Last year when Twin Cities Rotary hosted Turkey Bingo in the Chehalis Eagles building, the room was packed and turkeys were sparse.
Now in its fifth year, the event on Saturday from 3 to 5 p.m. was clearly put on with careful consideration from Rotarian event organizer Rotarian Michael Evinger and other volunteers. It was held in the more spacious upper annex of the building and there were 35 turkeys to hand out.
“(It was) a little down from expectations based on prior events, we think (due to) economy inflation and other events’ competition,” Evinger said. “But (it’s a) great tradition that's family-friendly.”
The event raised right around an even $3,000, he said.
The largest Twin Cities Rotary fundraiser of the year, 100% of proceeds go to many initiatives the club takes on locally, including helping to fund the Dolly Parton Imagination Library program, which gives books to children ages 0 to 5 at no cost. Funds also go toward ramp building.
In honor of Leon Bowman, a former Twin Cities Rotary Club president who has since died, a team of Rotarians called “Leon’s Team” helps install wheelchair ramps, mostly for residences. They’ve done about a dozen in the last year, according to one member. Just one year ago, they were averaging less than half that. It costs between $750 and $2,500 to build a ramp, Evinger said.
This year, the club also hosted its first-ever Mother’s Day Bingo. Like Turkey Bingo, it was hosted by state Rep. Peter Abbarno and Bruce Kimsey, an agent with Century 21 Lund Realtors, neither of whom were strapped for jokes about how “I used to B10” or “I8 lunch before I came here.”
Learn more about Twin Cities Rotary at https://www.twincitiesrotary.com/index.php.
