Thursday, February 22nd: Walking Into the Rock Bar and Grill I was met immediately by buzzing energy. The scene was certainly alive, with busy wait staff moving deftly in between tables and eager bingo players anticipating an exciting night. I had arrived 10 minutes early, and waited in a side room for events to kick off. Looking outside, I had a beautiful view of the Rock River at night, with lights simmering serenely across the water. Some geese strolled by on the pavement. As soon as the cluck struck 7:00 pm, the game master announced the beginning of the night, and just like that, bingo kicked off. Each player had a small book of nine bingo sheets, each color coded to a specific match, as well as a big colorful ink blotter to press on the sheets, the color of which you were advised to pick carefully, finding one that “feels lucky”.
The Game master quickly went over the rules of the game. She also noted that if you call bingo without having a bingo upon further examination, you must walk back to your seat doing the chicken dance. The first game went without incident. The excitement was palpable with each new ball being called. Some numbers were met with uproarious applause while others were met with a quiet apprehension. Like a surface, the tension broke when an excited “BINGO!” cut through the room. The second game went a similar direction. Throughout these matches, I noticed a couple idiosyncrasies, such as a reverberating “AYE AYE CAPTAIN” after two “I” section numbers were called, and a call and response type joke; when “B4” was called, the crowd would respond “Before what?” After the third game, Greg Girard, executive director of BIFF took the stage and conducted a raffle, also announcing the BIFF 2024 Reveal Party, taking place at the Beloit Hampton Inn on March 14th. Girard spoke in length about the benefits of BIFF, the growing community of artists, and the most “aggressively friendly audience” located right here in Beloit, Wisconsin.
The next few games followed the same patterns. The energy never stopped. Anytime anyone was close to getting bingo, a hush fell over the room until finally, with great excitement, a winner was announced. There was even a moment of beatboxing that took me by complete surprise. By the end of the night, each table had a stack of stamped bingo cards strewn across their table and a smile.
After the night was over and people began to pack their things and pay the bills, I approached the ringleader himself, Greg Girard, and asked him one simple question; “How do you feel about the event tonight?” In two words, he responded “really good” with a grin. He spoke more about the utility of the event, bringing the message and mission of BIFF to people who may have never even heard of it and having fun at the same time. He told of the growing BIFF community, and how important that community is to holding things together. He stresses the importance of a program like BIFF , saying “Sometimes people forget about the importance of the arts. The arts teach us values of life, and the power of film changes lives.” Its precisely this power that has kept BIFF together for what’s been close to twenty years. Next, I moved to interview someone who had gotten in at the ground floor, Sherry Blakely, whose love of film and the visual arts has kept her close to BIFF. “My husband is a visual artist, so I’ve always kept an eye on the arts.”
It’s with the help and contributions from this wonderfully kind and hardworking community that BIFF has enjoyed its long and industrious history. And with the way things are looking after this smash hit bingo event, they will continue for much longer.
