by Ashley Attanucci
Staff Writer

A long running tradition, Cheerleader Bingo Night was back at CHS on Friday, October 2nd. From 6- 9:30 p.m., grandparents, parents and students filled the cafeteria to test their luck.

Bingo Night is a way for cheerleaders to raise money for its booster club and to help pay for the girls to attend competitions.

Cheerleader Bingo was a night of fun for all ages, offering bingo, raffles, i Fratelli pizza and drinks and a chance to bond with family and friends.
Starting weeks before Bingo Night, cheerleaders were busy selling raffle tickets and T-shirts.

“[It] took a lot of effort from the girls to sell the bingo cards,” varsity cheer coach Brynlea Taylor said.

Cheer moms got involved, too, and could be seen in the commons after school Friday setting up tables and raffle prizes.

Each CHS cheerleader was assigned a duty for the night, be it greeting, serving or cleaning up. A total of 10 games were played for 10 cash prizes.

Principal Brad Hunt called out the numbers from the stage while players hurried to fill their cards. Keely Leonard, varsity spirit officer, helped Hunt call out the bingo numbers, her favorite part of the evening.

Bingo patterns included the traditional one-row, and the cheerleaders spiced the bingo up asking for letters “C,” “H,” and “S” to win.

Each bingo card was sold at a cost of $15 and included three boards per each of the 10 rounds, giving players 30 chances to win. Most attendees played with only one $15 card, but one man was seen keeping up with six cards at a time.

As the night went on, the stakes grew higher.
Players had the chance to win $200.00.

“The last two games were most intense because there was more money on the line,” varsity cheerleader Abby Drake said. “It was fun to watch,” Drake said.

Once somebody called “bingo!” a groan would sweep over the bingo-crazed crowd.

Each game of bingo took about 15 minutes, but the blackout game was the longest. The blackout, the last game of the night, was also the most intense.

“Once it got down to like 2 or 3 numbers until somebody was to win,[the players] were screaming out numbers they wanted me to call,” Leonard said.

Between games of bingo, each of the three cheer squads (freshman, junior varsity, and varsity) introduced themselves to the crowd and performed a short cheer. Raffles were also held for prizes during this time, including a 1-week trip to Mexico, a Juicy Couture basket, an iPod touch and gift cards.

There was a wide range of raffle prize winners, including CHS students.

“Mostly parents racked ‘em up,” Taylor said

Taylor said the best part of the night was “seeing the community, students and family come together to have good quality time.”

The cash amount raised from this annual event has not yet been calculated, but over 600 bingo cards were sold.