Bingo!

There we were with a free day in Columbus, NE (50 miles south of Norfolk). After sampling the cuisine we went in search of entertainment.

Bingo night at the American Legion seemed like pretty much the only show in town, so we headed over. Wow. Those folks are intense! The evening was scheduled to begin at 7pm. We drifted in at 7:45. VERY LATE. We had seriously underestimated this event. The room was dead silent except for the rumble of the balls in the jumbler (what do you call those lottery things?) and the announcements every 45 seconds: "B12", "G57", "I21". We raced to turn off our cell phones as the man at the door tried to explain the boards, prices, and rounds in hushed tones. I think I played bingo once when I was a kid, and we all dutifully looked for rows and columns and diagonals. I was thus completely unprepared for kites with long tails, double postage stamps, and wild numbers. And don't you go marking your boards (plural, definitely plural, the serious bingoers play 18 or 24 at a time... we were informed we wouldn't keep up with more than 6) with any old pen. We were loaned ink stampers for the evening. Many participants had large round bags for their collections of marking instruments with enough colors to match any board.

We eventually sat down and started marking. Cigarette smoke hung in the air as the boards filled up, the hush deepened, pulses quickened until finally a cry of "BINGO!", with gusto. All numbers on the winning card were dutifully checked. (I was a bit worried about actually yelling Bingo myself... I can't imagine these people are tolerant of mistakes, and I felt very much the newbie... can an "L" go backwards or upside down??)

Julie proved to be the lucky Claremonter that evening. She won a relatively simple round, and we clapped and took pictures (hey, we stuck out like sore thumbs anyway).

The self-described honorary mayor was very welcoming (as were all of the players - a kind woman sitting accross the table from me tried to explain the various rounds and dutifully threw out each of my used boards). At one point the mayor announced to the room that the youngsters would be playing a concert the following evening. We got a brief round of applause and a thumbs up from a retired music teacher before everyone quieted in anticipation of the next number.

It occurs to me that if some of our Bingo companions attend our concert, they may be as impressed with the hushed attention, specialized equipment, and concentrated intensity of our event as we were with the similar aspects of theirs.