VENICE - Get your dabbers ready. On Dec. 14, avid bingo players, as well as those who want to experience an evening of fun, will find plenty to enjoy at the Old Time Christmas Bingo and Bake Sale at the Venice Heritage Park.
The doors of St. Anne’s Church on the park site open at 5 p.m., with the games getting underway at 6:30 p.m. The Venice community is located approximately 15 kilometres southwest of Lac La Biche.
Zach Bourassa, the secretary of the Venice-Hylo Heritage Historical and Preservation (HHP) Society, said the Christmas-themed bingo event will be similar to the Easter Bingo held at Venice Heritage Park this past spring, meaning that it will have a retro-style theme.
Those who play their numbers in the hopes of winning, he continued, will be doing so with vintage slider cards. There will also be an old manual bingo machine used during the games.
For players who aren’t skilled with the old-time slider cards, modern cards will also be on offer, although, according to Bourassa, folks must bring along their own dabbers if they plan to use those.
For the winners, there will be some truly great prizes up for grabs, including turkeys.
A food concession as well as an onsite bake sale will also be set up.
Ugly sweater
A Christmas-themed fun event just wouldn’t be the same without a contest to award the ugliest sweater in the room. Those who arrive at the church donning such attire, Bourassa says, are eligible to win prizes.
“This is to encourage people to get into the festive spirit and to have some fun,” he said. “Anyone who dresses in an ugly Christmas sweater or other Christmas attire will be entered in a draw to win a prize.”
The bingo night is one of many events hosted by the relatively new historical society.
Bourassa said 2024 was an eventful and busy year for the historical society, which organized the three-day centennial celebration marking 100 years since the first church was established on the site of the Venice Heritage Park. Therefore, he said, society members decided that it was more suitable to host a bingo this time around.
“Our events committee may decide to host another similar event to last year’s in the future if there is enough interest,” Bourassa said.
While St. Anne’s Church was closed as a parish by the Diocese of St. Paul in 2013, the building is still used for hosting various events ranging from the annual Venice Picnic to seasonal bingos and special masses.
According to Bourassa, these events are well supported by the community.
“All of our events have been very successful, we are very grateful to the community and our sponsors for the amazing support, and to our volunteers for making them all possible,” he stated.
