Sea Island Life Magazine Spring/Summer 2013 | Page 28

traditions

rattle the sack

For more than 50 years
, gue s t s ha ve been pla ying bingo a t
out more than game
T he Cl ois ter a t S ea Island . But bingo night is ab
it’ s ab out familie s , tr adition and making memorie
s.
By am ber lanier na

gle

s—

j

ack Jenkins weaves through tables
filled with colorful cards, cocktails
and mocktails, and fierce competitors,
drawing an electric energy from the
crowd before making his way back to
the front of the ballroom. “Rattle the sack,
Jack! Shake the bag!” the crowd roars. The
illustrious Jenkins abides—shaking and
churning the purple bag before reaching in
and plucking out one of the 75 balls. With
all eyes glued on him, the 500 guests sit at
the edge of their seats waiting for Jenkins
to reveal the next number.
After what feels like an eternity, Jenkins
calls, “A couple of ducks! I-22!” On cue, the
audience erupts into a chorus of whimsical
quacks as guests scan their cards hoping to
find the number 22.
“Bingo night at The Cloister is a tradition
here—it’s part of life,” says Frankie Strother,
Sea Island’s director of membership and
activities. “We think that bingo night spun off
of early gaming activities some 50 years ago.
Back in the day, our guests participated in crab
races and other types of competitive games,
and at some point, these activities evolved into
more family-friendly nights of bingo.”
But the game has changed a little since its
early days at The Cloister.
Strother mentions a slight shift in bingo’s

Jack Jenkins, aka Billy Bingo

28 sea isl and life | spring/summer 2013

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3/18/13 2:25 PM