LYNN — The Knights of Columbus hosted bingo on Thursday night for the first time since March 3, 2020, with limited capacity and required face masks.
The upstairs hall held 80 players and some volunteers, all abiding by the state guidelines which allow for 100 people indoors. The downstairs hall held about 32 people. Prior to COVID-19, bingo night would typically host about 200 people.
Bingo manager and former Grand Knight Mike Phelps said Knights of Columbus is the only bingo hall left in Lynn, so he was really excited to bring it back.
To ensure safety and adherence to COVID-19 recommendations, everyone has to answer questions about symptoms and exposure to the virus upon entering the hall, and must give their name and phone number for COVID-19 tracing purposes. Players are separated by six feet, unless they are sitting with immediate family members, and are required to remain in their seats.
Phelps said bingo was one of the first things to close down in the pandemic because of the average age of participants.
On the bright side, Phelps said that means everyone he spoke to on Thursday night was fully vaccinated, because their age group was the first eligible.
One of the fully-vaccinated bingo volunteers Fran Lynch, who is 101 years old, has been a volunteer for about 30 years and is in charge of selling the playing cards. Lynch said he is excited to be back, and knows that this is something a lot of people have been looking forward to.
“I’ve been waiting for over a year to come back. Everyone is excited. People were practically knocking the doors down to get in,” Lynch said. “I think this is great. I look forward to this.”
While a line formed outside around 4:30 p.m., Phelps said the volunteers made some adjustments indoors to avoid close contact.
Food is usually sold up at a counter but on Thursday David Solimine Jr. was seen walking around with a cart of drinks and snacks to deliver to people at the tables. Phelps said people are only allowed to remove their masks when taking a drink or having a snack. Playing cards, which are also usually sold up at the counter, were distributed by the volunteers so people could remain in their seats.
With all of these new precautions in place, longtime bingo player Blanche Benham said she is happy to be able to see some familiar faces in person again.
“It’s wonderful and great to have people back and see all your friends again,” Benham said. “I love this event. It’s very good how they did the tables and everything. Nobody is too close, so I feel very safe here.”
Phelps said there are people who have been coming to bingo for 30 to 40 years, so there was a lot of anticipation for the event’s return. While many regulars made it back for their Thursday night tradition, Phelps said 15 consistent bingo players died from COVID-19 within the last year, so he held a moment of silence at the start of the night to honor and remember those individuals.
Phelps said it was an emotional night as participants remembered how the pandemic took away so many lives, including some beloved Knights of Columbus members.
Grand Knight Matt Harrington said bingo returning is momentous, because while there has been so much loss in the last year, there has been a lot of loneliness and isolation.
“Not getting out and being able to see people is tough,” Harrington said. “To have some sort of interaction again is good for your mental health.”
Harrington said another positive aspect of bingo returning is the fact that the event is charitable, and the Knights can now start donating proceeds to organizations in Lynn again. Since there have been no events in the past year, Harrington said they are excited to be able to bring in money for My Brother’s Table, local Catholic parishes, Family & Children Services of Lynn and other local charities.
Returning to some type of normalcy may be unfamiliar at first, especially for bingo announcer Tito Cabrera, who said he had to rehearse calling out the numbers since it had been so long since he did it last.
Cabrera, who is a district deputy at Knights of Columbus, said he came to the hall a couple of nights ago with his fiancee in order to get accustomed to his role of announcing the game again.
“I’m the guy that everyone pays attention to all night,” Cabrera said. “I’m really happy to be back, but a little nervous since it has been so long.”
Cabrera said the Knights have put lots of work into the bingo program, so it was sad to have to put it on pause for over a year.
“It’s been like a void to people, missing out on bingo,” he said. “It’s emotional coming back. It’s so hard not to be able to get close to people and hug them, but we are all happy we can do this again.”
The doors open for bingo at the Knights of Columbus at 177 Lynnfield St. every Thursday at 4:30 p.m. and the games begin around 6 p.m. Seats are on a first-come, first-served basis and game sheets range from $19 for a package of nine to $64 for a package of 36.