Host of trivia night Matt Gray takes an answer from a player earlier this month at Butler Brew Works. Shane Potter/Butler Eagle

Trivia is a pretty meaningful subject to a lot of people in Butler County. Why else would they venture out of their homes on a dark January weeknight to test their knowledge of flags of the world or 1980s sitcom stars against a roomful of competitors?

But they’ve been doing it since 2014 when Craig Lawrence of Renfrew bought the Butler County affiliate of DJ Trivia and started posing questions to bar and restaurant patrons.

Lawrence, a wedding reception DJ and the owner of Red Hot Chameleon Entertainment, said he first encountered the national DJ Trivia company while on an industry cruise.

“One of those companies was DJ Trivia, which sparked my interest,” Lawrence said. After he and his wife were partnered with the DJ Trivia representative at their dinner table aboard the ship, Lawrence learned more and eventually bought an affiliate that includes all of Butler County.

Then all he had to do was convince the owners of bars and restaurants to allow him to host a trivia night in their establishments.

“I started cold-calling businesses. You have to remember, this was in 2014, the only thing in bars was karaoke and Texas Hold ’em. It took a few months to get the venture up and running,” he said. “But then we got one, and then another one and then another one.”