PORTSMOUTH — The Portsmouth Historical Society held its second annual Portsmouth History School Trivia Contest for students last Thursday at Gulf Stream Bar and Grille at Melville. 

Four student teams — three from Portsmouth High School and one from Portsmouth Middle School — attempted to answer trivia questions about Portsmouth’s history prepared by Jim Garman, Society president and town historian. 

Mr. Garman was also the judge and grader for the contest, while PHS teacher Joe Cassady acted as emcee. Gary Gump, a member of the Historical Society board, kept score. The high school’s Tim Ryan and the middle school’s Francesca Faria helped organize the event and support their teams. 

After five rounds of five questions each, “The Founders” team from PHS was declared the winner. Members were Madison Lambert, Ruthie Wood, Wyatt Corey and Nathan Minese. 

PHS can display the Portsmouth Historical Society School Trivia Contest trophy, a plaque with the winning team’s names inscribed, for the rest of the year. The winners were also invited to compete again in the Adult Trivia Contest to be held at The Valley Inn on April 11.

Last year, the winning team was The Tumbleweeds, from the middle school. Part of that team — now called “Tumbleweeds 2.0” and comprised of Anastasia Wheeler, Daisy Fernandez and Brandon Joaquin — returned this year to represent the high school and came in second.

Another high school team, “The Fathers,” which included Matt Velzis, Michael Rossi, Annabelle Gibson and Bella Cowell, finished in third.

The middle school's team, “We Showed Up,” was comprised of Riley Borden, Lani Camera, Abbie Dutra and Anna Conheeny. They were also cheered on by their principal, João Arruda. 

The host of the evening, Gulf Stream co-owner Reada Evans, kept the contestants supplied with water and sodas during the two-hour-long event. 

At the end of the evening, Mr. Garman presented the winning team with a framed copy of the Portsmouth Compact of 1638. Organizer and Society Vice President Doug Smith thought the evening was a great success.

“Any time you can get our school kids to focus on our local history is a real accomplishment,” he said. “We appreciate the support of our school liaisons and the Gulf Stream Bar and Grille, and hope that we can encourage more teams to join us next year.”