Pop music crackles on the speakers, interrupted only by the sound of marbles shifting like ocean sand in a metal basket. Tense shoulders hunch over their bingo cards waiting for that one last slot. Instantly after the announcer makes the next call three winners stand up. Bingo!
On Sept. 20, the Student Activities department of Student Government put together the Freshman Grocery Bingo Night in honor of the newest members of UVU. Though anyone could attend, social chair Hilari Bloomfield and the other members of the activities department made efforts to reach out to students new to the university. “It’s a community builder activity,” said Bloomfield, “to show we are watching out for our freshmen.”
The Grocery Bingo took place at the Centre Stage in the Student Center, with round tables set up all around the room, and refreshments in back. On the stage, the student activities members set up a buffet style line of grocery bags filled with popular food staples such as breakfast cereal, Pop-Tarts, as well as paper towels and Otter Pops. “What’s better than free food?” said Cori Fox, Fine Arts chair of Student Activities.
The students received a five by five square Bingo tablet and a handshake with a smile. The evening events consisted of varied versions of the game Bingo, including standard (five squares in a row), X shapes, L patterns, and the applauded “black-out” style.
“It will let me spend money on more things,” said Chase Boyle, one of the freshmen who participated in the Bingo night.
The attendance, according to Bloomfield, was much larger than last school year’s. Before, only seven students had attended. This year had close to a dozen full tables.
While there were many winners, one student, Dinar Kunakaev, a foreign exchange student from Russia, won a total of three rounds. When asked, he said he liked UVU and its activities after transferring from Snow College.
Maggie Owens, assistant to vice president of Student Activities, said that they had planned Bingo Night since April and that an activity has been planned for every week this semester.
