2003Year-end Wrap Up

Bingo Blowout!

Hard to believe but it had actually been a year and a half since Bill Foundation had joined up with Legendary Bingo for a crazy night of fun. We wanted our comeback to be extra special so we pulled out all the stops and made it a true bingo blowout. The biggest change was location. Our beloved Du'Pars had been torn down and replaced with a bank so Bill Foundation followed Belle Aire and the crew over to their new location, Hamburger Mary's in West Hollywood. Quite a change from the quiet old world atmosphere of Du'Pars. We found ourselves in a trendy upscale hamburger palace on a busy street with an open fourth wall for the patio crowd.

But location change wasn't all that was new. Though space was limited due to the large attendance, we actually had two guest ball callers. For the first half of the evening our guest caller was popular character actor, Johnny Sneed. You may know him from his stint on "The Guardian" and from his current national car commercial for Nissan. He has also made several guest appearances on "Friends", "Will and Grace" and "Miss Match". He seemed to enjoy playing off of Belle Aire who was in top form that evening. Thanks, Johnny for an evening of fun and laughs.

The evening kicked off with the traditional (and hilarious) sticker luck game. It's always fun to watch everyone search the restaurant for their sticker. The five finalists received DVD's and the winner a wonderful teracotta tea basket.

It was beautiful weather, yet there was a full house as everyone was anxious to see the new venue and what surprises Bill Foundation had for the winners. The SRO crowd settled down to start the evening's competition as Johnny called the first ball.

Everyone seemed to agree that the new location was a hit. The food was terrific and there was also a full bar. Parking was near by and the service was fast and friendly.

In-between the usual games there were auctions for some fabulous baskets. The highest bid went to the Disney Basket which contained over 30 DVD's of popular animated & live action movies, Mickey Mouse figurines and a Disney Studios satin jacket. Right behind that was the DreamWorks basket which not only contained DVD's but clothing and plush toys. Thanks so much to both studios for supporting Bill Foundation.

There were also liquor and champagne baskets and the ever-popular biscuit guess game which raised an additional $100. The prize – a dog bed full of wine, champagne and vodka! Josh, also known as the Bishop of Bingo, won the basket by 1 biscuit. Way to go BOB. There were several other auctions but the piece de resistance was a day on the set of the hit TV show "Las Vegas". The eventual winner wanted to continue bidding so badly she put it on her credit card rather than lose the prize!

At half time the Empress of Bingo, Patrika Darbo, took over for Johnny Sneed (who had an early call the next day). She had been selling biscuit guess tickets earlier in the evening (and broke the record by a 40% increase in sales – The Donald would be proud).

It was also an evening of double-trouble as we had several tie-breaking games and even one "paddling" (although the guilty lad took his punishment like a man).