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<p>PLAINS TWP. &#8212; Angela Michael, of Jackson Township, approached the easel and worked fast, drawing a squiggly sort of square with a Florida panhandle toward the south to represent the United States.</p><p>Then she drew a musical staff under the map of the country. Get it? <em>Get it?</em></p><p>By the time the rapid-fire artist &#8212; a few seconds later &#8212; had drawn a perfect little cowboy hat, her three co-workers from Pennsylvania-American Water Co. shouted out the correct answer: &#8220;Country music!&#8221;</p><p>Michael raised her arms, savoring her Pictionary triumph.</p><p>&#8220;It&#8217;s a blast!&#8221; she said of Game Night, a third annual fund-raiser for Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Bridge, held Thursday evening at The Woodlands. The event attracted 39 four-member teams that paid $140, or $35 per person, to enter and spent the evening competing in Pictionary, Family Feud and Celebrity.</p><p>&#8220;It&#8217;s a terrific turnout,&#8221; organizer Kendra Punko Malinovich said, estimating the entrance fees and sponsorships would raise at least $14,000 for Big Brothers Big Sisters, an organization that pairs at-risk children with adult volunteers for one-on-one mentoring. &#8220;And that&#8217;s not counting the raffles.&#8221;</p><p>&#8220;It&#8217;s a good cause,&#8221; said Debbie Bryden, of Exeter, whose team was comprised mostly of staff from her Plains Township deli, Mama B&#8217;s Kitchen.</p><p>&#8220;I like to help out the kids in the area,&#8221; said Scott Seelye, of Shavertown, who was part of a team made up mostly of co-workers from Mondelez International in Hanover Township.</p><p>The games were fun too &#8212; though not always easy.</p><p>Consider Family Feud, during which Seelye and his friends hoped to match a list of responses to a question about things that come in a bottle.</p><p>They correctly guessed soda, shampoo, beer and milk, but when Auraleah Grega, of Wapwallopen, suggested &#8220;oil,&#8221; volunteer Kristin Klemish, of Dallas, crossed her arms to form a big &#8220;X&#8221; and said &#8220;buzz&#8221; to simulate the way a wrong answer is greeted on the televised version of the game.</p><p>Then Seelye suggested &#8220;water&#8221; and heard another &#8220;buzz.&#8221;</p><p>That gave their opposing team &#8212; David Bass and Molly Wright, of Forty Fort, and Janine Dymond and Bob Berry, of Harding &#8212; a chance to &#8220;steal.&#8221;</p><p>&#8220;Wine,&#8221; they suggested, and Klemish turned over a card to reveal that &#8220;booze/liquor&#8221; was indeed an answer.</p><p>The points went to the second team, who also gained points for coming up with folks named Jack, from &#8220;Jack the Ripper&#8221; to &#8220;Jack Daniels&#8221; to &#8220;Jack and the Beanstalk.&#8221;</p><p>Meanwhile, in the Celebrity section of the room, competitors tried to make their teammates guess the names of famous people they had drawn from a bowl.</p><p>&#8220;Last year, we were in the top three teams until we got to the Celebrity part,&#8221; Bryden, of Mama B&#8217;s Kitchen said, explaining she didn&#8217;t expect her group would do better in that category this year.</p><p>Later in the evening, when Bryden&#8217;s teammate Allyson Shatrowskas, of Shavertown, drew the name &#8220;Katie Holmes&#8221; from the bowl, she didn&#8217;t offer clues about the actress appearing in &#8220;Dawson&#8217;s Creek&#8221; or having been married to Tom Cruise.</p><p>Trying a less traditional approach Shatrowskas said, &#8220;This is the name of one of my best friends.&#8221;</p><p>&#8220;Mara?&#8221; her teammates guessed. &#8220;Ashley?&#8221;</p><p>When Shatrowskas&#8217; mother, Karen, who was also on the team, came up with &#8220;Katie,&#8221; Allyson started giving surname hints. &#8220;It&#8217;s where we live. This is where we live,&#8221; she repeated, until someone said &#8220;home&#8221; and made the leap from &#8220;Katie Home&#8221; to &#8220;Katie Holmes.&#8221;</p><p>In addition to providing funds for Big Brothers Big Sisters support services, Big Brothers Big Sisters board member Eric Mahler said he hoped Game Night would bring the organization to the attention of people who might consider becoming a Big Brother or Big Sister. More than 300 children in need are on the waiting list.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Janice Paluch, of Larksville, gestures to her teammates as they try to guess what she was drawing when it was her team&#8217;s turn to play Pictionary during Game Night. Paluch attended the event as one of four members of a team of co-workers from Pennsylvania American Water Co. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/web1_gamenight5.jpg</photo0><caption0>Janice Paluch, of Larksville, gestures to her teammates as they try to guess what she was drawing when it was her team&#8217;s turn to play Pictionary during Game Night. Paluch attended the event as one of four members of a team of co-workers from Pennsylvania American Water Co. </caption0><photoCredit0>Amanda Hrycyna | For Times Leader </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/web1_ttl012018gamenight-3.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Allyson Shatrowskas, of Shavertown, tries to make her mom, Karen Shatrowskas, guess the name of celebrity Katie Holmes. The daughter and mother played on a team representing Mama B&#8217;s Kitchen, where Allyson works. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/web1_ttl012018gamenight-3.jpg</photo1><caption1>Allyson Shatrowskas, of Shavertown, tries to make her mom, Karen Shatrowskas, guess the name of celebrity Katie Holmes. The daughter and mother played on a team representing Mama B&#8217;s Kitchen, where Allyson works. </caption1><photoCredit1>Amanda Hrycyna | For Times Leader </photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/web1_ttl012018gamenight-4.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Katelin Bankes, of Swoyersville, at left, and her sisters Karen Kiwak, of Wilkes-Barre; Regina Kohut, of Exeter; and Shannon Ives, of Moscow; show their enthusiasm when it was their turn to play Family Feud during Game Night Thursday at The Woodlands. The event benefited Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Bridge. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/web1_ttl012018gamenight-4.jpg</photo2><caption2>Katelin Bankes, of Swoyersville, at left, and her sisters Karen Kiwak, of Wilkes-Barre; Regina Kohut, of Exeter; and Shannon Ives, of Moscow; show their enthusiasm when it was their turn to play Family Feud during Game Night Thursday at The Woodlands. The event benefited Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Bridge. </caption2><photoCredit2>Amanda Hrycyna | For Times Leader </photoCredit2></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/web1_ttl012018gamenight-6-1-.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Angela Michael, of Jackson Township, celebrates because her teammates Janice Paluch, of Larksville, Susan Turcmanovich, of Scranton, and Debbie Skiro of Wilkes-Barre, quickly and correctly guessed that her Pictionary drawing represented &#8216;country music.&#8217; </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo3>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/web1_ttl012018gamenight-6-1-.jpg</photo3><caption3>Angela Michael, of Jackson Township, celebrates because her teammates Janice Paluch, of Larksville, Susan Turcmanovich, of Scranton, and Debbie Skiro of Wilkes-Barre, quickly and correctly guessed that her Pictionary drawing represented &#8216;country music.&#8217; </caption3><photoCredit3>Amanda Hrycyna | For Times Leader </photoCredit3></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/web1_ttl012018gamenight-7.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Auraleah Grega, of Wapwallopen, and Kenneth Stuart, of Nanticoke, applaud a teammate&#8217;s answer as they play Family Feud during Game Night at The Woodlands. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo4>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/web1_ttl012018gamenight-7.jpg</photo4><caption4>Auraleah Grega, of Wapwallopen, and Kenneth Stuart, of Nanticoke, applaud a teammate&#8217;s answer as they play Family Feud during Game Night at The Woodlands. </caption4><photoCredit4>Amanda Hrycyna | For Times Leader </photoCredit4></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta>Event raises funds, awareness for mentoring organization</subheadMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p><strong>By Mary Therese Biebel</strong></p><p>mbiebel@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Mary Therese Biebel at 570-991-6109 or on Twitter @BiebelMT.</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Game Night raises funds, awareness for Big Brothers Big Sisters