On August 1, 2021, members of the Franklin Odd Fellows held a fundraiser Trivia Tournament at the Bellingham Sportsman’s Club at 360 Lake St., Bellingham, MA 02019. Five teams participated in the fun-filled event and all expressed interest in participating the next time around. The host lodge that entered a team was William F. Ray Lodge #71 from Franklin that was raising funds for various Odd Fellow charities. The host facility of the Sportsman’s Club entered a team and was also good enough to provide the Odd Fellows with the use of their sound system. Many thanks to Club President, Steve Landry and Past President, David Azevedo for their overall assistance in getting our first ever trivia tournament up and running. A team was entered by Franklin Town Selectman, Cobi Frongillo and, although the size of their team was small, they did very well and was even leading the field at one time. Another somewhat larger team was entered by Dan Labonte and they came in second place in the overall standings. The largest team in the event was entered by Herman Dexter Lodge #133 of Dedham, MA. The size of their team (and the buying of mulligans) aided them in their ability to capture the first place prize for the day. Congratulations to the team from Dedham!

Many participants commented on how well run the event was conducted, so we had to ask the event moderator, Michele Kehling of Easton how she came to be so good at running a trivia tournament?

“As long as I can remember, I have loved trivia.”

“I’m a huge fan of Jeopardy and have twice tried out to be a contestant on the game show – and I’ve never missed an episode on television. I’m a huge fan of game shows, board games, crossword puzzles and the like. I am a Nursing Supervisor at a day rehab facility for individuals with disabilities. When the pandemic hit, we needed to come up with a Zoom program to engage the individuals at home who could not yet return to the program. I took my love for trivia and developed an Arts & Entertainment group one day a week. Every Thursday is a little different, but they are all a blend of trivia and puzzles. So, of course, when I was asked to host a trivia event for the Odd Fellows and, knowing that all their good work is for charities, I couldn’t resist. I spent a lot of time researching fun and interesting questions that would be suitable for a range of people and would also offer a challenge to a variety of interests and knowledge areas. Some of the categories for the event included General Knowledge, Literature, Movies and of course because I’m a nurse, the Human Body.”

William F. Ray Lodge is located at 330 West Central St. in Franklin and has been doing good work behind the scenes in Franklin since 1878.