Missy's Homestead...BINGO!

Missy's Homestead...BINGO!!


Now that I live closer to my family I try to get over and see them as often as I can.  My grandparents lived for most of my life up in the very northern part of California, where they had a fishing resort.  I would visit them every summer and have the best time cleaning cabins, going fishing, swimming in the pool, you name it i did it during my summers there.  It was an amazing time and a great way to grow up.  

Bingo Machine!

A couple of years ago my grandparents decided that it was time to "Officially" retire and move down a little closer to the family.  They sold their resort and moved about 4 hours south to Sacramento.  My aunt and her family live in Sacramento and it is where my husband and I went to school and first met.  I love Sacramento.  It has and always will be like a second home to me.  I have a ton of collage friends that still live there.  I did my first professional theatre gigs there and we spent many a holiday with the family gathered in Sac since it was a halfway point for my family and my grandparents to all get together.  My grandma and grandpa are pretty social people so they didn't want to move to a place where they would be isolated from other people.  Also if you are new to a place and you want to meet friends and have a good time, living way out in the country is not always a great way to meet new friends.  Outside of downtown (About Thirty Minutes) is a retirement community where my family decided to live.  It is pretty quiet, well maintained, it has a pool and there is a post office and a grocery store around the corner.  In the middle of the 100 or so homes that are in the park there is a community center where the community has many different events for the people who live there.  They do potlucks and play cards but the best thing that they have is a BINGO night.  Several weeks ago I was visiting my grandparents and my grandmother said, "Well you can come visit, but we do have bingo tonight..."  I said YES immediately. 

BINGO!

I don't care how young or old you are BINGO is a wonderful game.  And let me tell you this group of people that my grandparents play with are serious about their BINGO.  You pay like 50cents a card and some of those little ladies play like 6 different cards.  (Pots are anywhere from 5-8 bucks a win) Not only do they play for money but they play like 10 different versions of the game.  It is not always about getting a regular bingo.  They have all kinds of different ways you can get a bingo in certain games.  It was a blast.  Unfortunately I did not win anything but I had a great time hanging out with my grandparents and their community. I even got to bring my glass of beer with me and they had snacks!  What better way to spend a Wednesday night?!?  While we were there I mention to my grandmothers friend, who in charge of the whole shindig, that if I was ever around on a Wednesday night, and they needed a bingo caller, that I would be happy to pitch in.  And what do you know....last wednesday I rolled into town and not 30 minutes after my grandmother got a call asking if I would call Bingo.  

Pic of me doing my job!

Well you bet I said yes!  I went in a few minutes early to check out the list for that night and practice dropping and calling the bingo balls from the machine (yes they have a Bingo Machine).  It was a blast!  Everyone loved me because I spoke very loudly and clearly. I can't tell you how much fun it was to call those bingo numbers for that small bunch of Seniors.  They all had a great attitude (except when I wasn't calling their numbers j/k) and overall it felt great to be sharing in my families community.  I think small acts of community service are very important.  And it felt great that I could help out and have a good time.

The game patterns we played

What types of community service do you do for your local and surrounding communities?

Well I am off to the Heirloom Vegetable Expo, more info on that coming up.

Until Next Time: Consume More, Buy Less 

(Be a volunteer in your community)

Cheers,

Melissa 

Self Portrait of a Bingo Caller