It might explain the meaning of life, but “42” probably won’t appear as an answer at Thursday evening’s Rogers Trivia Night.
Or it might.
John Burroughs, Rogers Historical Museum assistant director, and James Hales, author and historian, came up with the questions for the museum fundraiser, now in its second year. Burroughs isn’t giving much away beforehand except to say that the questions will focus on education, dining and social life in Rogers in the 1950s through the 1980s. That’s not to say there won’t be questions about other topics - perhaps national history, perhaps other eras in Benton County.
Gaye Bland, the museum’s director, suggests reading Hales’ book “The Fabulous 1960s in Rogers, Arkansas” to get a leg up. The 280-page book includes more than 1,000 photographs which, along with perusing Hales’ website (halesbooks.com), might provide some possible clues: Daisy Manufacturing opened its doors in Rogers in 1958.
The fourth War Eagle Mill was rebuilt in 1973.
Monte Ne was lost in the mid-1960s when Beaver Lake was created and covered most of the historic site.
◊In 1964, the Rogers High School football team was led by quarterback David Swearingen and won the state championship.
Bland also shares a piece of trivia she especially likes.
“There was a physician named William Jasper Curry who died in 1947 at the age of 96,” she relates. “He had practiced medicine in Benton County for 71 years and made his last professional call six days before he died.”
And, she says, she recently solved a mystery.
“My husband always said he remembered going to see Minnie Pearl in Rogers, but he couldn’t remember when or what the context was,” Bland says. “Finally, in doing some of the research for exhibits for the new building, we discovered she was here in the late 1950s as part of Chicken Eatin’ Days, a big celebration of the poultry industry that ended with a chicken cookout.
“Apparently, even with Minnie Pearl, they didn’t have the turnout they expected, and I don’t think they even tried to do it a second year.”
On the other hand, Trivia Night went so well last year, Bland says, that the Friends of the Museum will probably continue the event “until we run out of factoids about Rogers - which ought to be a long time.” With a capital campaign under way and a building campaign on the horizon, the museum’s supporters are putting more effort toward soliciting support.
Burroughs says it wouldn’t hurt serious competitors to put similar effort into studying for the multiple-choice quiz. There will be 20 rounds, with a prize awarded in every round, plus some door prizes, he tallies up.
“The downtown merchants have been very generous this year,” he adds, with gifts donated by Kirby’s Kupcakes and the Trolley Line Bookstore, plus “a wide range of other things.”
On the other hand, Burroughs adds, “you can bribe the judges, but I’m not going to admit that.”
Life, Pages 6 on 05/15/2013