Every last Wednesday in July, for as long as I’ve been on this earth, we head to Flush, KS St. Joseph Catholic Church for the Annual Flush Picnic and Bazaar. We get there, take a glance at the line for the fried chicken dinner, and go to the basement of the historic Pearl of the Prairie church. There we see the raffle quilts (which we were lucky enough to win 2 of them in the last 5 years) and look at other hand crafted items made by talented members of that church community.
After making our purchases, we stand in line making conversation with the friendliest of people. As we near the hall entrance, musicians fill the air with requested songs or their specialty of music. (That was a nice touch added a few years ago.) We sit and eat “family style” as dinner rolls, coleslaw, fresh tomatoes, relishes, and cottage cheese line the tables. There we converse with still more of the friendliest people.
After eating, we head out to he grounds where the men in my family try to win much needed (I say sarcastically) caps with Wamego, Manhattan, and Westmoreland business owner logos on them.
We girls head to Bingo. We circle the stand housing future prizes we hope to be fortuitous enough to win and take our seat on the lucky side of the stand. We make our card selections. Any card with a number 60 in the O column has been good to me.
Bingo. What a fun game of chance. The first Bingo was played in Italy in 1530. In the 19th century, a Bingo-like game was played in Germany to teach children spelling and their multiplication tables. In the 1920’s modern American Bingo was developed. The rest, they say, is history. The value of prizes mean little to players, only the thrill of the numbers being called one by deliberate one.
This past week, with a forecasted ice storm looming, more than a few people have come into the library saying they are in a reading rut. BINGO could be their answer! Twenty-four different book ideas are given on the card to lure them out of their reading comfort zone with a prize awaiting after each BINGO. It’s a win-win!
Some have taken the dot-to-dot, color mosaic, color by number, and country color sheet challenge already. After the ice thaws….come on in and “check it out” as we say in the library business.
Knock, Knock.
Who’s there?
Bingo.
Bingo who?
“Bingo”ing to visit the library anytime soon?
Happy “Get Out of the Rut” Reading!