The Lucky Dollar Bingo Palace on Highway 16 West, with electronic equipment and a seating capacity of more
than 300, has attracted the charitable gaming activities of many local service clubs and other organizations. Some
representatives of those groups, however, have expressed reservations about the private-enterprise aspect of the
operation, |

‘Bingo hall success

| __ accepted but leaves

~ gome groups critical

TERRACE — Community ac-
ceptance for the Lucky Dollar

- Bingo Palace seems to be grow-

ing, but many groups who once
ran their own bingos are still
unhappy. Terrace Minor
Hockey Association Bingo
Coordinator, Carol Mayer says,
**I would like to see bingo halls
out of the province. I have
nothing against these guys (the
operators of the local bingo
palace), they’ve been very
helpful, but I still feel the same
way. I honestly don’t think that
when it comes to charity there is
room for private enterprise.”’

by Tod Strachan

Mayer stressed the fact that

this is her own personal opinion
and wasn’t shared by everyone
in minor hockey, but she said
personal feelings had to set aside
‘for the betterment of the
kids’’.
’ **That’s the first and main in-
terest that has to be looked out
for,” explained Mayer. ‘‘So the
personal feelings of whomever
had to be set aside to continue
fundraising for the kids. The
Terrace Minor Hockey Associa-
tion has an annual ice debt of
$40,000.”

Mayer said that they aren’t
losing money - they are making
about the same as when they ran
their own bingos - but her main
objection to private enterprise
being ‘involved in charitable
fund raising is that even though
they are not making more
money on bingo, more money is
being spent by the community,
and that is money that was going
to the Bingo Palace operators.
Mayer said she feels that money
should be going to charity.

According to Mayer, it used
to cost about $20 to play 20

regular games. and 3 special

games at club-run bingos, but

_now, at the Lucky Dollar, it cost

$40 to $50 for 18 garnes and 9
special games - and the prizes are
still the same, $30 to $500. |
‘‘There’s a difference between
non-profit and commercial
halls,’* explained Mayer. ‘‘Non-
profit halls work for the com-
munity as a whole, but commer-
cial is a private enterprise. And
from that you should be able to
determine for yourself that there

is money being taken away for
that private enterprise.”

The Lucky Dollar Bingo
Palace was criticized by most
local charitable organizations
when it opened last fall, but city
council said the operation was

‘legal and there was nothing they

could do. Since that time, most
have discontinued their own
bingo operations and moved to
the Lucky Dollar,

“The Kinsmen Club of Ter-
race, who have made major con-
tributions (through the use of
bingo revenues) for the con-
struction’ of the library, arena,
swimming complex, Lower Lit-

-tle Park, and many other wor-

thwhile projects, may now find
itself unable to contribute to the
extent it has been able to in the
past.’’ Kinsmen spokesman Dar-
ryl Walker told council last fall.

He said that since then they
had discontinued their operation
due to low attendance and had

_lost that revenue entirely. He ex-

plained that they hadn’t joined
others in the move to the Lucky
Dollar due to their interpreta-
tion of a club regulation which
states in part that no club can
raise money, ‘‘By means of pro-
fessional ticket sellers, or by
other persons or corporations
whose primary income is derived
from fundraising schemes.’”

We're still waiting to hear
from our national office on how
they interpret it,’? said Walker.
‘“‘There’s tremendous dollars to
be made in a bingo palace and
we would sure love to be able to
put that to some good use.’” But
he added, ‘‘Unless we can
operate at a lower cost, like you
would be in a community hall,
we just don’t see that it’s
viable.”

Alan McGowan, representing —

B.P.O. Elks Lodge 425 in Ter-
race, said, ‘‘We are not holding
a bingo, and because of that
we’re having to cut back on a lot
of the gifts that we’ve given
around town to different
organizations. We're looking
around for alternative methods
of making money, but right now
we can’t see very much. We had
bingo for so many years that it’s
hard to get straightened around
to something else.”’

Regarding the Lucky Dollar,
McGowan said, “It’s a free

enterprise system, and apparent-
ly they have met all the criteria,
so they’re still operating.’’

He said that in the past the
Elks had supported many com-
munity projects which included
Mills Memorial Hospital, the
Child Development Centre,
minor hockey, minor baseball
and the Salvation Army, as well
as financial aid for medical
treatment in Vancouver and
ongoing commitments for their
Annual Kiddies Day and the
Elks Agar Ave. Playground and
Ball Diamond.

According to Knights of Col- -

umbus spokesman Alex Leves-
que, the K of C_ had discon-
tinued their own bingo and his
group is considering the alter-
native of running bingos in the
Lucky Dollar, but a decision had
not yet been made.

He said that as a consequence
of cancelling their own opera-
tion, ‘‘We had to cancel so many
little things that we were doing
for the community.”

He said the Knights of Colum-
bus support a number of
organizations in Terrace in-
cluding the Pacific Northwest
Music Festival, Pro-Life, Bir-
thright, B.C. Youth Parliament,
Veritas School, the Terrace
Food Bank and the Child
Development Centre.

The Lucky Dollar Bingo
Palace operates seven days a
week, can seat up to 376 players
and offers a central location
with ample parking as well as an
air circulation system, TV
monitors and electronic calling
boards.

Carol Mayer said the Lucky
Dollar is ‘‘operating completely
by the book’? and she has
nothing against the operators.

She said club-run bingos used
to give out 60 percent of their in-
come in prizes, but there is no
rule stipulating percentage.
‘You can give out thirty percent
if you want to.’’ And this, ac-
cording to Mayer, is the ‘‘loop-
hole’’ allowing commercial
operations to make a profit.

Mayer said commercial bingo
halls are a fact of life, and
charitable organizations will
have to cooperate and accept
them until the provincial govern-
ment changes the legislation
governing bingo operations. -

Terrace Review — Wednesday, January 20, 1988 17

TERRACE — City Recreation
Director Steve Scott says he has
been acting as an advisor to a
group calling themselves the
“Community Centre Group’’,
who will soon be doing a survey
to determine the ‘‘interest and
need’? of the community to
build a Community Recreation
Centre.

Scott emphasized that it is not
a city project and he is only ac-
ting as an advisor to the group.
‘*There’s a group of people in
town that are interested in
developing a community centre,
and they wanted to know how to
go about it,’’ he explained.

He said the group is going to
advise the city and the regional
district of their existence and
will be doing a public survey
within the next two months to
find out the need and interest in
the project.

“One of the things they want
to do in the survey is not only
determine if people are in-

~Community center
' survey launched

terested in it, but what would
people be interested in seeing in

a community centre,”’ he said.

“They’re not coming up with
any preconceived conceptions of
what should be in it, and they
will be asking that question as
part of the survey.”

“If they get a good affir-
mative response, they will then
pursue discussing how they can
go about building a community
centre for Terrace and area.

“*] think they’re going about it
in a good sensible manner,’’ said
Scott. ‘‘Rather than coming out
without any sort of data and any
sort of indications, they’re say-
ing, ‘We think we need it. What
do you think?’. It gives the
public a chance to say ‘yes’, and
then-they can go ahead.”

Police report

On January 15 a Terrace
woman was stopped for a
routine check and charged by
RCMP with impaired driving.

More funds for schools

TERRACE — The B.C. Minis-
try of Education is sending
School District 88 an additional
$286,443 because enrolment in
local schools is higher than the
ministry estimated last year.
Before schools opened in
September 1987 the ministry
forecast a district wide enrol-
ment of 4,948.5 fuil-time equi-

valent students and notified the

district of its budget based on
that figure. The final count
presented at the Oct. 13 board
meeting was 5,090 pupils, Noti-
fication of the grant change
came at the board’s most recent
meeting Jan. 12.

The amount noted is the net
figure left after $59,849 was

deducted from the Program 3,35
funding, which provides for
special needs children from out-
side the district who attend
School District 88 schools.
Director of Special Services An-
drew Scruton said the district
lost one Program 3.35 student
from both Kitimat and Aiyansh
this year.

Scruton noted that the high
dollar figure represents both the
cost of education and the cost of
boarding the out-of-district
students in Terrace.

Secretary-Treasurer Barry
Piersdorff advised the board
that the grant money will repre-
sent a surplus at the end of the
budget year. -

Gy sriee

mgs

Kinsmen Club of Terrace >

megs VALENTINE’S DAY

Continental Coiffures
Terrace Totem Ford

PRIZES INCLUDE:
* Hair appointment -

* Corsage

* Champagne tour to dinner

drinks and wine

TICKETS AVAILALE AT

in the afternoon of "Continental Colffures” ;
end boutonniere - supplied by "Central Flowers”
* Chauffeur driven limosine - courtesy of “Totem Ford”

* Dinner at Manuel's - Sauteed prawns $+. Jovian, Caesar salad,
Chateou Briand "Bouquettier", Dessert of Choice, Pre-dinner

* Lava suite at the Desiderata - Champogne and fresh Howers
* Continental brunch - served in the suite the next morning
L Prize only as advertised/Must be token February 13, 1968 y

Central Flowers & Gifts
Any Kinsmen Member