What’s in a game?
Today it was great pleasure to accompany my wife to the 13th annual Brain Games, held at Shepherd University.
She got involved after I saw a pleading by Tim Procita, the CEO of MVB Bank, on Facebook asking for some knowledgeable people to be a part of his Brain Games team. I suggested it to Diana, and she agreed to talk with Tim about it. The set everything up, and Diana was one of six members of the MVB Bank team. Another member of the team was Lauren Epperly, another member of the RNE group to which I belong.
The way it works is that the teams are sitting at tables… in this case, in the Ram’s Den (a kind of dining hall for the college students). Four times during the afternoon, the teams are given a sheet of 25 questions, and have 15 minutes in which to answer the questions. The questions are essentially trivia-type questions from a variety of subjects, from history and economics to movies, TV, and music. The questions are, for the most part, really hard for most of us commoners. But the Brain Games players are just a notch above the rest of us.
At the end of 15 minutes, the answer sheets are collected and sent to the judging chambers, where they are scored. A listing is updated on a projected computer display after each round has been judged. I went as an observer/supporter, but since pom-poms and cheers would not have been appropriate, I sat quietly at an empty table and busied myself with editing and a few emails.
Diana did very well in her contribution to the team. The MVB Bank team finished tied for eighth place… a respectable showing indeed.
The real reason I’m writing about this, though, is to bring a little awareness to the purpose of the event. The Brain Games project benefits the Literacy Volunteers of the Eastern Panhandle, which I strongly urge you to learn more about. Each team pays to be a part of the games… this is the biggest element of raising funds from this event. There are also books for sale (Diana donated several books from her library), cookies and water (all donated) available for donations, as well as door prizes, and silent auction raffles ($1 per ticket, 6/$5). In all, the day is about volunteering time, a little money, and some of your brain power for a very good cause.
I’m proud of Diana for getting involved. She and the MVB team really did well.
I hope that the LVEP raised a lot of much-needed funds. By the way, there is a DONATE button on their website (hint, hint).
🙂