Bingo players are to converge on Star of the Sea Centre for the final time Thursday evening.
After more than 50 years, the White Rock event is to be permanently cancelled due to waning revenue and attendance.
“It’s regrettable, but expenses are more than revenues, so it’s simply a business decision,” Star of the Sea Parish Rev. Stanley Galvon said. “There’s been declining attendance for quite a few months, but there comes a point where it’s clear to everyone that it’s not sustainable.”
Galvon said the decision was made recently for the independent, volunteer-run event, which has been held Mondays for more than five decades, and Thursdays since the early 1970s.
At one time, the evenings drew 250 players, he said, noting that number was cut in half after smoking was banned. Most recently, competition with casinos and online gambling, as well as an aging participant base, has drawn attendance to just 60 people on an average night.
Despite the lower turnout, the evenings still served as a social setting for many, including South Surrey resident Evelyn Cockerill, who has been attending for more than 40 years.
“A lot of the people you get to know over the years and you see them there twice a week,” she said. “The thing of it is now, these people, we’re never going to see them again.”
Cockerill said there aren’t any other bingo events in the community, and she doesn’t plan to travel outside the area to continue playing – especially when other venues use machines rather than “just old-time bingo.”
Instead, she is planning to attend the final White Rock event, March 31 from 6:30 to 10 p.m. (doors open at 5 p.m.) at 15262 Pacific Ave.
“It’s really going to be sad,” she said. “It’s just going to be the end of an era. I’m going to miss a lot of people.”
Galvon said the parish will have to be creative in filling the revenue gap left by the bingo events.
Funds raised – $30,000-$40,000 was brought in about five years ago – were donated to the local food bank and Star of the Sea School, as well as other community charities.
White Rock resident Phil Limbert, who has been a volunteer bingo caller for 25 years, said although people will be “very disappointed” by the cancellation, it has been a long time coming.
“The writing has been on the wall.”