By: Mary Grace Donaldson
Posted In: News
Photo credit: Stephanie Turaj
Meagan Meskill, a junior, takes a lap around Rodgers Recreation Center with her newly won bike.
Bingo is no longer just for Grandma.
On October 1, Salve students braved the elements and lined up outside the Rodgers Recreation Center in anticipation of a Salve student activities pastime: Monster Bingo. This edition of Monster Bingo was the first that was held in the Rodgers Recreation Center, as the former location of the Bazarsky Lecture Hall was always filled to capacity. At past editions of Monster Bingo, Campus Activities Board members were forced to turn students away after the lecture hall was filled. Not this time. The line of students outside the gymnasium stretched all the way to the end of the parking lot, almost across Webster Street and into Miley Hall. Rain poured from the sky, but the weather did not keep the masses coming for their chance at winning fabulous prizes, including a Nintendo Wii, a cornucopia of gift cards to the likes of Starbucks and McDonald’s, and even a mountain bike. The new space accommodated over 650 students from all four classes; they took up all of the bleachers, chairs set up on either side of the gymnasium, and even half of the gymnasium floor. The excitement in the room was infectious even before numbers B-1 through 0-75 were called. “I feel good because people are talking about how Bazarsky is so small,” said Vianis DeBarros, Salve junior and president of the Campus Activities Board. DeBarros was excited just to put the event together in its new location, which was enough to feed her enthusiasm in spite of the fact that she was not permitted to play Bingo or win prizes. “Just putting it on is excitement in itself,” said DeBarros. Amanda Sousa and Erica Smith, both Salve sophomores, eagerly waited in anticipation for the Bingo games to begin. This was Sousa’s first Monster Bingo experience, and she came in hopes of going home with either the Canon PowerShot camera or the Barnes & Noble Nook. Smith had experienced Monster Bingo previously, but had to share her Bingo card with a friend previously as she had arrived late. Smith said that the gymnasium was a much better location for this extremely popular campus event. The floor was opened by Heather Barbour, director of student activities, announcing to students that “fake Bingos” were absolutely prohibited, that a valid Salve ID was required to obtain prizes, and that students could win more than one prize if they acquired Bingo more than once. Play began with regular Bingo, then progressed into exciting variations including “martini glass Bingo” (fill in a Bingo board in the shape of a martini glass), “four corner Bingo,” “X Bingo,” and the final game required participants to fill up their entire Bingo board. The sounds from the crowd shook the bleachers as winners were booed rather than applauded, and false alarms were met with sighs of relief. As each prize was showcased, the crowd roared in hopes that any one of them would be lucky. The highlight of the evening came when junior Meagan Meskill called “BINGO” and was deemed the winner of the mountain bike. Meskill was not even supposed to be on campus when Monster Bingo was taking place, but was thrilled that she was able to attend and even more thrilled to win a prize. She also said that she will ride the bike around the campus. The crowd , however, had intentions for Meskill that did not just include her walking away with the bike; a chant of “RIDE THE BIKE!” struck up as she was walking back to her seat. Meskill said that she did not think to publicly try out her new acquisition, but thought, “why not?” Meskill’s victory lap brought the crowd to its feet. As she heard the deafening roar in her ears, the first thought in her mind was, “Thank God I didn’t fall!” If she did, she would have gone face-first in front of the largest group of Monster Bingo attendees in Salve history.
