LJWorld.com

The crowd at the 75th Street Brewery, 3512 Clinton Parkway, stewed Sunday night, contemplating a difficult question: What movie used the slogan "A different set of jaws"?

For the Lawrence St. Patrick's Day Parade Committee, the question wasn't about jaws or the Rocky Horror Picture Show - the question's answer - but about gathering funds for Lawrence charities.

Sunday night was the group's Pub Quiz benefit at the brewery, a fundraiser that lets teams, typically sponsored by local businesses, compete for prizes and give donations to area nonprofits.

"We like the exposure," committee chairman Roger Browning said. "To get the names of the charities out there."

The Pub Quiz benefit is in its fourth year, Browning said, each event gathering funds for different charities.

This year, the group raised funds for the Douglas County Friends of Children in Foster Care, the Health Care Access Clinic and the Douglas County 4-H after-school program, Browning said.

The group chose the charities based on applications they received, picking organizations or programs that could gain the most.

Photo by Jared Soares

Aaron Hoare, left, and Erin Leary, both of Lawrence, answer a question Sunday night during the Pub Quiz benefit at the 75th Street Brewery, 3512 Clinton Parkway. The duo represented Johnny's Tavern at the event sponsored by the Lawrence St. Patrick's Day Parade Committee.

"We pick the ones we think our kind of operations can help," Browning said.

Teams had to ante up $75 to take a stab at questions, and trivia organizer Scott McDaniel reminded participants to keep the game cool and collected before the first round began.

"We're all here to have a good time," he told the packed house. "The stakes aren't that high."

But right off the bat, some contestants jumped at the opportunity to answer questions other teams got wrong.

Emcee Andy Morton directed the first question at the Eudora Nursing Center.

The category was "Military Abbreviations" and the first question, in so many words, asked what CJCS, a Defense Department official, stood for.

The nursing center folks were just off. Someone in the crowd said, "Yes," a bit too loud.

"Keep your pants on, Spartacus," Morton quipped.

A handful of the 22 Pub Quiz teams answered "chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff," the correct response, and the game went on from there.

The guys from Louise's Downtown had an early lead, but midway through the first round, two-time defending champs Tabula, a seasoned trivia crew, took the lead.

"I'm big on not tempting fate," Tabula member Steve Buckner said about predicting a victory early.

Maybe a reporter in their face jinxed them. In the end, a team led by Chris Stucky, Jay Deiser and Aaron Siebenthall took the victory on the last question, a query referring to former Kansas University basketball player Lynette Woodard, the school's all-time leading scorer.

Siebenthall, an assistant basketball coach at Lawrence High School, had a distinct advantage.

"I knew it. I always ask that question at basketball camps," he said.