by Rachel Hunter
The Gouverneur Elks Lodge No. 2035 parking lot was maxed out to a capacity crowd for its inaugural Drive-In Bingo on Wednesday, May 20.
It was organized amid the COVID-19 pandemic crisis to allow Northern New Yorkers a chance to play bingo – at a time when many facilities across New York State have been closed to gamers since March. This includes the Gouverneur Elks Lodge No. 2035, which was holding weekly bingo sessions on Wednesdays up until the COVID-19 shutdown mandate of all bars and non-essential businesses by Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
The idea to host the drive-in bingo came from Gouverneur Elks Lodge No. 2035 Esteemed Leading Knight Krista Wainwright, who said she spent at least a couple hours each night, for more than two weeks, in preparation of the event, copying papers, making plans, getting bingo boards together, etc. In advance of the event, ELK Wainwright said she had a grand total of 305 bingo player boards ready – and hoped she would have enough.
The Gouverneur Elks Lodge No. 2035 went through many approval procedures in order to hold the event. On Wednesday afternoon, starting at 2:30 p.m., vehicles starting filling the Gouverneur Elks Lodge parking lot and it hit max capacity by 5 p.m. – an hour before the first bingo game was to begin. The vehicles were parked end to end, with six-foot distance between each row. The Gouverneur Elks were able to get 100 cars in the parking lot, and sold 224 bingo player packets during the inaugural event.
At seeing the filled-to-capacity parking lot, Gouverneur Elks Lodge No. 2035 Exalted Ruler Gresford Speid said, “This is historic.” He explained that people throughout the North Country have wanted something to do, to do something beyond the four walls of their own home, and one way they could do that is to attend the inaugural Gouverneur Elks Lodge No. 2035 Drive-In Bingo.
When motorists arrived to the Gouverneur Elks Lodge No. 2035 on Wednesday afternoon, they all entered the first driveway at the Gouverneur Elks Lodge No. 2035. There they met Gouverneur Elks Lodge No. 2035 Esteemed Leading Knight Krista Wainwright who was busy at the Gouverneur Elks Lodge pavilion distributing bingo player packets with assistance from Lodge Secretary Jimmy Jackson (PER, PSVP, PDDGER), Lodge Treasurer Todd Menard, House Committee Chair Sandy Pryce, and North Central District #6240 Past State President Timothy Kelly.
The motorists were then directed to Gouverneur Elks serving as parking attendants, for further instruction and to await for the 6 p.m. bingo start time. Gouverneur Elk volunteers sold 50-50 raffle tickets. Food was available for all those in attendance, and paddle signs were given to get the attention of the Gouverneur Elks serving the vehicles. The meal options were quickly served to the vehicles.
As the bingo caller, North Central District #6240 State Vice President Roderick Pryce, Past Exalted Ruler of Gouverneur Elks Lodge No. 2035, welcomed all those in attendance and encouraged everyone to abide by the set social distancing guidelines.
“We don’t want to get shut down,” he said.
SVP Pryce reminded everyone to wear a face mask when they left their vehicle, and to keep a six-foot clearance between persons. All were told to use the tape on the ground as a guide as they lined up in front of the Gouverneur Elks Lodge No. 2035 to go to the bathroom. The area was policed by Gouverneur Elk Richard Wainwright.
At 6 p.m., as the drive-in bingo got underway, Gouverneur Elks were sent all over the parking lot to repeat the bingo call, so that no one would miss each announcement. In order to accomplish this, the Gouverneur Elks Lodge No. 2035 used microphones connected via Bluetooth technology. As soon as the first ball popped up and SVP Pryce called it out loud, the thrill and anticipation of a potential bingo win excited all those in attendance at the Gouverneur Elks Lodge No. 2035 Inaugural Drive-In Bingo. It took little time at all for the first two car honks of the night – the signal that someone had found a bingo! Gouverneur Elks then verified the numbers, and awarded the prizes after each game throughout the night.
The 50-50 raffle prize of $600 went to Rita Clarke of Russell. She donated $200 back to the Gouverneur Elks Lodge No. 2035. The Gouverneur Elks Lodge No. 2035 expressed great gratitude at the gesture.
At the end of the evening all those in attendance were released by parking attendants out of the far driveway exit, handing the bingo player boards back to the Gouverneur Elks in the process. A great time was had by all those in attendance, and many have said that they look forward to future event. Participants came from all over New York State from the Adirondacks and below Syracuse to participate in the Gouverneur Elks Lodge No. 2025 Inaugural Drive-In Bingo.
ELK Wainwright said there are a few improvements the Gouverneur Elks are going to make to make future Drive-In Bingo events better for everyone involved. The first lane by the Gouverneur Elks Lodge No. 2035 will be reserved for those needing handicap-access, so they have better access to bathroom facilities. The Gouverneur Elks will also be changing up their meal options, but food will still be available. ELK Wainwright is also looking for a way to more easily distribute the bingo player cards to those in attendance.
ELK Wainwright announced that the Gouverneur Elks Lodge No. 2035 was hosting its second Drive-In Bingo Event on Wednesday, June 3 on May 21. In a little over 24 hours of publicity on social media, over 300 people called ELK Wainwright and registered to attend. No more registrations are being taken for this date. Future drive-in bingo dates are as follows: July 8 (due to the Fourth of July holiday), August 5 and September 2.
For more information on the Gouverneur Elks Lodge No. 2035, check out its Facebook page.