13th Annual “Brains of Nevada County” Event – Another Riotous Evening For a Great Cause

Where in your house would you find a magnetron? What is the only sport to have been played on the  moon?  Which is the second largest US state?

If you can answer these questions you should have been playing on a team at the 13^th Annual “Brains of Nevada County” contest held by the South Yuba River Citizens League (SYRCL) on Saturday, March 15^th to raise money for the Laura Wilcox Scholarship Fund. 

The scholarship is administered by SYRCL in honor of Laura Wilcox, the Nevada County teenager killed in the January 10, 2001 shooting at the Nevada County Behavioral Health facility.  The scholarship is offered annually to high school seniors living in the Yuba River watershed who have a commitment to the environment. 

In 1999, Laura won a scholarship from the Sierra Club with an essay she wrote about restoring salmon to the Yuba River. After her death, the Sierra Club donated the remaining $4,000 of her scholarship to SYRCL to endow a scholarship in her name. So far, twelve $4000 scholarships have been awarded to local students.

Amanda Wilcox, Laura’s mother said, “All the recipients have been outstanding people academically and personally.” She added, “The Brains of Nevada County event shows how much we’re supported by SYRCL and the community at large.”

This year, 22 local teams of 8 people competed for the prestigious title and trophy. Teams from all over the county played including the Nevada City Winery, AJA Video, BriarPatch Coop, the Bear Yuba Land Trust, Telestream, the Union, KVMR, Yubanet and many more.  This year’s questions ranged from sports to dance music.  One round “Gold Rush History” was based entirely on questions about our local area.

The winning team was “The Multiple Scorgasms”, led by Lorraine Webb, leading a team that have played for all thirteen years of the quiz – but have never won before this year.

“As the perennial Also-ran team captain of the juicy smarty-pants that comprise Team Multiple Scorgasms, (second or third place for thirteen years), I finally get to say why I love Brains of Nevada County Quiz Night (Now that we finally won!) Let Me Count The Ways. The Depth: The annual posthumous honoring of beloved Nevada County environmentalist, Laura Wilcox, and her wonderful parents. The Breadth: The hilarious realization of just how MUCH extraneous and downright trivial information lodges in our collective “consciousness.” The Height My Soul Can Reach: Just so much community-making conviviality and LOTS o’ laughin’! Thanks, SYRCL and Janet Cohen!”

“Usually mild-mannered people showed another side of themselves on Saturday

night,” said Janet Cohen, SYRCL’s former Executive Director and Quiz Mistress for the evening. “Some teams get quite rambunctious—especially when they disagree with the answers! The whole evening was a great combination of fun and competitiveness.”  

Caleb Dardick, Executive Director of SYRCL added, “We’re pleased to be able to honor such an extraordinary young woman with a lasting gift to our community’s youth.  We encourage more people to contribute to the Laura Wilcox scholarship fund to preserve her memory for many years to come.”

To contribute to the Laura Wilcox Scholarship Fund or to play next year, please contact Miriam Limov at 530-265-5961 x 201 or email at miriam@syrcl.org.