Parking Lot Bingo Helps Bring Youth Home

CITRUS HEIGHTS, CA (MPG) – Night time passers-by at the Grand Oaks Bingo Center on Auburn Avenue in Citrus Heights have been doing a double take at the sight of a parking lot full of bingo players at tables and in vehicles, with horns honking and lights flashing throughout the evening. As with other businesses, the Covid-19 virus had driven the games outside. The hall was dark until August when their Covid status changed and the bingo balls started to pop up again and the bingo faithful were reunited.

A visit to the bingo center on a recent cool Thursday evening found over 80 lone players playing from the comfort of their vehicles, with a handful of players at tables close to the front entrance properly socially distanced.  

The cavernous hall that held up to 400 players pre-Covid on a good day, stands empty except for those keeping the games running. Of the usual seven days of operation and four charity organizations counting on the funds raised to help their cause, only 4 days a week remain and only the Optimist club and California Association of School Transportation Officials (CASTO) have endured. CASTO hosts the Friday night and Sunday matinee sessions. According to their website, “Funds raised through the games are used to promote safe pupil transportation for all California Children through education and training of school leaders”.

Grand Oaks is one of only two bingo centers in the county that have survived Covid. Grand Oaks players follow the Optimists to the Arden-Arcade Bingo center in Sacramento for their games. Grand Oaks also hosts the Saturday matinee games at noon.

How do you run a major bingo operation in a parking lot? High tech helps. After hearing that bingo groups in the Bay Area were continuing to provide the experience for their players from parking lots, Brian Taylor, president of the Optimist Club of Sacramento, figured out how to reproduce this experience in a vehicle.  He created a way to transmit the winning numbers from the “caller” to vehicles through a local FM channel, 89.7, along with outdoor speakers for a sound system for those at tables. Television screens throughout the hall used to view the winning numbers have been replaced by Zoom on their tablet and cell phones.  Taylor said some players master multiple bingo sheets at a time along with other game strips, proving the cognitive benefits of the game. Asked how long they’ve been playing, he laughed and said, “some people out there have been playing longer than I’ve been alive, and I’m 53.”

To bring the caller closer to the players, the caller machine is wheeled outside to the front of the hall. A honking horn announces a ‘bingo’ and flashing lights call Joanne to vehicles to sell players more sheets and tickets.

Besides the hopes of a big payout, players know these games are charity driven and their money is helping support important causes. The Optimist club has been active for 45 years. They work with youth throughout the county, specifically in Citrus Heights. Funds raised on Thursdays and Saturdays go to local organizations helping children and youth including. Lilliput Families, Citrus Heights Police Department Family and Youth Services, and Kids First, a child abuse prevention program.

Despite having to cut their donations back drastically Taylor told this reporter, “there are youth who are in homes because of bingo.”  From the point of view of the players, he commented in a text, “I think the broad scope is not only what we’re doing but what players are doing to survive this Covid situation. This is home, we are family. (When we closed) players lost their home, their outlet, their camaraderie and their connections to friends. Where else can you escape into a world of numbers for hours and not worry, not think about the pressures of day-to-day life.”

All players welcome. Grand Oaks Bingo Hall, 2919 Auburn Blvd. Citrus Heights; 916-723-2840