VIDEO: Trivia Bee buzzes Cary Hall, November 6, 2009
By Emily Costello/Staff Writer/Lexington Minuteman

Lexington - What Amherst author wrote: "There is no frigate like a book?"

If you correctly answered "Emily Dickinson," you were probably in the audience of the Lexington Education Foundation (LEF) 14th Annual Trivia Bee on Thursday.

During the three-hour trivia marathon at Cary Hall, 42 swarms of bees competed for the title of champion.

In the end, the "Klee-Bees," father Edward Klebe, and his adult children Becky Galipeau and Skott Klebe, flew above the rest to capture the title.

It was their third attempt.

Asked how he felt after the victory, Skott Klebe said, "Exhausted and fulfilled."

Edward Klebe attributed the win to the family's "multi-generational strategy." That and "a lifetime of reading way more than we should," said Becky Galipeau.

Last years' champs, the Twelve O'clock Scholars, made up of Lexington School Committee members Margaret Coppe, Tom Diaz, and Mary Ann Stewart, were eliminated before the championship round. The question that stung them involved identifying a video game.

"I feel no shame," said Tom Diaz. "We are too old to know things like Halo."
Diaz promised to return next year.

The LEF supports grants for teachers outside of the school budget. Since its inception in 1989, LEF has awarded more than $2.9 million to the Lexington Public Schools, including approximately $214,000 in grants for the current school year. Grants range from projects in individual classrooms and schools to system-wide programs like professional development.

School Superintendent Paul Ash was sitting near the front of the large, boisterous audience of more than 100 people.

"It's a great community event," Ash said. "Kids cheer for their parents, they cheer for their teachers."

He joked that he'd gotten all of the answers right - except maybe that stickler about Emily Dickinson.