Trivia mania is spreading to bars throughout the Pee Dee

There’s smart people everywhere in the Pee Dee, especially in Cheraw, where Trivia Night also has become a regular bar crowd pleaser.
Every Thursday from 8 to 10 p.m. at the Oyster Bar in downtown Cheraw, people of all ages (over 21, of course) round up their “smartest friends” to test their knowledge of current events, pop culture, sports, history and even spelling in team trivia.
Dan and Ashley Teal, owners of the Oyster Bar, started Trivia Night soon after they opened the bar in downtown Cheraw last October. Graduates of the University of South Carolina, the Teals said they got the idea from their college days in Columbia, where a little bar called the Village Idiot would host Trivia Night.
“When we first started it, a lot of people in Cheraw didn’t know what it was we were doing,” Ashley said.
But that soon changed. In just a few weeks, the tables were filling up with teams for Trivia Night. People from Chesterfield and Bennettsville are now making the trek to Cheraw for the game night.
The contest, like the atmosphere of the bar, is laid back. Michael Chapman, a school teacher who has volunteered to come up with the trivia questions, calls them out through a series of rounds. Teams write down their answers on a sheet a paper and turn it in. The team with the most points at the end of the night wins. The only rule is no cell phones to look up answers on the Internet or to “phone-a-friend.”
Peggy Hamden-Stewart, who has a formidable team consisting of Harriet Conn, Rock and Sarah Ann Thompson, Diane Reig and Jean Page Watson, said, “We enjoy the challenge and the camaraderie. Plus, it’s my only night out!”
The name of their team changes each week, but what doesn’t change is their desire to win the $50 first-place prize, which they donate to the local food bank.
This is not unusual, the Teals said. Many teams donate their winnings to charity. Some give to the food bank; another team has given to the soup kitchen. One night, the prize money was donated to Finley Stevens, a
3-year-old boy diagnosed with leukemia, with players pledging to “match” the winnings.
The Cheraw Arts Commission also has found Trivia Night to be an outlet for fundraising. Once a month, the commission has played host to the trivia game with a $30 entry fee for teams wanting to participate. On these nights, the Oyster Bar also charges a $5 cover, with all proceeds going to the Cheraw Arts Commission.
While the winning team gets a cash prize, the second-place team gets a free liquor shot.
Most people say Trivia Night is a good way to socialize and hang out with friends. It also draws plenty of fresh-out-of-college students who are used to bars having theme nights.
Megan Watson, also a USC graduate, said, “All the bars in Columbia have Trivia Night. It’s nice to see a place in Cheraw doing the same thing.”

If you’re going
WHAT: Trivia Night
WHEN: 8 to 10 p.m. every Thursday
WHERE: The Oyster Bar, 155 Second St., Cheraw
INFO: http://www.myspace.com/theoysterbarcheraw