Out at the fair they’re playing a game,&t;!—-&t;.

Friday, August 03, 2001

Out at the fair they’re playing a game,

And bingo, bingo is its name.

There’s an intentional doubling of the word bingo in the poem to indicate that there are two opportunities to play this popular game at the 110th Freeborn County Fair.

Bingo at the fair is sponsored as fund raising activities by two local organizations. One is the Freemond Madson Post 447 of the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW). And the second bingo stand is operated by the Albert Lea Lions Club.

The small building used for the VFW bingo is located across from the grandstand and is surrounded by food stands and stalls.

&uot;It’s more out in the open this year and we can cool it down with fans,&uot; said Jose Avelar Jr. He’s the post’s junior vice commander for youth activities and in charge of the bingo operations.

&uot;The profits go to youth activities such as baseball and hockey,&uot; he explained.

Avelar said volunteers from the post membership, the auxiliary, the Cooties, baseball and hockey team members, and their parents help with the games during fair time.

He said the games start about noon &uot;when we have about 15 to 20 people.&uot; Avelar added that the games end about 11:30 p.m. to midnight.

&uot;It makes for a long day,&uot; he commented.

Bingo at this stand is based on the traditional five across, down, or crosswise, plus postage stamp or the four corners. Postage stamp is allowable for covering the four numbers at one of the corners. Avelar added that the last game of the day is the cover-all or blackout.

Cards cost 20 cents, or three cards for fifty cents for each game. Winners are awarded two to three dollars for each game. Blackout pays $20 to $30 to the winner, or merchandise prizes. Avelar said these merchandise prizes donated by area firms include Faribo sports blankets, fishing gear and Arctic coolers.

Avelar is the post’s past commander and a Vietnam veteran who served as a paratrooper with an airborne unit.

Not far away, and to the southwest of the grandstand, is the distinctive small building colored goldenrod and white where the Albert Lea Lions Club operates their bingo games.

Alex Johnston, a club vice president and in charge of this year’s bingo activities, says the games start about 3 p.m. and run until midnight, except on Sunday when the last bingo game will be played at 6 p.m., Aug. 5.

&uot;Our primary fund raising purpose is sight, plus local charities,.&uot; Johnston commented. He added that the club is part of the famous &uot;Eyeglasses Around the World&uot; program. And to emphasize this purpose, a large poster behind the person who calls out the numbers lists all the beneficiaries of the funds raised in the yearly bingo games at the fair.

Johnston commented that the volunteers who operate the games comes from the club’s membership, plus members of the Albert Lea High School Marching Band.

Regular bingo games in this building, which has been a part of the fairgrounds since the 1940s, is based on a price of two cards for a quarter. Winners get $25 for a bingo within the first five numbers, $10 for for a bingo achieved from numbers called between six and 10, and $5 after that.

Johnston said bingo at the Lions games is based on the traditional five across, down, or crosswise, or four corners. However, the postage stamp coverage on the cards isn’t a part of the games at this stand.

Once an hour a blackout or cover-all game is played. The cost of the cards goes to a dollar each. The winner gets half of the proceeds from this specific game.

&uot;We have quite a few players who are regulars every year, plus some new faces,&uot; Avelar commented. And what he said certainly applies to both the VFW and Lions Club bingo stands at this year’s Freeborn County Fair.