Waltham Times team faces the ultimate fact-check

At The Waltham Times, we pride ourselves on getting the facts right. So it was not without trepidation that we decided to enter a team into the communitywide Civics Trivia Night. The event, co-hosted by the Waltham Public Schools history and social studies department and the League of Women Voters of Waltham, was a chance for students and grownups to put their civics knowledge to the test – at the risk of public humiliation.

At 6:30 p.m. on May 13, the Waltham Times team – Betty Barrer, Sarah-Jane Caban, Deb Herman, Colleen Brennan, Paul Brennan, Chris Daly and June Kinoshita – stepped into the cafeteria at McDevitt Middle School. The tiled surfaces rang with students’ shrieks of laughter. Those of us who hadn’t set foot in a middle school in decades may have felt a frisson of anxiety harkening to an epoch best left buried deep in our psyches. 

Boxes of pizza donated by The Chateau arrived, the melted cheese spreading comforting aromas over the crowd. Derek Vandergrift, director of history and social studies at WPS, welcomed the audience and set out the rules. There would be five rounds, each with questions about local, state and national history and government, as well as about citizenship. 

Twelve teams vied for the title – four student teams, five adult teams and three mixed student and adult teams. Some teams opted for straightforward names: McDevitt, Kennedy 1, The Waltham Times, McBrine Mashup. Others showed imagination: The Jury, Blue Mustard, A League of Our Own, Churchmice, Better Ranked Than Never, Waltham Trivia Nerds. Some were aspirational: The Smart Ones and Winners.

For each of the five rounds, answer sheets were placed at each team’s table. In round one, each team had to answer seven questions. The first was an only-in-Waltham one: Who is the chair of the School Committee? (Mayor Jeannette A. McCarthy) The next asked which Waltham Street is named after a Boston Manufacturing Co. machinist. (Moody Street) What two buildings are shown on the seal of the City of Waltham? We were sure about the Boston Manufacturing Co. factory but agonized over the second. City Hall? One of the churches? We guessed it was the most iconic structure, the Watch Factory – the correct answer, it turned out. Phew!

Another tough question: How many electoral votes does Massachusetts have? One of us knew that each state gets as many electors as it has members of Congress. At our cram session (yes, we studied for this), we learned that Massachusetts has nine representatives. Add two for our senators and you get 11 electors. It pays to study, kids.

In round two, we had to match names to clues. One asked which signer of the Declaration of Independence built an estate in Waltham? Why, Robert Treat Paine, of course! 

Round three required teams to identify photos. Where in Waltham can you find a sculpture of a beaver on a roof? City Hall. I always thought that lump at the northwest corner was some species of gargoyle. 

We had gotten every question right up to this point when we stumbled. The photo showed a great carved codfish. In which chamber of the State House can it be found? The Senate or the House were the only choices. There are 40 senators and 160 representatives. We took a closer look at the photo, counted around two dozen seats. The room seemed too small to fit 160. It’s the Senate, we decided. Wrong!

We were still neck and neck with A League of Our Own. In the next two rounds, we could place wagers on whether we would get the answer right. If we missed, we’d lose the points. We decided to go all in. If we lost, we’d lose with honor.

Vandergrift, together with Ken Borter, an eighth-grade civics teacher at McDevitt, and Kael Pelletier, a seventh-grade teacher for World Geography and Ancient Civilizations II at Kennedy Middle School, served as judges and tallied up the points. They announced the final scores. McBrine Mashup won the student team title. And the adult team winner: The Waltham Times. 

Everyone had a fantastic time and learned something new. So we were all winners.

The one that got away. The Sacred Cod hanging above the chamber of the Massachusetts House of Representatives. Wikipedia, under Creative Commons 4.0 license.