Fire Hall Bingo is Making a Comeback

Customers began vanishing from weekly Bingo night not long after new state laws prohibited people from smoking inside.

Things got even worse when the new casinos opened a few years ago and started siphoning would-be gamblers who would rather pull a slots lever than mark their Bingo cards.

Heidelberg fire Chief Joe Wissel Jr. said they were having such “significant issues” with attendance that the tiny borough’s fire department shut down Bingo in March to regroup and decide if it should be restarted.

“We were losing a lot of money, but we decided to reformat it,” Wissel said. “We thought maybe if we give more money away that hopefully we would develop a better crowd.

“And it worked.”

Now the fire hall is regularly packed with 100 people for its that begin at 7 p.m. The doors open at 5:30 p.m.

Wissel said they’ve added periodic Super Jug games and Mystery Numbers to reinvigorate Bingo night. Next week, the fire department is having an ice cream social in which all customers will receive an ice cream sundae with admission.

Fire hall Bingo events are a major way for departments to fund new equipment and training.

The situation wasn’t quite as dire at , but there were still a few lumps from the no smoking law and new casinos. Chief Bill Chilleo said they responded by scheduling “smoking breaks” and saw many other customers come back after the novelty of the slot machines wore off.

“We listened to what the players want,” Chilleo said. “We try to accommodate them as much as we can to make them happy.”

Their weekly Bingo event begins at 6:45 p.m. each Monday (the doors open at 5 p.m.). Chilleo said they usually average 100 people, and have a $1,000 jackpot that never changes even if there is low attendance.

“They know it and they’re all happy with it,” Chilleo said. “We just listened to them.”