Survey says: Library is the No. 1 answer
S.B. hosts version of Family Feud at library open house
BY CHRIS MURINO Staff Writer

PHOTOS BY CHRIS KELLY staff Clockwise, from top left: Anoushka Parthasaranth, 12, of Monmouth Junction, gives master of ceremonies Patrick Owens an answer during the bonus round of the library's Family Feud Game Show at the South Brunswick Public Library, Monmouth Junction, on Saturday. The library's open house featured a Family Feud Game Show event on a projector screen. Monmouth Junction firefighter Tom Noon beats his opponent to the buzzer. The fast-paced game show, which was sponsored by the Friends of the South Brunswick Library, was filmed and may be broadcast on Cable Channel 3.

SOUTH BRUNSWICK - It almost felt like the real thing on Saturday at the annual South Brunswick Public Library open house: it almost felt like a real game show.

The Friends of the South Brunswick Library put together their first Friends and Family Feud Game Show for the event and it had all the necessary components to be considered the real deal.

A computer-animated Family Feud board was shown on the projector screen. Red buzzers were hooked up to a podium where two contestants would face off. A child held "applause" and "quiet on the set" signs to keep the audience of about 50 in line. And panicked contestants gave their answers to a variety of questions, many about the very town they live in, South Brunswick.

Darren Nye, the publicity chair of the Friends of the South Brunswick Public Library, and others created a survey that would be used as the basis for the questions on the show. It was then posted online and 140 South Brunswick residents responded to it.

Some interesting questions popped up during the show. Library Director Christopher Carbone took some playful heat from his teammates for an answer he gave to the "top skills every person should have" question. Carbone answered, "typing," while the top answer on the board was reading.

"Where do you work?" one teammate asked Carbone. "You're out, you're fired," said another.

Additional pressure was put on the South Brunswick Fire Department to get the "top reasons a fire starts." They won the round, but couldn't get a few of the answers on the board, including candles, carelessness and gas leaks.

"It was pretty wild," said Steve Grennan of the fire department, who participated in the event. "When you're up there in the spotlight, it's more difficult to come up with anything."

Other questions during the show included naming restaurants, schools and parks in South Brunswick.

Some contestants were nervous, but all had fun.

"It was a lot of fun and harder than it looks," said Councilman Chris Killmurray, a contestant and also a member of the board of trustees at the library. "It was a little unique, but there are a lot of people here and it put a smile on their faces, and that's what we're trying to do."

"It was a little nerve-wracking," said Judy Pietrobono, the superintendent of the circulation department at the library. "You blank out."

Patrick Owens served as the show's host and said he had a great time.

"I enjoyed it," Owens said. "It's good for the community, and I always like to be a part and help out."

The only hitch during the day came at the start of the event, when Nye, the producer of the event, could not get his computer based set to work correctly. The show was delayed for about 20 or 30 minutes as technical difficulties were sorted out.

"We used a Bluetooth computer during practice, and everything worked fine," Nye said. "Interference from cell phones or pagers may have been the problem."

Nye said that next year the Bluetooth problem will be solved. He would also like better promotion for the event.

"We wanted to draw more people into the library," Nye said.

Library Board President Muhammad Ashraf agreed with Nye.

"We still have a challenge," Ashraf said. "We want to make the library more exposed to the public than it is now."

Ashraf also spoke of the great service that the Friends of the Library provide.

"The library cannot solicit money by itself," Ashraf said. "So that's where the Friends come in."

"They do fundraisers and book sales throughout the year," added Carbone, who was in his first day on the job at the open house.

This was the first year the library did something like this.

"In the past, we've had dance groups and musicians, bands," said Evelyn Catoe, an executive board member and treasurer of the Friends of the Library. "But this year the focus [was] on the Family Feud. We think it's a great idea."

The game show was filmed and may be broadcast on South Brunswick's Cable Channel 3.

The open house also featured story time and face painting for kids, as well as refreshments.