<body><div><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=2hpb6Y_0mgCbMsS00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=2hpb6Y_0mgCbMsS00" width="1493" height="799" > Over the last 13 years, folks have called bingo thousands of times at American Legion Post 39, but after tonight the games are over. The post has held its weekly bingo night every Wednesday. With too few volunteers to keep it going, organizers said more games are simply not in the cards. “Through attrition, we just have basically not enough people to work, and we haven’t been able to round up volunteers to step up and do it,” said member Rodney Choy, a volunteer who has helped to run the games. <nbtemplate data-id="AdPlaceholder" data-content="JTdCJTdE"></nbtemplate> Post 39 had just started bingo games in 2010 when Choy and his wife, Terri, moved to Greenville from Omaha, Nebraska. Though neither knew much about bingo, they thought it would be a good way to make friends in the Post. Back then there were more than a dozen members volunteering for bingo. But in recent years, that number has dwindled. Now the Choys, along with Bob Sheck, Stan Wojcik, Karen Ennis and Roger and Isabelle Plant are the only ones left. With two of the regular volunteers planning to move from the area, Choy said it seemed impractical to try to continue the games. “Veterans groups, a lot of them are aging out,” he said. “There are pretty much no more World War II veterans and very little Korean veterans. Even the Vietnam veterans are getting up there to their mid or late 70s.” <nbtemplate data-id="AdPlaceholder" data-content="JTdCJTdE"></nbtemplate> American Legion Post 39 has about 320 members ranging in age from their 40s to 95 years old. Those who are willing and able to volunteer are sometimes spread thin among the group’s many efforts, which also include American Legion baseball and the Pitt County American Legion Agricultural Fair. “We’ve been talking to our post leadership for about six or eight months and they’ve known that this was happening,” Choy said. “Unfortunately we just don’t have anybody that’s willing to step up and do it, so they decided that we’ll just terminate the bingo, enjoy what we had and be happy for what we’ve gotten from it.” What Post 39 has gotten from bingo is about $15,000 a year, Choy said, about a third of the organization’s budget. How the elimination of this funding source could affect the group’s support for nursing scholarships at East Carolina and Pitt Community Colleges or sponsorships for JROTC and high school students attending Boys State or Girls State is not yet known. <nbtemplate data-id="AdPlaceholder" data-content="JTdCJTdE"></nbtemplate> Choy said many of the regulars at the weekly games were disappointed when Post 39 announced earlier this month that bingo would be discontinued. “A lot of these people, they’re retired, so it’s a form of entertainment for them,” he said, adding that the games routinely draw 50 to 70 people. “It’s a very loyal group,” Terri Choy said. “Bingo players are extremely loyal. Pretty much the same players come every week. Every once in a while you’ll see a new face or a face maybe you haven’t seen for a bit. “When I spoke to them on Wednesday, a lot of them are really sad and they don’t understand,” she said. “You tell people you have 300-plus members in an organization, and they don’t get why there’s not enough people to work bingo.” <nbtemplate data-id="AdPlaceholder" data-content="JTdCJTdE"></nbtemplate> The Choys said that staffing bingo is a major commitment because games are played year-round, even on most holiday weeks. “It’s the day before Thanksgiving we give away pies,” Terri said. “We kind of take advantage of the holidays to do something a little extra for our players.” Since the games started more than a decade ago, the only time there has been a significant break was during the coronavirus pandemic, when there were no games from mid-March 2020 until June 2021. “Some of these people we’ve known from the beginning,” Terri said. “It’s going to be hard not seeing them every week.” Lucky for the Choys they will continue to see some players at weekly bingo games hosted by the local Veterans of Foreign Wars chapter. They are members of both organizations. <nbtemplate data-id="AdPlaceholder" data-content="JTdCJTdE"></nbtemplate> The May 31 wrap-up will be a $500 Lucky 7 night with prize drawings to show appreciation for players who have supported the games through the years. American Legion Post 39’s last weekly bingo will start at 6:30 p.m. at 403 St. Andrews Drive off Greenville Boulevard between Azteca and the Golden Corral. Doors open at 5 p.m. Charles Gray Morgan VFW Post 7032 holds its Bingo night every Saturday at 1108 Mumford Road. Doors open at 6 p.m. and games start at 7:30 p.m. <nbtemplate data-content="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" data-id="MediaPlatformAmplitudeButton"></nbtemplate></div></body>

Mountain View, CA

Over the last 13 years, folks have called bingo thousands of times at American Legion Post 39, but after tonight the games are over.
                The post has held its weekly bingo night every Wednesday. With too few volunteers to keep it going, organizers said more games are simply not in the cards.
                “Through attrition, we just have basically not enough people to work, and we haven’t been able to round...