Friday night bingo is back in Chemainus after being paused for the summer due to lack of volunteers. The Royal Canadian Legion Branch 191 kicked things off in style with a special guest caller who’s no stranger to a mic or a crowd.
Local realtor and community fixture Michael Pickard took to the mic for opening night, stepping up to the familiar stage where his father, David Pickard, called bingo for more than 30 years.
“He had a rhythm and I just pray to God that he comes to me today in some way,” said Pickard. “Where he doesn’t have to, like, roll over or something!”
Pickard, known for his energy, humour and performing roots, admitted to being nervous before the first game.
“People are paying money to play,” he said. “So you’ve got to make sure that, as much fun as we try to make it, the mission is accomplished professionally.”
Pickard’s connection to bingo runs deep. As a teen, he worked the floor as a runner, fetching cards and checking winners. He remembers walking away with $80 in tips each week, earned by wading through thick cigarette smoke to fetch snacks for players. Now, decades later, the smoke is gone but some of those same players were back.
“I know a few familiar faces from that time 30 years ago,” Pickard said with a laugh. “They’re in the same chairs! There’s a lady out there with charcuterie, somebody else got takeout, two ladies have brought their best pastries for each other.”
Pickard didn’t just bring his voice to the event, he brought his sense of fun, complete with his “lucky shirt” covered in numbers.
Although opening night saw a smaller crowd than usual, longtime players say that won’t last long. According to Cheryl Bourcier, the game gets so popular that players line up before the doors open at 4 p.m. just to get a seat.
“And you can’t save seats,” she said firmly.
Bourcier is a bingo veteran, complete with her own custom bingo bag made by her niece. It holds a dozen daubers and a row of good-luck charms to lay out in front of her cards.
“A few of them I’ve bought myself, and a few I inherited,” she said of the charms.
This too brought back memories for Pickard.
“My mom had those little trolls with the weird hair,” he said, chuckling at the memory. “For some games they had to face away and for some they had to face to you.”
The tradition of Friday night bingo was paused earlier this year due to a lack of volunteers, said Legion treasurer Janet Mitchell.
“We had to close for the summer because we didn’t have enough volunteers,” she said.
Mitchell, who has been working bingo since 1999, said the technology has changed, but the joys of bingo remain the same.
"You just forget about everything except bingo," she said. "It's really calming."
She was happy to see Pickard at the caller’s desk.
“He’s a bit nervous, but he shouldn’t be,” she said. “Once he starts, and his other personality comes out, he’ll be fine.”
Mitchell has been playing bingo since she was 14.
“I went because it was fun when I was younger. When I got older, bingo was a place to just zone out and forget all my troubles,” said Mitchell, who worked in accounting for years. “It was great to bang on those numbers instead of count them!”
Bingo is regulated under B.C. gaming rules, and proceeds go right back into the community. Of each night’s sales, 50 per cent goes to prizes, 25 per cent to charity and the remaining 25 per cent covers expenses.
In 2024 alone, the Chemainus Legion gave out $41,000 in bingo prizes. Over the past five years, Mitchell estimates the Legion has donated $300,000 through bingo, meat draws and their annual poppy campaign.
To receive funding, groups must be an association or registered society. Groups interested in applying can contact the Legion for more information.
As for Pickard, he’s game to return.
“We all owe our hands to our community at some point,” he said. “This just makes it really relaxed and easy for me, on a Friday night, to sit on stage, yap out a few numbers, make people laugh a little bit, hopefully, and fill their pockets with a little bit of extra money. I love it.”
