Ready for some brain-teasers Bruins!? These quiz questions were compiled by former KAA President David Parmer for previous reunion weekends. See how you can do with these bits of Burnsville School themed trivia. Good luck! (The answers are provided at the end of each question just in case we stump you.)
2011 Reunion Quiz Questions/Answers
1. He was an only child of parents who owned a livery stable in Burnsville. An outstanding athlete, he was awarded a scholarship to play football at the University of Kentucky. He was an officer with a Glider infantry unit during World War II and was killed during Operation Market Garden in Holland in 1945. (answer: Tommy Zinn)
2. A graduate of the class of 1940, this Alumnus was killed during Normandy invasion and listed on the Tablets of the Missing in the Normandy American Cemetery. The Burnsville American Legion Post was named for him. (answer: Jackson Knight)
3. He was one of four brothers to serve in World War II. His home was across the river from the pump station. He was captured by the Germans and died in March 1944 in prison camp. (answer: Richard Godfrey)
4. A native of the Riffle Run area, this 1947 graduate was killed in Luxembourg during the Battle of the Bulge. He is buried in Luxembourg. (answer: Fred Ocheltree)
5. This soldier who was in the class of 1943 was aboard the U.S.S. Indianapolis, which carried the atom bomb to Tinian. After delivering the bomb, the Indianapolis set out for the Philippine Island. In route, a Japanese submarine sank the ship. Most of the crew, including this graduate, were killed by the blast or by the thousands of sharks in the water. He was a Copen native. (answer: Tom Reed)
6. This Copen native was in the Class of 1943 and was drafted out of high school. He was killed in France in November 1944. He was one of four brothers who served during World War II. (answer: Ordie Post)
7. His father was a county veterinarian, well known to area farmers. This graduate of 1944 was also killed during the Battle of the Bulge. He is buried in France. (answer: Everett Conrad)
8. Another graduate of 1944 drafted out of high school. This soldier was killed in Italy as he tried to get another wounded soldier to safety. He lived in the Knawls Creek area. (answer: Delbert McCauley)
9. A member of the class of 1945 who was drafted out of high school. This Orlando native was only a short time in France when he was killed at the Battle of the Bulge. (answer: Worthington Hurst, Jr.)
10. Another native of Knawls Creek area, this graduate of the Class of 1943 was wounded in Germany in 1945, shortly before the war's end. (answer: William Pritt)
11. This Burnsville boy was in the Class of 1944 but was drafted out of high school. Wounded during the European Campaign, he returned to Burnsville High School after the war and graduated with the Class of 1947. (answer: John Vankirk)
12. This Orlando native graduated from Burnsville with the Class of 1936. A school teacher at the beginning of the war, he enlisted in the Army Air Force and was a navigator/bomber in B-17’s. His plane was shot down over Hungary in 1944. He was a prisoner of war to the end of the war. He was awarded Air Medal and Purple Heart. (answer: Denver Barnett)
13. The brother of Ordie Post who was killed in France in November 1944, his member of the Class of 1944 was taken prisoner in the Philippines toward the end of the war. (answer: Junior Post)
14. This Burnsville footballer and graduate of the Class of 1942 was taken captive by the Germans and held as a prisoner until the war’s end. (answer: Chester Brown)
2008 Reunion Quiz Questions/Answers
1. What graduate of Burnsville High School is the only alumnus to participate in a sports car race at the Sebring 500? (answer: Chuck Moran, Class of 1963)
2. What Kanawha Alumni Association member is the only alumnae to graduate from high school the same year as her mother? (answer: Minnie McNemar, Class of 1983 with daughter Sharon)
3. There is a wing of a large elementary school in Arlington, Virginia named after a Burnsville High School graduate. Who is the Burnsville graduate? (answer: Vaughn Duffield, Class of 1923)
4. What Burnsville graduate participated in the Mrs. West Virginia beauty contest and came in second? (answer: Martha Currance, Class of 1959)
5. What Burnsville High School graduate was Homecoming Queen at Glenville State College? (answer: Betty Brown, Class of 1960)
6. What Burnsville High School graduate was Superintendent of School of Boone County, West Virginia? (answer: Gary Sumpter, Class of 1955)
7. What Burnsville High School graduate, along with his brother James, recorded country music on phonograph records? (answer: Charles Henline, Class of 1939)
8. What honorary Burnsville High School alumni member attended the one room Pine Run (Lewis County) school that was sawed in half and moved by truck and re-built at Cedar Creek State Park? (answer: Mary Robey Butler, Wife of Bayward Butler, Honorary Alumnus)
9. What Burnsville High School graduate was a President of the Glenville State College Alumni Association? (answer: Mike Posey, Class of 1928)
10. What Burnsville High School graduate was the punter for the Glenville State College football team? (answer: Kermit Mick, Class of 1949)
11. What Burnsville High School graduate was a polygraphy operator for the West Virginia State Police? (answer: Bill Wiant, Class of 1945)
12. What Burnsville High School graduate earned a Ph.D. from Yale University in 1963? (answer: Harry “Sonny” Wiant, Jr., Class of 1950)
13. What Burnsville High School graduate earned his Ph.D. from Catholic University with majors in Greek and Aramaic? (answer: Dr. Homer Heater, Class of 1951)
14. The son of this Burnsville High School graduate is a noted author of children’s books and among others wrote “Cupid’s Secret.” Who is the graduate? (answer: Nancy Steele Kalinowski, Class of 1952)
15. This Burnsville High School graduate was the second drum major in the history of Burnsville High School band? (answer: Eugene Parrish, Class of 1952)
16. Who was the first drum major for the Burnsville High School band? (answer: Charles Henline, Class of 1939)
17. This world-famous fiddle player had seven children to graduate from Burnsville High School. Who is he? (answer: Melvin Wine, father of Elmer, Rita, Havonda, Letcher, Lewis, Melvin Jr., and Susie)
18. What other family had seven children to graduate from Burnsville High School? (answer: Harry Wilson family; Wanda Sue, Dixie Lee, Harry Junior, Margret Ann, Terry Tim, Jerry Jim, and Randy Gale)
19. What former principal of Burnsville High School was president of the Glenville State College Alumni Association? (answer: Gilbert Reed)
20. What Burnsville High School graduate was president of the Glenville State College Foundation Board of Directors? (answer: Tom McPherson, Class of 1954)
21. What Burnsville High School graduate was the minister of the Burnsville Circuit of the Methodist Church when he graduated from high School? (answer: Hayward Rowh, Class of 1943)
22. What Burnsville High School graduate recently won the “Golden Apple” award, which recognizes outstanding teachers in West Virginia? (answer: Brenda Snyder Gibson, Class of 1970)
23. This Burnsville High School graduate was a star football and basketball player. He served as an Air Force pilot during World War II in the European theatre and earned the Air Medal with bronze battle participation stars. He died at age 30 in 1949. Who was he? (answer: Buck Marple, Class of 1936)
24. Besides the “Bruins” do you know another nickname of Burnsville High School athletic teams? (answer: Nighthawks)
25. Name two Burnsville High School graduates who were prisoners of World War II? (answer: Denver Barnett, Class of 1927 and Chester Brown, Class of 1942)
26. What Burnsville High School graduate is the only female to serve as a deputy sheriff in West Virginia and act as a court bailiff? (answer: Pauline McCauley Ziegler, Class of 1941)
27. What Burnsville High School graduate, later a graduate of Glenville State College and West Virginia University, was the first executive director of the National Rehabilitation Counseling Association? This outstanding graduate also a frequent contributing writer for the Braxton Historical Journal. (answer: Alfred McCauley, Class of 1932)
28. The Class of 1966 includes two set of twins. Who are they? (answer: Judith & Julie Posey and Terry & Jerry Wilson)
29. Recently a panel of academic experts was appointed by the President of West Virginia University to determine whether Governor Manchin’s daughter was properly awarded a Master’s Degree. One of those panel members is the son of a former teacher and coach at Burnsville High School. Who was the Burnsville High School teacher? (answer: Ray Nutter, Faculty 1928 and 1933)
30. This 1945 graduate of Burnsville High School became a successful businessman in the Detroit area and has generously remembered his alma mater with scholarship grants to graduating seniors from Braxton County High School who live in the former Burnsville High School area? (answer: Claud “Bud” Mick, Jr., Class of 1945)
2007 Reunion Quiz Questions/Answers
1. Who was the tallest basketball player at BHS? (answer: Jim Cobb, Class of 1951)
2. Who was the highest-ranking military officer to attend a Burnsville School? (answer: Admiral Chester Bender, Commandant, USCG (1932))
3. Who was the first Burnsville football player to receive a major college division one scholarship? (answer: Tommy Zinn, Class of 1936)
4. What graduate was the most decorated military man for valor? (answer: Conrad Stinogle, Class of 1964)
5. Who was the first Burnsville High School graduate to return to Burnsville High School to teach? (answer: Vaughn Duffield, Class of 1923 (1927))
6. Who was the first and only female principal of Burnsville High School? (answer: Ada Bovey 1916-1917)
7. What graduate is presently a member of the WVU football team? (answer: Zack Flint, Class of 2005)
8. What Burnsville High School graduate has a school named for her? (answer: Mary Alice McHenry Kauffman, Class of 1955)
9. Who was the Burnsville High School student who left school for World War II and played football for Maukato College in Minnesota? (answer: Leland Mick, Class of 1943)
10. What graduate was selected Student Body President at Glenville State College? (answer: Mike Morrison, Class of 1957)
11. What graduate was elected Student Body President of Davis and Elkins College? (answer: Vaughn Duffield, Class of 1923)
12. What graduate was elected to the Davis and Elkins College Hall of Fame? (answer: Ran McKinney, Class of 1923)
13. What Burnsville High School faculty member was the father of the first female U.S. Marine Corps officer to have a child and remain in service? (answer: Gail Auldridge 1929-1930)
14. What grad holds a Ph.D. in engineering mechanics from West Virginia University and taught at the University of New Mexico? (answer: Ronnie McPherson, Class of 1952)
15. What graduate was a federal judge in West Virginia? (answer: Billy Matt Kidd, Class of 1936)
16. What graduate was a national finalist in a national cooking contest for his Yuletide Sage and Apple Pork Loin Roast? (answer: Harry Lynch, Class of 1957)
17. What graduate was awarded the NASA medal for exceptional service? (answer: Richard Barrett, Class of 1952)
18. What graduate served as a Major in the West Virginia Police? (answer: John Bragg, Class of 1967)
19. The daughter of what graduate was a two-time Class A all state girl’s basketball player? (answer: Debbie Conrad, daughter of Delmer Conrad, Class of 1958)
20. What graduate later graduated from Ohio State University as a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine? (answer: Sammy Godfrey, Class of 1964)
21. What graduate is the father of an Olympic two-time medal winner? (answer: Gail Smith, Class of 1967, father of Rusty Smith)
22. What graduate ran for president of the United States in 1944, spent three cents, and got over 59,000 votes? (answer: Claude Linger, Class of 1924)
23. What graduate led the state in scoring points in football? (answer: Larry Casto, Class of 1967, 135 points in 8 games)
24. What graduate played quarterback for West Virginia Wesleyan? (answer: Allen Mackey, Class of 1935)
26. What graduate was Princess of West Virginia Strawberry Festival in 1967? (answer: Cherry Dale Ratliff, Class of 1967)
27. What graduate retired as an agent of FBI with over thirty years services? (answer: Hughie Ratliff, Class of 1962)
28. What graduate played football for Columbia University? (answer: Shannon Shreve, Class of 1968)
29. What graduate was the Director of Mental Health Service in West Virginia? (answer: Garrett Moran, Class of 1968)
30. What graduate was President of Gulf Oil, Asia? (answer: Sammy Thomas, Class of 1960)