– Participants now meeting online to play

THE Cara Quiz Night, which features a mid-week get-together with a few drinks and laughs, along with the knowledge that participants are helping local charities, is now in its 16th year. And although unable to physically meet in the wake of the threat of the Coronavirus, the group is determined to keep its activities going by holding its event online.

The group has donated funds to almost 30 local charities since the first quiz night was held on September 15, 2004. It was initially started as a commercial venture to promote the new bar, Bistro 176 at the then Cara Suites, but the focus was later shifted entirely to making donations to various charitable organisations.

The plan was for the quiz to last six weeks, but it proved to be popular from the first night and rapidly gained a regular set of players. As a result, it was retained as a Wednesday night weekly attraction.

For the first two years, there was no entry fee to play, and over the years, the format of the quiz changed from straight questions and answer rounds to include picture handout rounds and a music round.

At the start of 2006, a decision was made to charge an entry fee of $500 per player, with 50 percent of the money raised on a night being for a monthly nominated charity and the other 50 percent as a prize for the winning team. From the start, the winning teams donated their winnings to the charity, and after a short period, it was decided that all the entry fees would be for charity.

The first donation of $30,000 was given to Lifeline Counselling and the total raised in the first year was $1,455,060. Bistro 176 was the home of the Cara Quiz till June 2013 when Cara Hotels gave up the management of the hotel.

Before temporarily moving online, the quiz was being held at the Altitude Bar and was moved to Tuesday nights. Initially, all the quizzes were set and hosted by Shaun McGrath. When he wanted to go on vacation in 2006 for the months of July and August, players wanted the quiz to be continued. A group of players volunteered to host it in his absence, and the concept of the guest quizmaster began. That system continued till 2016. For the last three years, Shaun hosts only one quiz per month, with all others hosted by a regular player.

As of the end of February 2020, more than $26.5 million was raised for local charities since 2006. “Quiz Night is busier than ever and this year, we are on schedule to have a record year and should raise about $2.8 million. For the last four weeks, we have taken the quiz online every Wednesday night with teams playing via Zoom,” said McGrath.
McGrath feels that the quiz has been successful because it has become a self-sustaining community that covers all ages, social classes, and ethnicities. Traditional academic topics like science and literature are used, along with topics like fashion, movies, and entertainment.

“We have players who have been with the quiz since the very beginning. Over the last few years, we have made extensive use of social media, and this has attracted a new and more youthful set off players,” he said.

While there were periods where it seems quiz night was fading, with only one or two teams to play, the team managed to come up with new ideas to create interest in it once again. “Having a solid group of supporters and involving them in the decision-making process is also critical. Above all, accountability is vital, especially if you are collecting money for charitable purposes,” McGrath said.