For the past four years running, every Tuesday night from fall through spring, bingo lovers have been happily blotting their cards at Niverville Gold Rush Bingo (NGRB). On Tuesday, May 5, that tradition will come to a close as the NGRB committee officially hangs up their hats.
“We’re going out with a bang,” says committee member Monique Lasko.
Over the last months, NGRB jackpots have been building. Come Tuesday night, the committee will pay out a grand total of more than $27,000.
In anticipation of a significant turnout, this year’s NGRB wrap-up will take place in the Heritage Centre ballroom. Doors will open at 5:30, bingo card sales will begin at 6:00, and games will start at 7:00.
“Bingo people are a different kind,” Lasko muses. “They like to get their favourite seats. They like to get all cozy and ready for the game and that can be two hours before it starts.”
Where there’s a growing jackpot, there’s a growing number of people coming out in the hopes of laying claim to that prize. Lasko says they’ve experienced a full house at most of their events at the Golden Friendship Centre over the past few months.
Tuesday’s finale will include all the regular games, plus the five typical specials: Lucky Star, Odd and Even, Lucky Seven, Blackout, and Bonanza. Each one of these specials currently has prize winnings in the hundreds or thousands of dollars.
“The Bonanza is our biggest pot at the moment and, as of Wednesday morning, it was sitting at $12,800,” says Lasko. “Next Tuesday, the first [to call] bingo will get that prize. It could be multiple people, or it could be one person.”
Attendees aren’t the only ones who stand to come out as big winners this year. The NGRB committee is also allocating funds towards Niverville High School grad scholarships. Eight deserving students will receive more than $1,000 each on graduation day.
“This year, seventy-five percent of what we made will go to the eight students,” Lasko says. “[The remaining] twenty-five percent goes to the Golden Friendship Centre.”
Over the four seasons of NGRB, more than $60,000 has been gifted to various charitable causes, such as the Golden Friendship Centre, Youth for Christ, Helping Hands, and Growing Minds Childcare Centre.
“This is it for us,” Lasko says. “After this, the committee is folding. We’ve been doing it for four years and we all have separate lives.”
The NGRB committee first formed in 2022 with a dual purpose in mind. After two years of pandemic, locals were anxious to get out and socialize again. At the same time, the Golden Friendship Centre was looking for ways to raise funds for a badly needed kitchen renovation. The committee is glad to have had a hand in successfully filling both of those needs.