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Eldred Borough Fire Department uses high tech bingo to lure players

By SUSAN FREER
Era Correspondent
O_Eera@yahoo.com

ELDRED — One area fire department is hoping a new bingo strategy will offset the state’s no smoking ban, local casino expansion and the failing economy.

In the past, residents could find a bingo game every night of the week at a local fire department or area church. But as casinos have expanded in recent years, the attendance has dropped to the point where local non-profit organizations have canceled weekly bingo and rely on chicken barbecues, gun raffles and hall rentals to keep their doors open and provide needed community services.  

Members of the Eldred Borough Fire Department Bingo Committee are hoping a new computer system and Electronic Turbo Bingo will help boost sales and turn around declining bingo attendance.

Officials said the new computer system uses player tracking cards, similar to casino player club cards, to track purchases. Players can trade in points earned toward bingo merchandise. 

Turbo Bingo devices are also now available. The device allows a player to play either 21 or 27 extra game cards by simply entering the called bingo number is a small laptop-type device. The machine keeps track of all the cards and notifies the player if a bingo occurs for each game, regardless of the pattern needed. In the past, residents could see bingo players with multiple cards laid out in front of them trying to mark numbers before next one is called.

Players often asked the caller to slow down so they wouldn’t miss a number. Video monitors throughout the hall now display numbers called, and a six digit number on each card is read back to verify the bingo. They’ve come a long way from reading back all the numbers on a card to verify a good bingo.

On an average bingo night, approximately 25 of the 35 available units are purchased. Players must first purchase paper bingo admission in order to buy the electronic unit.

“Turbo units have helped increase bingo profits during times when every dollar counts,” Robin Mazurkiewicz, chairman of the Eldred Borough Fire Department Bingo Committee, said. “Bingo attendance has dropped approximately 30 to 35 percent in the past six months. No smoking regulations have taken a toll, along with many other factors. The poor economy has definitely contributed along with the close proximity of casinos. Rising gas prices have also been a factor for players traveling from out of town.” 

Mazurkiewicz said the fire department relies on bingo for one its main revenue sources. Bingo revenues go into the general fire department fund to cover monthly expenses.

She noted the Bingo Committee has been under new management since June and is consistently working to find new ways to increase attendance.

Bingo is held every Monday evening and first Saturday of the month at 7 p.m. at the Eldred Borough firehall on Platt Street. 

 

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