PHILIPSBURG:--- The general public of St. Maarten came out in large numbers to play and win prizes for the Christmas Season. "It seems that postponing this year's Lions Annual Christmas Bingo Spectacular from December 7th to 21st due to inclement weather was for the better," said Lion Past District Governor Lion Wally Havertong.
If one would go by the total number of 2000 chairs put out by the Lions which were all occupied and with some persons sitting on the various concrete benches it can easily be said that a record number of over 2000 persons played Bingo with the Lions this year.
Changing the venue using the Festival Village for the first time also proved to be a necessity and quite an improvement. And most of all the skies were blue and the rain stayed away for practically the entire night with only a brief rain which did not disturb the bingo players.
This year the Lions increased the number of overloaded baskets from 35 to 50 baskets with 40 consolation baskets containing a ham each. Airline tickets were donated by Winair to St. Kitts, Tortola, The Dominican Republic, and anywhere Winair flies. Tickets were also donated by Insel Air to the The Dominican Republic and a return ticket on Air France to anywhere in Europe also added to the excitement among the Bingo players. The main prize of Santa's Bag which was $1000 cash was won by local school teacher Miranda Richardson who of course was overwhelmed with her win.
The persons attending this year's bingo were satisfied with the new venue and the way the bingo games went. One obstacle which was an oversight by the Lions was insufficient lighting underneath the tents. This definitely will be looked at next year and the Lions apologize for that oversight and will look at ways of improving the bingo for next year.
The Lions would like to express their thanks to the various businesses, companies, airlines and individuals who made donations to make this year's Lions Bingo once again the success it turned out to be. The club would also like to thank the 2000 plus bingo players who played bingo and also contributed to this great success.
Lion President Claudio Buncamper said, "The St, Maarten Lions Club will now be able to finance several projects which they have in store to be carried out starting at the beginning of 2014. The club would also like to wish the community of Sint Maarten a Blessed, Prosperous and Healthy 2014," concluded Lion President Claudio Buncamper.