Last update: 3/4/2003
Howdy, folks. Here are some capsule bios of all the Ninjas who have played with us
in either Trivia 2001 or Trivia 2002. PLEASE, if I've left someone off the list, let
me know at ganw1@yahoo.com so I can make the change. Also let me know if you don't
like your bio and would like it changed or removed--no problem!
LORI DZIEDZIC
Lori is yet another RHS grad who always seems to be highly amused by the GANW headquarters,
and by the deteriorating mental condition of the Ninjas when she stops by.
Trivia serves in part as a reunion for some RHS friends, but the nature of the
contest is such that conversations can only last about 5 minutes max, and must end
when “Phones down in the back!” is heard... Nevertheless, I’m very glad that Lori
has chosen GANW as the Trivia team to support... there is a lot of competition
out there!
CHRIS HAKALA
LAURA HAKALA
A husband-and-wife team from Minnesota and Kansas, respectively. Chris has been
playing for GANW since 1991, while Laura was a new Warrior this year and did
great work with note-taking before the contest. Chris works at St. Olaf College
in Northfield, Minnesota and Laura is an English as a Second Language instructor.
JENNY HASTINGS
SHARI HASTINGS
A mother-and-daughter team from Rosholt, Wisconsin. I don't remember when Shari
started playing Trivia with us (sometime in the mid-nineties?) but she is
definitely an important member of the team who brings great enthusiasm to Trivia.
She also came up with our special name for Trivia 1999 ("Gene Autry's Ninja
Mourners") and also invented the phrase "Trivia On!" which I just love!
BRIAN JANNING
BRITTANY JANNING
LUKE JANNING
MARY JANNING
MATTHEW JANNING
MICHAEL JANNING
The Jannings are a great family that lives in Omaha, Nebraska, and happen
to be my uncle, aunt, and cousins-in-law. This year at least a few of them
(I don't know which ones) helped us out in the chat room, and it was great
having them aboard. Hope to see you back for Trivia 2003!
PAM JENSEN
STEVE JENSEN
BETH JENSEN
KRISTA JENSEN
Pam and Steve are long-time Trivia players, and joined GANW a few years
ago. They have each put in long hours during the contest: Pam has become a
specialist in the music questions, and Steve has done a number of long over-
night shift, when the questions get tough and things start gettin' scary!
Beth and Krista are Pam and Steve’s daughters, who have been playing for us from
their college dorms the past couple of years, but who have now both graduated:
congratulations! We are hoping to see them at HQ, or online, this year! They
have both been great additions to the team: an unexpected bonus we got when Pam
and Steve came over to GANW from another team!
DENNIS JOY
MARTHA JOY
Founding members of GANW, since 1987 when we weren't even called GANW!
They open their home to the Ninjas for 54 crazy hours every year, serve as
maintainers of the famous GANW Trivia Library, and do a whole bunch of other
things to help in the quest for Trivia glory. Dennis works in the Rosholt
schools and Martha at the Pineries Bank in Stevens Point. They have traveled
to Ireland, Scotland, and Mexico. (GANW HQ is full of souvenirs of their
travels!)
MATT JOY
Also a founding member of GANW, Matt (along with Chris Miller--see below)
is one of the leaders of our Mobile Team, which is responsible for Trivia
Stone and Running Question activity. Because of this, Matt often has one
to put up with a pretty strange sleep schedule during the contest, but hey!
That's what the quest for Trivia glory is all about! When he's not working
on Trivia, Matt has a job which I can't tell you about. Ask him when you
see him.
MIKE JOY
Your friendly neighborhood webmaster (more or less!). I've also been playing
Trivia since our resources consisted of the Guinness Book of World Records,
the Book of Lists, and Fred Worth's (aka "Fred Worthless's") Trivia
Encyclopedia. Last year I set a Guinness record for consecutive hours of movie
watching (54 straight hours); look for my picture on select boxes of Act II
microwave popcorn. (Seriously.) I live with my wife Becky Ulland (see below)
in Saint Paul.
MISSY JOY
Guess what, she was there at the beginning, too! Missy has done just about
everything at Trivia, from Running Questions to the Trivia Stone. Missy is now
living down in Milwaukee, working hard as a teacher at Malcolm X High School.
She's good with the tunes as well, putting in serious time on music questions
and just about all other aspects of Trivia. She's got a big friendly cat named
Arnie, and is getting married this summer!!!
TERRY KILLHAM
Terry, best known as Terry From Tennessee, has been playing Trivia for the Ninjas
for the past few years. He’s also in the Generation of 2000, recruited by
Don Shenbarger, and he has become a fantastic team member. He does indeed live in
Tennessee, and was in the Navy for many years. He’s a great presence in our online
area, is always enthusiastic, and in general has been a wonderful addition to the
team. Thanks Terry!
BRUCE MANNING, JD
Bruce joined us last year for the first time, after having heard me talk about
the contest for years. I THINK he had a good time, at least I hope so, and I’m
hoping he’ll be back again with us in the future. Bruce is a sharp-as-nails attorney
over in Big-Time Minneapolis (that’s what we call it over here in Good Ol’
Saint Paul), and guess what? He and his wife Tricia just had their first baby!
Congrats you two! It’s always good news when another member of the next generation
of Ninjas enters the world!
CHRIS MILLER
NATHANIEL MILLER
SARAH MILLER
The Three Millers (TM) have been playing Trivia for years and years. Chris
was a friend of Matt's in high school, and he and Matt have been in charge of
our Trivia Stone efforts for years now. They truly are the best Stone hunters
in the contest, year in and year out. Chris's brother Nathaniel has joined the
Stone team in recent years, which only serves to make them Stronger. Both Chris
and Nathaniel have also helped out in many other aspects of Trivia planning and
playing. Lately, their sister Sarah has also been involved in the team. Many
thanks you guys--see you soon!!!
DONN MUKENSNABLE
Donn has been playing Trivia with GANW since 2000, playing from his home in
California! One of several sharp new players we've gotten in the past few years--
what could be called the GANW Generation of 2000--he's been a big part of our
rapid rise in the standings. Like the other new players we've gotten, he's a
Renaissance man, interested in a bunch of things, and has been a great help on
the technical end of our preparations as well. Thanks Donn!
DAVE RAYE
EDYE RAYE
Dave and Edye have been playing with GANW the last few years, and
have been yet another great new addition to the team! Before joining
the Ninjas, they had played for a number of years on another good team,
and so they brought some Trivia experience with them. Another plus: Edye's
a music teacher, always good to have around when those music questions
come up. Dave has put in some nice late-night hours, when funny things
tend to happen and big points can be scored. Thanks you two, and we can't
wait to see you this year!
BILL RETZA
BILL RETZA, JR.
JULIE RETZA
MICHAEL RETZA
Bill Retza has been a friend of mine since the mid-80s, when we were both at
Rosholt Middle School. Also known over the years as King Billiam, Wacky Willy,
and the King of the Bench Bunch (alright, so we didn't get a lot of playing time
on the RHS basketball team!), he has been with GANW from the beginning. He was in
the famous, now sadly defunct, GANW Orchestra, and was also a mean "wrapper" and
"tosser" of Charmin (only in self-defense, of course). He married Julie a number
of years ago, and she's been a great addition to the team, as well!
Bill Retza, Jr. (born 1998) and Michael Retza (born 1999) are Trivia Children
I and II, representing the next generation of Ninja Warriors. In the last two
years they have been involved in Stage 1 of Warriorization--immersion in the
contest, playing with the Trivia books, subliminal messages played to them while
they sleep ("Phones down, phones down in the back..."). Next is Stage 2: note-
taking on childrens' television shows...
KEITH ROBERTS
Keith has been another recent addition to the team, recruited by his buddy Doug
Rosenberg. He’s been a major player for us as we’ve risen up to top-20 status!
He lives over in the Twin Cities area, and is a teacher. Hope to see you this year,
Keith!
DOUG ROSENBERG
Doug is a charter CyberNinja, playing Trivia with us since 2000. He's recruited
some new players and has been an enthusiastic player himself. He also helped me
out in my movie-watching marathon! We're looking forward to "seeing" him at Trivia
2003!!! Thanks Doug!
CHRISTINE (SCHUTTENBERG) JOHNSEN
Christine is yet another RHS grad, from Bill Retza’s class. She and I spent a few
evenings decorating the trees and shrubs of local residents and school principals.
Last year was her first year playing for GANW since 1989 or so! I was so glad to
have her back! She now lives, oh gosh, I think in the Wausau area, right? She’s
the proud mama of Erik, Morgan, and Elizabeth.
JULIE SCHUTTENBERG
Julie is, yes, ANOTHER proud grad of Rosholt High School, from my class in fact.
We were both highly-skilled athletes, born to run! Julie also played with us back
in the high school days, and I was absolutely thrilled to have her back with the
Ninjas this past year! She is Christine’s sister, by the way. Julie is also the
proud mama of a couple of great kids.
DON SHENBARGER
Don lives in Channahon, Illinois, southwest of Chicago, and has been a valued
member of GANW for ten years now. He's been our chief technical expert, helping
set up our computer networks and internet operations, and has played both online
and at HQ over the past decade. He's been a leader in our recruitment of new
players, having brought in many of the Generation of 2000! He's interested in
a lot of things, too many to list here, so I'll just say that he's been a great
member of GANW!
MIKE SPOEHR
Mike was a brand-new player for us last year. He approached me out of the blue,
asking if he could play for GANW in the Stevens Point contest. You see, Mike is
a longtime player in the Appleton contest (held at Lawrence University),
and wanted to try out the biggest and the best, over in Stevens Point. I guess
this little ol’ web page impressed him so much he had to get in touch with us! He
really came through, playing for many hours, which was a big help as we roared to
our best finish ever! Thanks Mike, we hope you enjoyed yourself, and we hope to
see you again this year!
AMY TRZEBIATOWSKI
DAVE TRZEBIATOWSKI
Dave is a long-time Ninja Warrior, since the late eighties I believe. He
and Bill Retza are the only Ninjas to ever participate in the Trivia Parade,
putting a big poster of a ying-yang symbol on the side of Bill's blue Firebird
and driving it in to Stevens Point. Dave's been involved in a lot of aspects
of trivia, including the running questions, and he's a great guy who's always
fun to be around.
Amy married Dave, oh gosh, 6 years ago? Together they've travelled to
China and other places, and they now live in southeast Wisconsin where they're
working and going to school. I don't know if Amy had ever played Trivia before,
but she's an expert now!
MIKE TRZEBIATOWSKI
LINDA TRZEBIATOWSKI
SUZY TRZEBIATOWSKI
JON TRZEBIATOWSKI
The Trzebiatowskis both teach in Rosholt and have been friends of the family for
years. Also for years, they kept hearing about the Ninjas, kept getting my crazy
newsletters, and a few years ago decided to come and see what things were like at
our HQ. Needless to say, they were shocked and amazed, but I think they liked it,
because they’ve been back ever since. Jon and Suzy are their great kids. I’ve lost
track of the number of times that we’ve been clueless about a question, only
to get a call from someone over at the Trzebiatowski house that knows the answer. So
thanks you guys, and we’ll see you soon!!!
AARON ULLAND
ANDREW ULLAND
MEGAN ULLAND
Aaron is another member of the Generation of 2000, and he's put in some
serious hours playing Trivia with us since then. Like many of the members of
that generation, he has many technical skills which I will not elaborate on at
this point--sorry you other teams, you're not getting any hints from us! Anyway,
he's been a great Ninja, and we look forward to seeing him in 2003!
Andrew is Aaron's older brother, an investment advisor at Ulland Investments
in Minneapolis, so if you've got a quarter mil and want some investment advice,
give him a call. He's also been playing Trivia since 2000, and he is also
curious about many different topics. We appreciate all his help, and we look
forward to his being there as we crack the top 10! Just this past October,
Andrew got married to Megan, who has a job somewhat like Matt Joy's, so I'm not
going to go into it... They live in big time Minneapolis, and have a couple
of friendly cats!
BECKY ULLAND
Trivia 2002 was Becky's 7th contest, and it keeps getting better and better,
doesn't it? Becky's involved in all aspects of Trivia planning and playing,
from computer operations to note taking to just holding things together during
those inevitable rough hours... She's a Master Organizer and Idea Woman, but
you other teams aren't going to steal her from us! She's married to yours truly,
who is very lucky to be married to such a great Ninja Warrior!
KATHLEEN ULLAND-KLINKNER
Yet another Ulland joined us last year, for either the first or
second time
(I can't remember)... Kathleen lives outside New Ulm, Minnesota--home
of Hermann
the German, a very large statue of a German. She's married to Gregg, and they
have two kids--Tyler and Adam. Probably they all helped out before or during
the contest, and they're a great resource for us to have. As Hermann would say,
"Sehr guht, Kathleen!"
HARRIET ULLAND
Is Becky's mom and my mom-in-law! She joined us last year for the first time as
a CyberNinja, and it was great having her with us! She works over in Austin, Minnesota
for Hormel, and is also a seamstress. She's been a great supporter of the team,
and we're glad that she's now playing with us during the contest!
BRAD YENTER
Brad is a brand-new Ninja, who joined us last year for the first time. He is
(I think) a student at Rosholt Middle School, who showed a lot of enthusiasm and
put in a whole bunch of hours for us. He's an example of GANW's broad range of
ages--from 2 to 62 years old, we've got it covered, which helps us out a lot!
Thanks Brad!
JILL ELIZABETH YOUNG, MD
Jill is the official team doctor, and has also played in the chat room with
us at various times over the years. As far as I know, we are the only team to
have an official team doctor. When asked where she practices medicine, she
responds, "Oh, I don't need to practice it--I already know it!" Okay, I just
made that up--but it'd be a funny answer, don't you think?
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