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PLAINS TOWNSHIP — Wielding a black marker at an easel, Kellie Rhiel of Luzerne drew a clock face over and over. She added numbers, and with a sense of desperation, arrows.
“Clock!” “Time” “Hour hand!” “Second hand!” “Stop watch!” “Quarter after three!”
Her team mates shouted their answers, but they were all wrong. Sigh. Nobody guessed Rhiel had been drawing a “little hand,” which was probably one of the harder assignments in the “Pictionary” segment of a Game Night fund-raiser held Thursday evening at the Woodlands.
Game Night attracted 36 teams of four people each whose $140 team entry fee will benefit Big Brothers/Big Sisters of the Bridge, an agency that pairs caring adults with children who need a mentor.
It’s a great cause, said Ken Stuart of Nanticoke, who attended with a team of co-workers from Mondelez International. Plus, it was fun to compete in a festive atmosphere where 18 games went on simultaneously.
In the “Pictionary” part of the room Stuart had the satisfaction of drawing a little dog, adding a ring around its neck and hearing team mate Robin Crist, of Plymouth, shout “collar.”
Similarly, when a team of Leadership Wilkes-Barre grads had a turn at the easels, Jennifer Lombardo of Pittston drew a face with little beads of perspiration. It took Carly Ellman of Shavertown just a few seconds to recognize “Sweat!”
“They forced me to come out tonight,” Ellman said afterwards, smiling at her friends as she explained she recently had a baby and has been spending a lot of time at home.
With close to 150 people taking part in Big Brothers/Big Sisters first-ever Game Night, board chairman Bill Yeager said, “I’m flabbergasted, and super excited. Next year we’ll need a larger room.”
Each team had a chance to play three games. In the “Celebrity” section, players drew names of famous folks from a bowl and tried to make people guess their identity, without saying the person’s name or anything that rhymed with it.
“If you have Sheryl Crow, you could say any of her songs,” a moderator explained to a table of eight players. “Or you could say her last name is like a big black bird.”
Soon hints were flying around the tables, with one man singing a soft falsetto version of “Like A Virgin,” apparently trying to jostle his team mates’ memories with Madonna’s 1984 hit.
Over in the “Family Feud” section, teams tried to guess the most popular answers from a survey. Tweety Bird was the most often named cartoon bird, for example, followed by Woody Woodpecker, Big Bird and Roadrunner. Donald Duck, Woodstock and Opus made the list, too, but just barely.
And if you’re wondering what hot chocolate, sweet potatoes, Rice Krispie treats, a peanut butter sandwich, fudge and ice cream have in common, they are all “things you add marshmallows to.”
