Friday, October 26, 2012

Only in SCV: A Real Quiz for the 25th

Santa Clarita's 25th Anniversary is now 50 days away.  To its credit, the City has devoted a section of its website to this most glorious of milestones.  There's a page offering 25 reasons to love your city, a page on Claritan history, and even a quiz to assess your local knowledge.  Unfortunately, the quiz is kind of lame...which is not to say you shouldn't take it, just that you should feel badly about yourself if you don't get a perfect score. 

In any case, the quiz was a nice idea.  It just should be bigger.  In the ideal Santa Clarita, there would be a splashy quiz bowl with an entry donation benefiting some local charity.  Teams would be formed from local news outlets, groups like the historical society, and involved citizens--essentially anyone who wanted to prove that they really know the valley.  And after a fun but brutal quiz, it would be known who really does.

Because this is not the ideal Santa Clarita, we have to compromise.  So here's a quiz of 25 questions for you SCV aficionados, with emphasis on a post-cityhood Santa Clarita.  It's by no means comprehensive, so  I may post some more sets of questions as the anniversary nears.  Good luck.


THIS OR THAT: Pick the right one.
1. Annual fees for a member of Robinson Ranch Golf Club: $4,500 or $14,500?
2. Castaic’s bigger lake: upper or lower?
3. The Northridge quake: magnitude 6.7 or 7.6?
4. Has a higher rating on Yelp: Saugus Cafe or Way Station Coffee Shop?
5. Where more people live: Canyon Country or Newhall?

 
QUOTABLES: Who said or wrote the following?
6. “You’re thinking ‘Ulyanovsk’ is something Marsha McLean hollers while in the throes of passion, only with more exclamation marks.” [Hint: famous local humorist]
7. “We’re confident that with the years of analysis, mitigation measures and scientific research that went into the approval of these permits that Newhall Ranch will prevail in court.” [Hint: PR legend]
8. “I’m a proud racist.” [Hint: elected official]
9. “Being part of the first City Council, and then becoming the first mayor, was quite an adventure…It was a bit of fun, it was a bit of an adventure, it was a challenge and it was an education and it was even a bit scary.” [Hint: he eventually made it big]
10. “I said they’d have to come and drag me out, and they did.” [Hint: he was being literal]
 

NAME GAME: Provide their names.
11. Valencia High School’s mascot.
12. Santa Clarita’s first female mayor.
13. The diminutive endangered plant that grows on Newhall Ranch.
14. Popular TV show on which Santa Clarita was nuked.
15. One of the current names of the road once known as San Fernando.
 

MENTAL MAP: Think place and space.
16. You’ve just had lunch at Salt Creek Grille and now you want frozen yogurt.  Which froyoteries are closest to you? 
17. What does the Iron Horse Trailhead Bridge span?
18. Along which street is City Hall?
19. What beautiful canyon was set to become a landfill in 1989?
20. Santa Clarita is the third largest city in LA County.  Name the two larger cities.
 

ANNUAL EVENTS: Arrange the following events in their traditional order over the course of a year.
*Cowboy Festival
*Santa Clarita Marathon
*Concerts in the Park
*State of the City Luncheon
*River Rally
21. Happens Earliest in the Year:
22. Happens Next:
23. Happens Next:
24. Happens Next:
25. Happens Latest in the Year:


Scroll down for answers.








ANSWERS:
(1)$4,500 (2)Upper (3)6.7 (4)Way Station (5)Canyon Country (6)John Boston (7)Marlee Lauffer (8)Bob Kellar (9)Buck McKeon (10)John Quigley (11)Vic the Viking (12)Jan Heidt (13)San Fernando Valley Spineflower (14)24 (15)Main St., Railroad Ave. (16)Tutti Frutti, Spoon Me,,Golden Spoon, Menchie's, Pinkberry, Planet Yogurt in that order I think...I am honestly losing track; it's hard to play the frozen yogurt game in Santa Clarita (17)Santa Clara River (18)Valencia Blvd. (19)Elsemere (20)Los Angeles, Long Beach (21-25)Festival, Concerts, Rally, Luncheon, Marathon

HOW TO INTERPRET YOUR SCORE:
25: Congratulations!  You know the ins and outs of the City of Santa Clarita.
24 and lower: You do not heart SCV: get out.
 

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