Photo by Michael Pacheco
The College Planning Board hosted Big Prize Bingo last week, drawing a large crowd to Friends Hall, despite it being held on a Saturday night. The name of the event held true; the grand prize was a flatscreen TV.
“It’s cool that we have the opportunity to give this stuff out,” said Sam Schwartz, a sophomore and on campus programmer for the CPB.
Amanda Binetti, another sophomore and on-campus programmer, said, “Yeah, if you don’t come to this event, you’re missing out.”
The night began with four rounds of regular bingo, where a winner would have to get five across, up, down or diagonally. The winners of these four rounds received a $25 gift card of their choice from the campus bookstore. The rounds increased in complexity after that as the awards became more valuable. A Fitbit Charge 2 was the next prize; to win, a student needed to create an “I” shape on their boards. After this, participants had to create an “X” shape in order to win a Fujifilm Instax Mini 8 Camera. Next, to win a GoPro Hero Camera, players had to fill the border of their game card. Lastly, for the biggest prize of the night, a student would need to have every number on his or her board appear to win the TCL 28” Roku Smart TV.
Students came to the event excited with high hopes of winning. Players would readily listen as the announcer called numbers, hoping that he would call theirs, and they could be one step closer to shouting “bingo.” Participants progressively became more competitive and less patient. Many students eagerly prodded the announcer to hurry his pace, but these complaints did not falter him, as he continued to make jokes and puns all night long.
Some attendees grew frustrated at their poor luck.
"I had my hopes up and was incredibly disappointed in my failure," Becca Perry, freshman, said.
The night was not frustrating for everyone, though. There were many winners at Big Prize Bingo. When the announcer called a player’s final number, he or she would jump up with excitement and yell “Bingo” to the rest of the players’ dismay.
Princess-Melynne Claveria, sophomore, was the winner of the night, taking home the smart TV.
“I’m very overwhelmed,” Claveria said, “CPB is number one.”
Other winners of the night shared Claveria’s excitement and were incredibly happy with CPB and the outcome of the event.
emeline@ramapo.edu
