THAT REMINDS ME: Grab your friends and play Grand Forks Trivia

How well do you know Grand Forks? That might be a good question to ponder on New Year's Eve. And if there is a gang around, why not play Grand Forks Trivia?

I found several of the following questions from a Grand Forks Trivia cooked up by Neil Hensrud and printed in the Herald years ago. Hensrud is a former resident who graduated with a doctorate from UND and served on the faculty there. He also served in the state Legislature, on the Grand Forks City Council and as a Grand Forks County Commissioner. He now lives in Lake Nebagamon, Wis.

Here are his questions along with a few thrown in by me. The answers are at the end.

- What are the former call letters of KXXL?

- What does the statue in front of St. Mary's Church commemorate, and which way does it face?

- What is the complete name of the highway bridge between Grand Forks and East Grand Forks? Why?

- What is the former name of Gateway Drive?

- Who was the "barefoot boy" from Hoople, N.D.?

- When was the Grand Forks County Courthouse built?

- What was the name of the KNOX cat?

- When did the Metropolitan Opera House open, and what was the attraction?

- What year did Grand Forks celebrate its Centennial, and who was mayor at that time?

- Who was the first mayor of Grand Forks?

- How many steps are there to the sixth floor of the County Office Building?

- What are the tributaries of the Red River in North Dakota?

- Steamboat Captain Alexander Griggs is considered "The Father of Grand Forks." What color was his beard?

- What year did Andrew Carnegie give a building to the city of Grand Forks?

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And now for the answers:

- KKXL was originally KILO.

- The statue near St. Mary's Catholic Church faces north and honors Union veterans of the Civil War and Grand Army of the Republic.

- Sorlie Memorial Bridge was named for the late Gov. A.G. Sorlie, a resident of Grand Forks who died in office in 1928.

- The former name of Gateway Drive is Skidmore Avenue.

- Jack French identified himself as "barefoot boy from Hoople" on his radio talk show.

- The Grand Forks County Courthouse was built in 1913.

- The name of the cat they used to have at KNOX was Norma.

- The Metropolitan Opera House opened in November 1890 with a light opera, "Martha."

- The Grand Forks Centennial was celebrated in 1974 when Cyril P. O'Neill was mayor.

- Col. W.H, Brown is considered by some as the first mayor of Grand Forks. He was not related to the current Mayor Mike Brown.

- There are a total of 144 steps to the sixth floor of the County Office Building.

- The tributaries are the Wild Rice, Sheyenne, Elm, Goose, Park and Pembina rivers.

- Col. Griggs had a red beard. He came to Grand Forks in 1870 as an employee, a minor capital partner and a friend of James J. Hill, the railroad tycoon.

- The philanthropist gave the building to the city in 1902, and it was dedicated in December of 1903. The building cost $12,700 (donated by Carnegie), and the library board spent $4,000 for equipment.

Miss Ruth O. Brown was the librarian.