Lions bingo has always been a family affair

For one Imperial family, playing Lions bingo at the Chase County Fair has always been part of the week’s schedule.
    It wasn’t any different this year, as Vivian Todd of Imperial and her daughter Carolyn Wright of Grant were spotted at the stand with bingo cards ready and quarters stacked.
    But what caught a person’s eye were the Chase County Fair shirts with the message: “Happiness is yelling BINGO.”
    Bingo players next year may get their chance to win a shirt just like them, according to Wright.
    Laura Parde, Carolyn’s daughter, made several of the shirts in 2019 when a lot of their family came back for a family reunion during the fair.
    Some came from as far away as Minnesota and others from Lincoln, she said.
    They donned their bingo shirts and visited the bingo stand that week, three or four of them at a time as they could, she said.
    Parde said she received so many comments about the shirts two years ago, she had planned to make more last year and offer them as a donation to the Lions Club to give away as bingo prizes.
    With most of the 2020 fair cancelled, she plans now to donate shirts for 2022 bingo.
    Vivian said, “We dug ours out this year” and she and Carolyn wore them to the bingo stand.
    Both Vivian and Carolyn said bingo at the fair has always been a Todd family tradition.
    On Saturday of fair week, the family always went to the parade, then had lunch, “then we’d go play bingo,” Carolyn recalled.
    “It was always a place to meet, too,” she added.
    Vivian, a former Imperial Lions member herself, said she’s been playing bingo at the fair ever since she moved here with husband Bud in 1950.
    She said it’s fun and an inexpensive way to enjoy the fair and also see a lot of people.
    Carolyn recalled her years growing up in Imperial when bingo at the fair was always anticipated.
    And, now as an adult, she added, “I also know what Lions clubs do for their communities. They do so much.”
    She’s also happy to support the bingo effort for that reason.
    All of the proceeds from Imperial Lions bingo go to the club’s service projects.
    During the 2020-21 fiscal year that ended July 31, the Imperial Lions provided close to $9,300 for various projects.
2021 a good year for bingo
    According to preliminary reports, 2021 will go down as the second best year in gross income for the Lions bingo operation.
    Lions Treasurer Miles Colson told club members last week only 2013 was better, but only by $60.
    This year, the club collected $13,123.83 in bingo card sales during its four-day operation Aug. 11-14. That is matched only by the 2013 gross of $13,183.75.
    This year, 56,730 cards were played. Compared to two years ago, Wednesday, Aug. 11, had a big jump in activity with 2,000 more cards played than Wednesday in 2019. Wednesday this year marked the first day of bingo after a two-year absence.
    Colson said after expenses, the Lions expect to net about $9,000 for its service projects.