HOULTON, Maine — The Houlton Rotary Club will present its 10th annual Community Bingo Night at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, April 5, at St. Anthony’s Hall.
The Bingo Night event was started to serve as the major fundraiser for the club’s Youth Exchange Program which sends students to foreign countries on a cultural exchange for several weeks.
The Youth Exchange Program was established by the Houlton Club in 2003. The objective of the program is to advance the knowledge and world understanding of the participating students. In addition to local students traveling abroad, the program includes a reciprocal visit by a student from their host family.
More than 25 local students have benefitted from the youth exchange program since its inception and the club is committed to seeing the program continue. The Bingo Night fundraising event helps to ensure that.
Houlton Rotary’s Youth Exchange Officer, Dana Delano, states, “We have been fortunate to select students who have been wonderful ambassadors of the Rotary Club, our community and their schools. We witness a transformation in these students after they participate in the exchange program. They become more confident and the experience broadens their knowledge and interest in different cultures. They certainly make new lifelong friends.”
This year, the Houlton Rotary Club selected Alex Wilde and Emma Foster as their 2018 Youth Exchange students. Wilde is a junior at Houlton High School. He is the son of Traci Storti and Timothy Wilde of Houlton. Foster is the daughter of Chris and Tiffany Foster of Littleton and is a sophomore at Houlton High School. Both students are awaiting their exchange matches and where they will be visiting through the program. Wilde is hoping to go to Spain, while Foster’s first choice is the Netherlands. They should learn their destinations in the next few weeks.
For over 75 years, students and host families have broadened their horizons through the Rotary International Youth Exchange Program. More than 80 countries and over 8,000 students each year participate in the program, which is administered at the regional level by Rotary districts and at the local level by Rotary Clubs.
“The Houlton Rotary Club is proud to be able to provide these life-changing experiences to the youth of our area,” said Houlton Rotarian Tracy Rockwell, this year’s bingo chairperson. “We hope the public will come out to support Rotary’s Bingo Night to help fulfill the dreams of more local students.”
The doors will open for Community Bingo Night at 5:30 p.m. Early Bird games begin at 6:30 p.m. with regular games starting at 7 p.m. More than $1,700 in cash prizes will be given out during the evening which includes a $400 “Blackout” game and a “Winner Take All” game. Participants must be 16 or older to play. There also will be a chance to win a $50 Andy’s IGA Gift Card for those who bring an item for the Mildred Madigan Food Pantry. Further details on the event are available on the club’s website www.houltonrotary.org and on their Facebook page.
