations for a testing laptop, office supplies and testing materials. At the event $746 was raised for Fund-A-Need, and donations are still being accepted on the agency website, www.elginliteracy.org.
Teams were encouraged to raise funds through a Team Challenge campaign.
The Elgin Mental Health Center, Community Crisis Center and Gail Borden Public Library teams raised the most money, totaling $450.
"The Trivia Bee is our signature fundraising event," said Karen Oswald, executive director of The Literacy Connection. "The money raised by team participation and raffle ticket sales supports our literacy programs. We help adults with low literacy and those who are learning English to improve their skills and improve their lives. We appreciate the many local businesses, organizations, and individuals who supported this event."
The Literacy Connection encourages businesses and organizations in the community to begin forming teams for next year.
The Literacy Connection serves 16 Northwest suburban Chicago communities including Algonquin, Bartlett, Carpentersville, Cary, Elgin, South Elgin, East Dundee, West Dundee, Gilberts, Hanover Park, Hampshire, Hoffman Estates, Huntley, Lake in the Hills, Streamwood, and Schaumburg. The agency provides customized one-on-one adult tutoring, English conversation groups, and family literacy programs. To learn more, visit www.elginliteracy.org, email info@elginliteracy.org, or call (847) 742-6565.