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Senior Citizens Bingo Club draws residents to Vernon Hinely Center for fun, friendship
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Linda Conley, 73, retrieves a number from her Bingo cage during a July 9 game at the Vernon Hinely Center in Rincon. - photo by Mark Lastinger/staff

RINCON — Jennie Fail knew she was going to win. Clarence Wilson knew he was, too.

The July 9 game wasn’t rigged, though. It was designed to have multiple winners.

Fail, Wilson and up to a couple dozen more senior citizens play Bingo virtually every Monday at the City of Rincon’s Vernon Hinely Center at the corner of Hwy 21 and Ninth Street.

“We have a lot of fun,” said Linda Conley, who calls the numbers for the Senior Citizens Bingo Club. “People ought to come try it!”

The club, supported by the Rincon Recreation Department, is for players 50 and older. At 85, Fail is its most seasoned member.

“It’s a good outing,” the vivacious octogenarian said. “It gets you out of the house for two hours. I’m by myself and it gets awful lonesome during some of the week.”

Bingo games are far from the club’s lone attraction. There are prizes, delicious food and a deep sense of camaraderie.

“Playing Bingo is fun and the players are like a family — like a church family,” said Fail, who shared a warm tray of buns filled with bratwurst.

Wilson, 78, is another club veteran.

“I don’t bring any food because I don’t cook,” he joked, “but I’m going to eat now!”

Wilson is frequently joined at the games by his sister, a Bulloch County resident.

“I love it,” he said. “Everything about it is good to me. I’m trying to get more people to come.”

See the July 18 edition of the Effingham Herald for more details.