Travel bingo brings big prizes

The Student Events Team put on a Bingo event Thursday for students to learn some facts about the great cities of Minnesota. 

There were eight rounds of Bingo, all with a different city associated with it. Before each round, facts were given about a different city and the different prizes for the round. The boards were all online, and students could access them at the event with a link provided at the event. There was music played as well by different Minnesota artists. 

This game was Vice President of the SET, Atlas James. It was to get people more insight into Minnesota cities they might not have known. 

”I reached out to a couple cities, but these are cities that might be personal to people on the board. I chose Stillwater, Minnesota, because I lived there before coming to college. St. Cloud was chosen because our advisor, Bill Tourville, actually went to school there,” said James. “Four cities donated prizes locally to us from different areas, and each city might have donated something different. We had a $200 day trip to Faribault sponsored from Faribault themselves. It includes restaurants. You can take that $200 and go to restaurants or go to local eateries; it covers a lot.” 

Many students filled the Ostrander Auditorium, eager to play Bingo and win some prizes. One student, Adren Schotzko, is from Wisconsin and had never been to Bingo before. 

“The facts about Faribault were cool because I have a friend on my floor who lives there, so it’s nice to learn some of the facts about it. It was also interesting that it was Minnesota-themed,” said Schotzko. 

Sara Kolp learned some interesting facts that she had never known before or realized. She also said she had fun at the event and would go again. 

“I enjoy hearing the music, getting people excited about it. I didn’t realize that the SPAM Museum was in Minnesota. So that was kind of fun,” said Kolp. “And hearing about the different towns, I mean, I haven’t even gotten to a lot of Northern ones. I enjoyed the atmosphere, and it’s fun, and the chance of winning free stuff is pretty great.” 

There was a Zoom option for people as well as in person. During COVID-19, Zoom played a big role in how the SET did their events, and they saw the impact of it and wanted to continue it for future events. 

“This is one of our events that has an online capability during the year so that we can have students zoom in through mnsuevents.com. All of the cards were generated completely online, so anyone could play from any point,” said James.

Write to Lauren Viska at lauren.viska@mnsu.edu

Header Photo: Travel MN Bingo presented ten rounds of bingo featuring cool prizes and the amazing drivable destinations in Minnesota. (Dalton Grubb/The Reporter)