By Robin GOLDSWORTHY

More than 130 folks turned out to see just how smart they were at the 24th annual Smart-A-Thon held on March 28 at Verdugo Hills Hospital.

The event is the primary fundraiser for the Mary Pinola/CV Chamber Education Endowment Fund that has awarded over $100,000 since its inception in 1990.

Participants paid $35 for the chance to not only test their trivia knowledge, but also enjoyed entertainment provided by CV Sheriff’s Capt. David Silversparre who tickled the ivories accompanied by songstress Lt. Angela Shepherd.

In addition to enjoying a tasty lunch provided by the hospital, guests could bid on 60 baskets in a silent auction.Some lucky(?) participants were randomly selected to take part in a hula dancing contest after donning a colorful grass skirt. The contest was non-gender specific – both men and women swiveled, gyrated or performed some other act that could be construed as hula dancing. The performers were good sports, thankfully, and the audience restrained from throwing coconuts at them.

But all silliness was tossed aside as pencils were poised over paper when the trivia test was administered.

After 25 minutes of answering 68 questions, it was time to put pencils down and tally the scores.

A quick review of the answers and the teams of the Crescenta Valley Town Council and Clark Magnet Faculty tied for first; the CV Chamber and Glendale Unified School District tied for second; and VHH, the CV Drug & Alcohol Prevention Coalition  and Bob Smith Toyota all tied for third place. Organizer Jean Maluccio was pleased with the event, especially with the assistance offered by the hospital.

“The staff at VHH is incredible to work with,” said Maluccio. “From their head chef Joel Hernandez to Kenny Tse who always has the room ready for me, and Elen Borja who works with Mr. LaBella.”

  robin goldsworthy