The village quiz. Who doesn't know it! This is now a well-known phenomenon, especially in Brabant, where hundreds of villages participate. There is one in almost every community. Likewise in our beautiful village. An enthusiastic group of volunteers joined forces a few years ago and started to put together an incredibly clever quiz. I'm writing it down right now, but there's a lot of time and energy in this. Together with a number of local entrepreneurs who sponsor generously, they are responsible for a whole community.
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This year the village quiz will be organized for the fourth time:“Hee doede mee”. This name is a reference to the song by old fellow villager Gerard van Maasakkers, “Hee goade mee”. The question “Hey, join in” is really superfluous here. Everyone participates! Young, old, smart people, creative people. The whole village is in an uproar during the quiz night. Sports associations, clubs of friends, companies and residential areas have formed teams.
We also participate. The first year I still participated with a café team. Together with my BFF we sat at the bar to answer some questions about famous Dutch people. The team bore the name of the cafe and the owner took good care of his team. Too good. Before we could say anything ourselves, the wine glasses were refilled. This resulted in a very pleasant evening, but both the questions and answers became increasingly hazy. The pinnacle was that we had delegated someone with dyslexia to the secret assignment. This assignment, described by means of a cryptic description, was a dictation. #fail † It didn't matter, we had a great evening. Connecting quizzes together, especially with the village quiz. Really.
A year later we started our own team. With my dear relatives and some friends of the family. We went into battle under our family name, which we all wear with pride. Unfortunately for us, the first year was not the best year. This became painfully clear during the party night.
The results of the Village Quiz are announced every year during a dazzling party evening. A cool band, all participants and liters of beer ensure a smashing party. The result is a common thread throughout the evening. The highlight is of course the top 10. The ultimate goal. Reaching the top 3 is of course completely fantastic. The teams that finish in the top 3 each receive a nice amount of money. They donate this to a local charity of their choice.
That year there were 123 participating teams. We became 113 e † Ouch! That hurt. Our family is fairly well known within our village. With a family name as a team name, that might be nice if you finish in the upper echelons. This was a little less pleasant for us. But of course we don't let ourselves be known. Optimistic as our family is, we saw plenty of opportunities for improvement. We registered again the following year. With a somewhat more general name:“All family”. What's your team called? We really have the most amazing names.
That year we finished as number 79. An excellent increase in the ranking. People around us thought it was pretty sad. Finish so low. We were very satisfied and we celebrated this well.
The whole village is warming up again this year for this intensive quiz evening. It's not just about answering some questions. New. You have 10 categories. All with many, many questions. Outdoor assignments, baking assignments and photo assignments. And you are not only busy on the day itself. A month and a half ago, for example, we were at the kiosk in the park on a drizzly Friday evening. All team captains had received an email that they could pick up a secret envelope. Inside the envelope was a scrapbook with a stack of pictures. A real swap! Just like you can save pictures for Freek Vonk at Albert Heijn, the teams also had to start saving pictures. What followed was a whole group of grown people who were trading pictures like crazy and offering everything to fill their book. Hilarious. Later, an exchange afternoon was organized and various exchange campaigns were set up on Facebook.
The organization manages to raise the tension a little higher. In the weeks leading up to the quiz, you will receive various hints and categories will be announced via Facebook and the local newspaper. In our team, most hints only become clear during or after the quiz night 😉 .
We are participating again this year. The preparations are in full swing. We're going for a spot below (or above, whichever way you look at it) 75. A tentative target, I know. I'm not going to give you tips to make the evening go well. Let's face it dear people. We are not going to give up our strengths and tactics. After all, the whole village is reading along.
What I do want to give you is the following advice:
Provide a varied but fun team. Above all, it is a very fun and interactive evening. Enjoy it, work together and know that in this case participating is really more important than winning.
When you win, you have friends. But if you win the village quiz as a team, you will have eternal fame. Although in my opinion the biggest winners are the local charities. And the organization. Who can look back on a great village festival every year!
