By Jack Wynn
Over two dozen community members gathered to laugh and test their minds at the Mulligan’s Grill and Pub trivia night on Thursday.
Already a popular location next to the University of Maryland golf course, Mulligan’s has looked to incorporate fun and free events, such as trivia nights, to draw in customers and create a sense of community Sherman Garland, the general manager, said.
“We tried to make events that bring people across the town,” Garland said. “We want to try to bring the golfers, the community and the college students and staff all in one place.”
Trivia night used to be a consistent feature of Mulligan’s but was discontinued because of a lack of participation. When Garland had the opportunity to bring it back, he took it.
“This is my first [trivia night] but not my last,” Garland said. “We just want to build it up where we have more teams, a bigger interactive event and we could also have it when it’s warm so people could be outside and have fun.”
Now taking place every Thursday from 6-8 p.m., Mulligan’s trivia night has attracted attention from students and those in the surrounding area.
Pairing with Capital Trivia to make the event happen, Mulligan’s provided players with an engaging style of trivia with six rounds being composed of different themes.
The first round was themed “Goose, Goose, Duck,” which featured questions about real geese and characters with duck-based names. “Fake Presidents Day” was another popular theme where teams had to identify a movie or TV show based on its fictional depiction of a president.
Shayne Auffarth, a senior electrical engineering major, particularly enjoyed the event.
“I had a great time…I thought there were some good questions, some good food,” Auffarth said. “The other players were entertaining…it was competitive but I feel like everyone had a good chance to win too.”
Members of one team named “RALPH ” took the opportunity to engage with the other groups, often cracking jokes and starting trash talk. Their team captain Jonathan “Scott” Kahn, whose son graduated from UMD, claimed to be “very confident” that they would win despite it being their trivia debut.
As players continued to be engaged in the competition, they were able to take advantage of Mulligan’s food and drinks menu.
“The service was fast. It was good,” Auffarth said. “It’s very clean and neat. It wasn’t too crowded or anything, just good service. The staff were very helpful.”
At the end of the night “Water Damage” was crowned winner, defeating “Bad at Trivia” by half a point.
Garland hopes to continue trivia night along with new events at Mulligan’s Grill and Pub.
“The smiling faces [is the best part of trivia night]” Garland said. “Seeing people that you normally wouldn’t see coming together laughing, having a good time and saying ‘I want to come back.’”
Featured Image: Mulligan’s Grill and Pub brings back trivia night on Thursdays. Photo by Jack Wynn.