What holiday was banned in Massachusetts between 1650 and 1680? Who is considered the father of history? Who sang the song “Can’t stop the feeling?”

These were but a sampling of the more than 40 mind-twisting trivia questions faced by participants in the Washington-Beaufort County Chamber of Commerce Trivia Bee on Tuesday evening.

Bringing together 25 teams from a variety of backgrounds, the event challenged the trivial knowledge of businesses, nonprofits and educators in an annual fundraising event for the Chamber. Dating back more than 20 years, the competition began as a spelling bee before evolving into a trivia bee four years ago.

Four grueling rounds of progressively harder questions saw teams eliminated throughout, until only two remained in a sudden death faceoff worthy of song and legend. When the dust settled, the Phoenix from the Beaufort County Ed. Tech Center walked away with the grand prize, led by teachers Seth Hobbs and Steve Menninger.

The stakes in the competition were steep — a $1,000 cash prize going to the winning organization. While representatives from local schools and nonprofits vied for the cash as a means of furthering their mission, participating businesses competed on behalf of local non-profits ranging from Ruth’s House to Beaufort County United Way.

“A thousand dollars goes a long way for a school or a nonprofit,” WBCC Assistant Director Robin McKeithan said.

Among others, the presenting sponsor of the event was Edward Jones, Roy Parker. These sponsorships from businesses in the community are what allowed the Chamber to offer the cash prize to the winners.

“We do make a little bit of money off of it,” McKeithan said. “What it goes to are events like job shadow day and career day. It goes to workforce development projects with Beaufort County Schools.”

In addition to the main event of the trivia competition, the evening also served as an opportunity for the Chamber to promote its 144 Envelopes campaign. Serving as a fundraiser for the Bright Futures program, which helps provide for the basic needs of less-privileged BCS students, participants can purchase chances to win one of 10 gift baskets with gift cards from local businesses totaling $4,000. With envelopes for sale ranging from $5 to $144, each dollar spent represents a chance to win a gift basket.

“The first three years of Bright Futures, we had seed money from Potash/Nutrien,” McKeithan said. “Now we have to do some fundraising, so this is our first fundraiser for Bright Futures.”

McKeithan offered her thanks to both participants and sponsors who made the event possible. For more information on the WBCC and ongoing efforts by the chamber, visit www.wbcchamber.com.