LOW-COST GAMBLING FUN FOR MANY BINGO GAMES SHOW PERENNIAL DRAWING POWER.Byline: Susan Abram Staff Writer CANYON COUNTRY - Agnes Powell doesn't drink, smoke or swear. But once she's inside the Mint Canyon Moose Moose, river, Canada Moose, river, c.50 mi (80 km) long, formed in central Ont., Canada, by the Mattagami and Missinaibi rivers. It flows NE to its confluence with the Abitibi River and into SW James Bay near Moosonee. Lodge on Sierra Highway Sierra Highway is a road in Southern California, United States. It runs from Tunnel Station near the north limit of the City of Los Angeles, where it intersects with San Fernando Road and Foothill Boulevard, as well as Interstate 5, and continues north to Mojave, mostly paralleling , there's a five-letter word she'd like to shout out now and then, and it starts with a B. ``It's my own way of letting it all out,'' said the 79-year-old Canyon Country resident, smiling during intermission between bingo games Sunday afternoon. ``It keeps you feeling so alive.'' Indeed, the inside of the Canyon Country lodge may be no different from one somewhere in Burbank or Modesto - or even in Great Britain Great Britain, officially United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, constitutional monarchy (2005 est. pop. 60,441,000), 94,226 sq mi (244,044 sq km), on the British Isles, off W Europe. The country is often referred to simply as Britain. , where Powell hails from. But the Mint Canyon Moose Lodge is one of the few halls in the Santa Clarita Valley The Santa Clarita Valley is the valley of the Santa Clara River in Southern California. It stretches through Los Angeles County and Ventura County. Its main population center is the city of Santa Clarita. The valley was part of the 48,612-acre (19,672. where people can wander in and play bingo on a Sunday from morning until afternoon. Bingo players have their own reasons for loving the game. For many, it's the one relaxation where everything makes sense - where letters and numbers come together for a little extra cash or just a day away from the dismal television news. ``I like it in here,'' said 69-year-old June MacArthur. ``I come in here and have lunch. I have a handicapped child at home, and sometimes I just need to have some time away from the house.'' MacArthur said she started playing bingo a year ago and seems to be lucky so far. She won two games back to back on Sunday. ``I'm optimistic op·ti·mist n. 1. One who usually expects a favorable outcome. 2. A believer in philosophical optimism. op . I'm like my own lucky charm,'' she said with a wink. Like baseball players, bingo enthusiasts have their own way of conjuring up a good game. Lady Luck comes in many forms inside a bingo hall: She's a miniature troll doll Troll dolls, originally known as Leprocauns and also known as Dam dolls, Wishniks, Treasure Trolls, and Norfins, became one of America's biggest toy fads beginning in the autumn of 1963, and lasting throughout 1965. with worn rainbow hair that stands straight up, or a teddy bear with one eye, or - for 65-year-old Maureen Jillson - a shiny black rock kept in a pocket. On this particular Sunday, Jillson was in top form, racing through 18 bingo cards at a time with a moist, felt dauber daub v. daubed, daub·ing, daubs v.tr. 1. To cover or smear with a soft adhesive substance such as plaster, grease, or mud. 2. To apply paint to (a surface) with hasty or crude strokes. pen, matching up letters and numbers with almost superhuman su·per·hu·man adj. 1. Above or beyond the human; preternatural or supernatural. 2. Beyond ordinary or normal human ability, power, or experience: "soldiers driven mad by superhuman misery" speed. She was playing a six-pack bingo game. Get a straight bingo on six cards on one sheet and you're a winner. ``This is a challenge to get all six,'' Jillson said as she placed what looked like coasters on cards that had already had a Bingo. Jillson changed her dauber from green to red for luck for this game. But just as she was close to victory on one of her sheets, ``Bingo!'' was called out by someone else. ``Son of a gun!'' she said. No matter. She tore the sheet off and started a new game. ``It feels better to be here than sitting at home,'' Jillson said. ``I'm a widow. I think you get a high from playing this game.'' Bingo manager Sandy McDougal John Auchanbolt McDougal (born May 21, 1874 in Buffalo, New York, died October 2, 1910 in Buffalo, New York) was a 19th century Major League Baseball pitcher. He pitched in one game for the Brooklyn Grooms in the 1895 season and five games for the St. said the weekly games have been held at the lodge for more years than she can remember. Players can win up to $100 at a game. Some of what's collected goes to local charity. Some winners even drop what they earn inside a plastic pink piggy bank up in front. ``It used to be a game where you would have just seniors come, but not anymore,'' she said. ``You see a lot of younger players now.'' Part of the reason could be an increase in popularity of lotteries and casino gaming in California. Young people who can't often make it to the casinos get hooked on games and find themselves in a lodge, McDougal said. One thing's for sure, she said: Bingo doesn't change much technologically through the years. The only change she's seen is in the style of the markers. Inside Mint Canyon Moose Lodge, caller Paul Tracey pronounces each letter and number slowly. His voice mingles Mingles are a type of mint chocolates made by Bendicks and sold in the UK. Varieties There are 5 different varieties of Mingles, which are packaged together in one box:
At the back of the room, 75-year-old Jackie Mellillo was on a roll. She has played for so long that she doesn't even need to hear the letters called. She already knows that small numbers fall under B while large ones fall under O. She said she had been on a losing streak A Losing Streak is the third episode of series 2 of the BBC sit-com, Only Fools and Horses. It was first broadcast on 4 November 1982. Synopsis Del Boy, Rodney, and Grandad are making some sort of cheap perfume just to earn money after Del has been losing most of the previous week, so she wore a green clover clover, any plant of the genus Trifolium, leguminous hay and forage plants of the family Leguminosae (pulse family). Most of the species are native to north temperate or subtropical regions, and all the American cultivated forms have been introduced from pin on her sweater on Sunday, and it worked: She won a game. ``This game is very good for the brain,'' said Mellillo, who took up bingo after retiring as an office manager 10 years ago. ``It gives you something to do.'' Susan Abram, (661) 257-5257 susan.abram(at)dailynews.com CAPTION(S): 3 photos Photo: (1 -- color) Bingo caller Paul Tracey pronounces each letter and number slowly inside Mint Canyon Moose Lodge. His voice mingles with the sound of Bingo balls bouncing inside a machine. (2) A crowd of players waits in line to buy Bingo cards on a Sunday at the Moose Lodge in Verb 1. lodge in - live (in a certain place); "She resides in Princeton"; "he occupies two rooms on the top floor" occupy, reside move in - occupy a place; "The crowds are moving in" stay at - reside temporarily; "I'm staying at the Hilton" Canyon Country. (3) A player uses markers with different colors of ink for different sheets as she whips through several at once. John Lazar/Staff Photographer |
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