Host Alan Collins reads trivia questions Monday during the Auburn Watershed Protection Commission trivia night at Gritty McDuff’s Auburn Brew Pub. Sun Journal photo by Andree Kehn

AUBURN — At first glance, it would seem Gritty McDuff’s Auburn Brew Pub and the Lake Auburn Watershed Protection Committee have little in common.

One serves food and beer and offers plenty of sports talk.

The other works to protect the quality of Lake Auburn — the source of drinking water for the Lewiston-Auburn area — through education and community outreach.

However, National Drinking Water Week kicked off Monday and lasts until May 12. And as the Lake Auburn Watershed Protection Commission wrote on its Facebook page, “You can’t make beer without water.”

More than two dozen people showed up Monday evening for trivia night at Gritty McDuff’s, which collaborated with the Lake Auburn Watershed Protection Committee to offer watershed-related questions to competing teams.

Lauren Olson, education and outreach coordinator for the LAWPC, said it was the first time the commission had teamed up with another business or organization to draw attention to the watershed.

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Olson said LAWPC got the idea to join with Gritty McDuff’s from the Portland Water District, which is hosting and collaborating several events over the next week to celebrate National Drinking Water Week.

“This is our first time doing it,” Olson said, “but our plan is to do it a lot more moving forward.”

Olson said she and the LAWPC came up with several questions for Alan Collins, host of trivia night, to ask throughout the evening.

Collins included one watershed-related question in each round of trivia.

The first question of the night gave teams four of the five towns served by the Lake Auburn watershed: Auburn, Buckfield, Minot and Turner.

The question asked teams to identify the fifth town.

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The answer: Hebron.

The second question provided teams four ponds — Mud Pond, Little Wilson Pond, The Basin and Taylor Pond — and asked which is not located within the watershed.

The answer: Taylor Pond.

The third question asked teams to identify phosphorous as the nutrient found in Lake Auburn — following rain — that causes algae blooms.

The fourth and final watershed-related question asked teams to identify wood as the material Auburn used to construct its first water pipes.

While several teams were in contention for the win — including a team named H2-Woah! — it was a team named “Involuntary Spasms” that won the night.

mdaigle@sunmediagroup.net


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