Several years ago, Kelly Fasnacht was attending weekly trivia nights at the White Swan in Lititz.
When the usual host got stuck in traffic before a gig in 2018, Fasnacht took over for the night and got his first taste of emceeing.
Six years later, he is the owner of Kel Lee’s Entertainment Co. and is branching out from Lancaster County into Lebanon County at Lebanon Valley Craft Brewery, where he hosts games on Saturdays and every other Sunday. On Sundays, he does themed trivia nights based on holidays, popular movies and more.
It isn’t cash or gift cards teams competing for — they’re hoping to take a photo with a homemade trophy.
“All you’re getting if you win is a picture with this stupid trophy I glued together when I started doing trivia out of pieces that I 3D printed,” Fasnacht said.
Winners take a photo with a homemade trophy instead of winning money or gift cards. Fasnacht said it keeps people from getting too competitive.For him, monetary prizes change the energy of the game. Players become more competitive, and following COVID-19 and its strain on restaurants, he didn’t want the businesses offering gift cards and losing money.
If they’re just getting a photo with a trophy, then they’re there to get out in the community and play a game.
But Alyssa Morabito, a regular at Fasnacht’s trivia nights, said she’s competitive and plays to win even if there isn’t a prize.
“I need a picture with that trophy,” she said. “Literally, it’s so silly.”
Fasnacht posts photos of the winners on Facebook, connects with the community and posts his trivia schedules.
Morabito said she “randomly met” Fasnacht through a bartending job in Ephrata. She started going to his trivia nights about three years ago, and she said they’re different from other experiences because of his personality.
“You’re going into the environment where it’s warm and he’s walking around, he’s talking to everybody,” she said. “He makes you feel important every time you come in there, even if he doesn’t know you. He’s always funny, laughing, and he takes jokes really well.”
Teams form and compete in multiple trivia rounds for a chance to win at Griddle and Grind Cafe in Ephrata.
She said a community has formed in his regular trivia-goers. Some people attend multiple games a week across his venues, which include Big Dog Craft Brewery in Lancaster, Hillside Public House in Ephrata and the Ephrata American Legion.
Morabito said she has made new friends through trivia and has even been recognized in public by other regulars.
“He really brought us together and helped me make friends in an area that I’ve never been a part of,” she said. “I don’t know how he does it. He just made a huge community.”
According to Fasnacht, trivia can be a great icebreaker. It forces groups that might not have previously known each other to collaborate to figure out the right answers.
“Those people that were at your table, now you know them a little better than you did when you went in and you might even like those people,” he said. “You would have never known that until you started chitchatting over a trivia question.”
Fasnacht said one thing that makes his games special is his ability to connect with the room.
He said some trivia hosts just stand in the corner and ask questions, but he likes to make the game more interactive. He’ll walk around, make conversation with the teams and joke around all throughout the rounds.
“I try to get around to everybody, and I’m very down-to-earth,” Fasnacht said. “I always say I got friends in low places.”
And he said the atmosphere is great. People are there to have a good time and they’re able to be themselves.
“It’s an atmosphere of, it’s okay to be yourself. I don’t care what you do for a living. I don’t care who you vote for. I don’t care. I really don’t care about anything,” Fasnacht said. “We’re all in this room, we’re all in this together and while we’re here, let’s have a little fun.”
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