Waynesburg University

Video courtesy of WCTV, Lachlan Loudon

Every year, the Student Activities Board (SAB) hosts a Halloween-themed bingo night, meaning that students were invited to dress in costume to win special prizes. Those dressed up received special bingo cards that increased their chances of winning the big-ticket items.

The cast of characters in attendance consisted of Shaggy and Daphne from the Scooby Doo franchise, a shark, a Christmas tree, a slice of bacon, even basketball legend Tim Duncan and many others. One student even went as far to dress up as senior finance major and soccer player Jacob Nicholas.

The prizes up for grabs included bluetooth speakers, large fuzzy blankets, and a $50 check, among others. One of the winners of these prizes, senior finance major Robert Redinger, was thrilled to win a new blanket. Only Redinger didn’t show up to bingo, but rather Captain Jack Sparrow appeared in his place to claim the loot.

“Oh it was a great time,” Redinger said, in character. “Didn’t win any coin, but I got some socks and a brand new blanket.”

Socks were distributed to every lucky bingo player who had “B-6,” the first number called on the final cover-all. Associate dean of students Pat Bristor was calling bingo for the night and elected to make this decision in an attempt to lessen the surplus of socks available.

Bristor said during bingo that the socks were distributed to the people of Guatemala during the Guatemala mission trip that Bristor led in 2020.

Bingo night gave freshmen an opportunity to participate in a campus event. Josiah Gordon, freshman accounting major, has never played bingo before. This event was an opportunity for him to learn the ropes of the classic game.

“I messed up a few times, but I won a free pair of socks. So that’s really nice,” Gordon said. “I called bingo out like five times when I wasn’t supposed to, and everybody clowned me,” he joked.

Gordon frustrated a lot of bingo players as he accidentally called bingo prematurely during the cover-all events. As he misunderstood the rules, he was met with grumbles in the crowd. Despite this, Gordon seemed to have a pleasant experience with the characters that made an appearance.

“The people with me were very fun. I loved playing bingo with Jack Sparrow. I never thought I’d do that,” Gordon said.

To that, Redinger, in the voice of Sparrow, contrastingly replied that he was in it “because of the prizes, mate. What more is there to say?”