Funds raised for Riverside Chapel on Trivia Night

By James Grob, jgrob@charlescitypress.com

Trivia Night was back, and by all accounts it was another success.

Especially for the team called “Neptuning You Out.”

The team consisting of members from First Security bank took home the traveling trophy in a tie-breaker. Team members Carly Demro, Kurt Herbrechtsmeyer, Phyllis Ruehlow, Carolyn Marth and Abby Bice and her son edged the USPS team by correctly answering the question, “What is the length of the Statue of Liberty’s nose, in centimeters?” (About 140.)

After a two-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Charles City’s Fourth Annual Trivia Night was held on Saturday at Comet Gym. The event is organized and run by eighth-grade students at Charles City Middle School, with proceeds going to the restoration of the 115-year-old chapel at Riverside Cemetery.

More than 20 teams participated with about 120 people attending. The event raised $6,500, and an additional $3,450 was already in the bank from two years ago, when the event was called off. Teams that had pre-registered and paid their fees in 2020 let the eighth-graders keep the money.

“Year after year I am blown away by the community support for this student-led event, and this year was no different,” said Amanda Rahmiller, eighth-grade teacher and facilitator of the event. She thanked Jeff Sisson, who created the partnership with the eighth-graders and Riverside Cemetery back in 2017.

“Thanks also to those who made monetary and pop/water donations, bought table sponsorships, donated their time and energy in setting up and cleaning up, provided tables and chairs, and gave silent auction items,” Rahmiller said. “An event of this magnitude simply couldn’t be done without your generosity. Thank you for believing in our cause of restoring a historic building in Charles City and believing in kids.”

Student roles include making all the phone calls soliciting participation, filling out online and paper donation request forms, creating decorations to fit with the theme, creating the answer booklets, choosing and pricing out food, deciding and creating party favors for platinum sponsors, creating/mailing tickets and writing and recording radio advertisements.

Rahmiller said the students are gaining essential life skills through the experience and are thrilled to be doing real work that makes a difference.

“We look forward to sharing this event with the community every year,” she said. “If you’ve ever attended and had a fun time, spread the word and bring a friend next year.”