THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, August 20, 1995 TAG: 9508170197
SECTION: PORTSMOUTH CURRENTS PAGE: 08 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Cover Story
SOURCE: BY KAREN BARBA, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 135 lines
SOME COME IN with lucky charms angel pins on their shoulders, photos of grandchildren or good luck troll dolls. Others come in early to make sure they get a particular seat.
They'll bring a deck of cards and play solitaire while waiting or buy a hot dog and have dinner while they set up for their weekly date with Lady Luck.
Some of them can play as many as 27 bingo cards at a time. But regardless of how many they can manage, in the end it all comes down to chance.
Sometimes they lose. Sometimes they win.
Regardless, they go away knowing they haven't thrown their money away. They've made a donation to the Red Cross.
A big donation.
Like other nonprofit groups from Little League to the SPCA, the Red Cross has found that bingo can be a major plug in the dam of dwindling donations.
Last year, the local chapter took in about $78,000 of its $428,000 budget through its Wednesday bingo games, according to Robert S.B. Ossman, executive director of the Portsmouth/West Chesapeake Chapter.
Barbara Preddy, a Red Cross retiree and a volunteer with 32 years of service to the agency, credits the game with helping the agency to continue serving the community without cutting back on staff or services.
The organization mobilized an army of about 500 volunteers last year with a staff of only nine paid employees.
``It's wonderful that there's a fund-raiser available that can raise the kind of funds that bingo does,'' said Preddy, who is chairman of the bingo fund-raising effort. ``You tell me how we could earn that kind of money otherwise?''
Preddy added that the Red Cross has a reputation for having the most honest game in town. Their bingo game at the Tower Auditorium draws from 270 to 350 people per week.
``I would never want to be a part of it if it were any other way,'' she said.
Ossman says bingo has provided a new vehicle for raising funds that has actually allowed the chapter to grow and change along with the changing needs of the community.
He points to HIV/AIDS and the growing teen pregnancy rate as just two examples of new challenges that face the Red Cross.
Half of the organization's budget comes from the United Way, but the rest must be raised by the local chapter of the Red Cross, Ossman says.
While hard-liners call it gambling and even some board members frown on bingo as a fund-raiser, supporters call it a social event, where people gather with friends and family to share pleasant conversation and a little excitement.
People like Evelyn Breen, who says she often meets friends before the game to play cards.
Breen's been playing for 25 years, and she doesn't consider bingo gambling at all.
``Now you tell me, what else is there for an 80-year-old woman to do?'' asked Breen. ``I enjoy it. It's a good pastime.
``And, it's real good when you win,'' she added, smiling.
About twice a week, Ramona West drives up from North Carolina to play bingo with her mother, Gladys Fentress. The two split the cost of playing and the winnings, and each keeps a separate savings account to hold those winnings.
``My savings is pretty fat right now,'' said West. ``We've won a lot lately.''
The mother and daughter bingo team say their combined winnings over three weeks comes to about $2,150. When their savings dwindle, the two said, they don't play quite as much.
``You put your winnings aside, and that's what you play on,'' Fentress advised. ``Then, you know when you're spending your own money. That's when you slow down.''
But everybody has a different notion about how to save and spend the rewards of the day.
``When I win, I buy clothes, rings - something special, so I can see I got something out of it,'' said Estelle Stevens, whose grandchildren have dubbed her the bingo queen.
Celebrating her 57th birthday with a special free bingo packet, Stevens said she envies seniors who can play bingo ``morning, noon, and night.''
``I'm looking forward to retiring myself, so I can play more,'' she said, giving a friendly nudge to E.T. Lupton, next to her.
Lupton has been retired about five years and he's been hooked on bingo since his wife ``dragged him to a game out at Military Circle.''
``I bought one special and won $500,'' Lupton said recalling that game. ``Then, the very next week, we went again, and I bought one special and won $500 again.''
He went another year before winning big money, but, he said, he's won $1,000 pots several times over the years.
His wife won that much just last week and split it with him. He enjoys sharing his winnings with her too.
``She'd come home, and I'd have her $500 waiting on the dining room table in a bag or something,'' he said with a smile.
Stevens and Lupton say they are among the majority of people who come to the game to have fun with family and friends. But they have seen some who approach bingo differently.
``I've seen people come in here trying to win enough to pay their phone bill,'' Lupton said.
They said that the first week of the month is always crowded because that's when government and other checks arrive.
``Some of them'll say, `I just lost my rent money,' '' said Stevens.
But Stevens views the problem as one of individual irresponsibility rather than the fact that bingo halls exist.
Carol Pratt, a board member who has volunteered at the bingo fund-raiser in the past, calls it ``good, clean, wholesome fun'' and points to a former neighbor, a senior citizen now who has been playing for years.
``She just enjoys the thrill of the game,'' said Pratt. ``And it's good recreation. You really do have to be alert.''
Stevens said ``a lot of church people come here, but they don't want their pastors and friends to know.
``This is the biggest thing goin','' she said, chuckling.
From a fund-raising perspective, Preddy would have to agree that bingo is the biggest thing going. She adds that not only is it a more profitable way to raise funds, but for her it's more enjoyable as well.
``You don't have to get dressed up. You don't have to give speeches,'' she said. ``You just give the people what they want.''
And from the looks of a crowd, they want bingo. ILLUSTRATION: [color cover photo - no cutline information available -no photo
credit.]
[Woman playing bingo]
Staff photos by JIM WALKER
Kathy Flora calls out the Bingo numbers for players, some using as
many as 27 cards.
There is no lack of contestents in the Bingo game held by the local
chapter of the Red Cross, which took in about $78,000 through its
Wednesday bingo games.
Jeanette Mason plays her cards in her encounter with Lady Luck.
by CNB