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| OHCC LIVING | SEPTEMBER 2025 | 39 Bingo Bingo calling … What elderly gamers can teach us about aging well? Excerpts from an article by Carrie Ryan, Biosocial Medical Anthropologist, e Sociological Review, 1st August 2024. Carrie was doing six months of anthropological fieldwork at a retirement community in Los Angeles. Residents play bingo weekly. It is the most popular community event. During the first six months of my anthropological fieldwork, I found that bingo-playing residents attended with ritualistic devotion. Players scheduled important medical appointments and cherished family visits around the game and rarely, if ever, missed a session. Their devotion to bingo was evident not only in their regular attendance, but also in their engagement with the game. During other community activities, I watched residents fall asleep or leave in the middle to go to the bathroom. But, during bingo, players sat rapt with attention throughout the whole two hours, utterly engrossed in the game's uncertain chance. The point of playing bingo was not to win, but instead to enjoy the electric, rhythmic tension of the game, which intensified as players got closer to a win. Players identified good bingo play as the experience of total absorption and heightened emotions, including anticipation, excitement and fun Despite the prevalence of bingo play in old age communities worldwide, very little literature examines the role of bingo in late life. Bingo gets overlooked, despite its popularity, because it is often positioned as a silly and even dangerous game. Games of chance have long been belittled as frivolous and dangerous compared with games of skill, which are valued because they align more closely with our work ethic. However, I soon learned Bingo was often used to integrate newcomers into the community. Bingo facilitated communal fun, laughter, and joy, an achievement in the context of a retirement community, where integrating into a new community can be difficult and often overwhelming. Contemporary discourses suggest that a "good" old age is one that is productive, hard-working and disciplined, but we have found that older people prioritize and value play, as well as its pleasures, joy and fun. Play for them is a critical aspect of the "good life", one that needs defending now more than ever in an increasingly serious, work-obsessed world. Thank you to all our players and sponsors who faithfully make OHCC Bingo a glowing source of community spirit and engagement for all. ~ Adele Siesel – Bingo President For more information visit our Bingo website: https://ohccbingo.wixsite.com/ohcc-bingo The weather contributed to a wonderfully comfortable afternoon in the Lanai as the OHCC MahJongg Club held a very relaxed mini tournament. The Social Directors and their committee provided a comfortable and fun setting, a yummy lunch (with home-baked cookies) and the cutest table favors with which we used to record our scores. They wrapped up the afternoon with ice cream! Many thanks to Christi Abshier, Janeen Sheelen, Julie Pashkowsky, Cindy Smith and the rest of the volunteers. A total of eight games were played in two rounds. Awards were issued to the top three scorers in two divisions. Congratulations to the winners who left with more than they came with! Division S winners Division N winners Arlene Lawrence Mary Blackman Jacqueline Ettinger Phylis Lemberg Gail Rice Joann Bush A reminder: Any OHCC MahJongg Club member interested in serving as an officer in 2026, please send an email to Dorothy Miller at dottapper@cox.net. Dorothy has kindly agreed to serve as the Chair of the Nominating Committee again this year. The Nominating Committee will provide a slate of candidates interested in holding an office in 2026. Election of 2026 Officers will be held at the October meeting. Please consider volunteering in any capacity or plan to "shadow" an officer in 2026 with the intention of serving in 2027. MahJ On! Written by Dawn Edwards Mahjongg Club

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