As of August 27, 2013, the Ocracoke Fire Department ended the bingo season.
At this time, there are no plans to continue bingo next year. By next summer the department will be housed in the new station on Irvin Garrish Hwy. Due to financial restrictions and state and federal building code requirements, it was determined that it would not be economically feasible to add space in the building for bingo. These restrictions would have required a commercial kitchen, extra bathrooms, an elevator, another fire escape, and additional ADA (American Disability Act) requirements.
It would have been impossible for us to continue with bingo the last several years, if we had not had some loyal people who volunteered to help those Tuesday evenings. For a number of years, John Manning put out and brought in the bingo signs on Tuesdays. He often drove Teresa around in the Kenworth so she could remind visitors that it was a bingo night at the fire hall. When John retired from this job, Blackburn Warner started taking care of putting out and taking in the signs. He started working in the kitchen as a Junior Firefighter and continued through this season. Rarely a Tuesday night went by that Albert O’Neal and Dick Jacoby were not in the kitchen and Teresa O’Neal and Janey Jacoby were selling games. Supporting them were a myriad of volunteers – some who came once or twice and some who came on a regular basis. Sundae Horn and Mary Swain worked hard the last several years to get volunteers to work the floor checking winner sheets and selling specials. Dave Frum, BJ Swain, William Howard, Caiggy Roth, and Doreen Robinson have stepped forward as callers for several years. Janey and Dick came early and set up the fire hall and kitchen, while those who volunteered each night stayed to clean up and put away everything.
OFPA also wants to offer a special thanks to all of the businesses on Ocracoke who donated items for door prizes. We had things like gift certificates, CDs, t-shirts, pictures, and specialty items from shops. Players were thrilled to have their ticket number called for one of the special door prizes given away each night.
Finally, we would like to thank the community and visitors who came out for an evening of fun. With a limitation of seating of no more than 100 people, we have cleared about $9,000 a year. This has helped pay for new equipment and upkeep on our vehicles.
2013 Volunteers Who Worked the Floor and the Kitchen:
Cathy Barthelmas, Maddie Bishop, Vera Buxton, Adam Carter, Jacob Church, Leslie Espinosa, Lauren Fulcher, Taylor Fuller, Mark Ganoe, John Haddad, Cindy Hichens, Sundae Horn, Dick Jacoby, Janey Jacoby, Leslie Lanier, Connie Leinbach, Karen Lovejoy, Bill Monticone, Albert O’Neal, Mackenzie O’Neal, Teresa O’Neal, Caiggy Roth, Jenny Scarborough, Jo Ann Spencer, Tony Spencer, Mary Swain, Casey Tolson, Blackburn Warner, Kati Wharton, Deena Yeat
