TRIVIA CHALLENGE

My dad liked games. All kinds. Football, basketball, baseball, blackjack, poker, craps, queens... Think he enjoyed the competition, thrill of the victory, escape from stress, comraderie that they all brought. Many of my memories with him as a young adult, revolved around some type of game; Trivial Pursuit was one of his favorite board games, and although it was a bit too challenging for us young kids, he found a way to make it FUN and relevant.

It started with long drives, like to Disneyland or Tahoe, as a way to make the time pass, keep us quiet and actually "enjoy" each other's company. But then we wanted to play it all the time... Anytime we got in the car. And although I played the "Alphabet"game or "Punch Buggy" with many of my friends, it was different when we were with Mr. Stroup. Inside the maroon Cadillac and later the taupe Audi, you had to be ready for the Ulitimate Trivia Challenge:

• Choose from his categories: Entertainment, Sports, Math, Science, History, English, Spelling. He would make up different ones all the time. You couldn't pick the same category twice in row.
• Pick the amount of points you wanted: 5, 10, 15, 20. The more points you seeked, the harder the question.
• You had 30 seconds from the time he asked the question to come up with the answer. If you didn't get it, or were wrong, someone else could guess it for half points.
• Play until somebody got to 100 or whatever amount he decided.

Dad was the creator of all the questions.

"I'll take Entertainment for 20."

He would take a few moments to come up with the question, while us kids were all giddy about what it would be. Would I get it right? "How many points do you have?" We'd ask each other. Dad was the official scorekeeper so nobody could exaggerate their winnings.

After much thought and making sure the question was appropriate for the person and the points, he would say, "In the movie Indian Jones-Raiders of the Lost Ark, what was the lead character after?"

If no one could get it, he'd give us a hint. Not a simple hint like, "It starts with an A," but a hint that was even more challenging to decipher than the actual question. Something like, "A canine's language without the B and an agreement with the highest being." Yes, this was his creative method to get us to shout out, "The Ark of the Covenant."

We were in awe when we would play this game. "How does he know SO much about SO many different things?" We would ask ourselves. It honestly felt like there was nothing we could ask him to which he did not know the answer.

And how much FUN he was...He made everything FUN! Not in a romper room, kindergarten teacher or patronizing way, but in a sincere, mature manner that made you feel like he genuinely enjoyed being around YOU. Just one of the qualities everyone loved about him, and why you'll hear many of our childhood friends say, "I loved Mr. Stroup...He was so much FUN!"