It's been more than a decade since former Chemainus Courier reporter Don Bodger and his wife Theresa started the Georgina Falt Memorial Mind Games Music Trivia Tournament in honour of Theresa's mom.
They came up with the tournament after facing the music that they could make a difference by bringing awareness to Alzheimer's and raise money for Alzheimer's Society. This year they celebrate their 12th annual event on Sept. 28, which starts at 3 p.m.
"It's quite exciting to be at this stage," said Don. "This is going to be our biggest event yet, with the largest turnout that we've had yet."
The event, which is always held in September as it is World Alzheimer's month, will reach an all-time high this year with 200 people in attendance and 22 teams, beating the old record of 18 teams in 2019. The event hopes to raise at least $15,000 this year and and is already at 12,000 with just over a week to go. Last year's event reached a remarkable milestone of raising more than $100,000 for the Alzheimer's Society since the event's inception, with a total of $107,947 to date.
"That was amazing," said Theresa. "It was our goal to raise over $100,000, so now the plan is to keep this event going until we no longer have the sponsorship, which also includes our donations and in kind sponsors, and most importantly the interest of the people."
"Thinking ahead, to be able to say that we reached a quarter of a million dollars would be quite astounding," said Don.
Music was a constant comfort for Falt during her battle with Alzheimer's. Falt died in July of 2013, and the couple's first music trivia event in her honour struck a chord in the community that following September. It was Don, who is also an avid music lover, that approached Theresa's dad with the idea to hold this event in honour of his late wife and received his approval to do so.
The fundraiser is changing its location this year to the Crofton Community Centre due to growing interest. Don and Theresa want to sincerely thank the Duncan Curling Club for its support and being the host site in past years.
"With having more teams this year, and wanting to accommodate more people, the Crofton Community Centre was an excellent option for us," said Don. "It's a nice open facility, and the society has been amazing, so I think it is going to work out great."
"It is a worthy cause and should make for a great evening," said Crofton Community Centre Society president Rick Lebitschnig. "We can provide this facility for Don and Theresa's event."
Like in years past the event is open to all ages and each team will have eight people as they use their memory to answer music trivia questions spanning from the early rock and roll era of the mid-1950s to present day. All participants are asked to donate a minimum of $25 to play with all proceeds going to benefit the Alzheimer Society of B.C.
The tournament runs for about four hours consisting of 10 rounds, plus two special novelty rounds where participants will get to hear 30-second clips of songs. The team crowned champion will be the recipient of the coveted Georgina Falt Memorial Mind Games Music Trivia trophy.
"It's quite interesting, people will be singing along with the songs, then you'll see frustrated faces if they don't know what the song is, even more so if they do know but don't know the artist," said Don. "It's a real roller coaster of emotions and quite fun, everybody gets involved and that is what makes it quite special."
There will also be a raffle draw, silent auctions, and a 50-50 draw. Space is already filling up so if you would like to participate contact organizers Don and Theresa Bodger at donandtheresab@shaw.ca. Donations can also be accepted on the couple's Anything for Alzheimer's page.
The Bodgers said that each year this event sees participants from all across the island, and have always had a lot of support with donations from local businesses, not to mention a team of 12 volunteers who help make this annual event a success. Together they make a dream team as Theresa handles donations and sponsorship, while Don is in charge of the teams and music. Theresa hopes that their annual event brings more knowledge and awareness on Alzheimer's while creating space to have fun and love one another.
"My mom loved music, it means so much that we were able to tie that in with raising awareness on Alzheimer's and to give back in her name," said Theresa. "If we can somehow help others in the future through services and programs that my mom was able to take advantage of, then from our standpoint this is a success and makes it all worthwhile. We know that the funds are going to be well-used in my mom's name, so if we can continue to carry this on I think she would be pretty proud that we are able to do that."
