Granbee Recap

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PictureChampions: The Drones—Mark Neumann, Tom McGuire, Rich Accetura.

GranBee gives phone app run for its money
By Mary Munsell

What’s the color of Spock’s blood?

Who was the first U.S. President to adopt the informal version of his first name?

What new republic adopted the motto “Liberty! Equality! Fraternity!”?

Questions like these may remind you of a time you waited in the car for dance class to end, or sat on the bus on the way to school or work. Yet these questions didn’t come with the addictive glow of a phone or the canned fanfare of a congratulatory trumpet. Technology took a back seat during the 12th annual GranBee as topics spanning a variety of subjects challenged teams and audience members alike.

PictureThe Emcee—Scott Kuhnly

The evening of March 13 started off with emcee Scott Kuhnly parading down the aisles of Granby Memorial’s high school auditorium in a bear costume, no doubt to the chagrin of the event’s mascot, Cali Holt, who thought she was going to be the only one dressed in costume. Instead of brandishing her stinger, the Bee chose to keep the bear in line with a leftover plastic sword found backstage. In support, judges Bob Bystrowski, Dave Emery and Kim McCord were quick to ring the bell when Kuhnly’s antics and jokes became too much for the audience to “bear.” Competitive costuming also trickled down to the teams who vied not only for intellectual greatness, but fashionable notoriety as well. Needless to say, many of these costumes would definitely outshine a pixelated red paintbrush, orange football or green test tube. Out of the five finalists for the Granbee’s costume contest, U3 won by donning outfits reminiscent of the 90s hit band U2—sunglasses, guitars and all.

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Costume contest winners: U3—Mike Dunn, Steve Migneault, Jim Whitten Photos by John Adams

As the swarms of questions buzzed about, teams were challenged with questions ranging from the arts and literature, sports and leisure, to regional trivia. At times, such questions stumped the entire panel of teams. However, not wanting to lack in an answer, some reverted to “glenn cusano”, referring to current contestant and previous champion, which became the stock answer to a variety of questions regarding a tennis champion, head of state, or contagious disease. The final round did focus the crowd a bit more as the C.R.D.T’s, Mad Hatters, Drones, Granby Rovers and Pirates of the CariBEEan matched wits to become victorious. In the end, the Drones won the competition, finishing off another year of trivia fun.

Making this event possible wasn’t the wonders of wi-fi but generous donations from Swarm sponsors Simsbury Bank and Farmington Valley YMCA, Honey Bee sponsors Lost Acres Orchard, MeadowBrook of Granby, and Northwest Community Bank, and Honeycomb sponsors Arrow Concrete, Connecticut Mulch, Granby Pharmacy and Sir Speedy. With support from these businesses, concessions contributions, and audience donations, the foundation was able to raise over $8,000 that will support educational programming for Granby and surrounding towns.

So the next time you’re waiting in front of a Granby school and your fingers play over the screen for that familiar app, ask yourself, “Am I ready for the big leagues? Am I able to leave the virtual world for the real one? Am I ready for next year’s GranBee?”