Beat Cabin Fever with West End Rotary’s Bingo Event

You don’t need a weatherman to tell you it’s time to beat the winter doldrums by getting out of the house, but you may want a Coach—the iconic handbag maker, that is. This January the West End Rotary Club offers the perfect solution to cabin fever when it hosts its sixth annual Basket Bingo event with a glamorous new addition.

To its lineup of baskets by Longaberger and bags by Vera Bradley, the club is adding items by Coach, the company that helped create the accessible luxury market with classic, well-made handbags that now average nearly $300 apiece.    Also making its debut this year will be the 1996 Holiday Hostess Yuletide Treasures basket with protector, liner, lid and wrought-iron stand, also valued at nearly $300. It joins a group of new and retired Longaberger specialty collectables, many of which are difficult to find.

Scheduled for Sunday, January 26, West End Rotary’s Basket Bingo kicks off the non-profit’s fundraising season with a new selection of baskets, bags and accessories. Doors at the West End Fire Hall in Brodheadsville open at noon and the competition starts at 1 p.m. Lunch, desserts and beverages will be available throughout the afternoon. Admission is $25 and seating is limited.

The event will feature 20 regular games, four specials, a cover-all, raffle and consolation prizes, with some more than 30 items up for grabs. As in previous years, the club will fill all of the baskets with additional prizes. Gift certificates to area businesses will be distributed as door prizes.

Proceeds from the event will benefit the Valor Clinic Foundation and West End Missions. Brodheadsville-based Valor Clinic Foundation provides access to healthcare and shelter for nation’s veterans. West End Missions provides transitional housing, a soup kitchen and resources to displaced and low-income individuals and families.

West End Rotary has a history of helping those who help others. In previous years, the club has raised money for a fire-hazard monitor for the Jackson Township Volunteer Fire Co., ice rescue suits for Polk Township firefighters, a thermal imaging scanner upgrade for the Blue Ridge Hook & Ladder Co., signage for the Kunkletown Volunteer Fire Co. and a public address system for the Western Pocono Community Library.

Those who cannot attend the event but would like to help Rotary and the community can sponsor a basket in the name of their business or family by contacting any West End Rotarian.

Tickets may be purchased in advanced at Creature Comforts Veterinary Center in Saylorsburg, West End Happenings in Gilbert and First Northern Bank & Trust branches in Gilbert, Sciota, Stroudsburg and Tannersville. Tickets will also be sold at the door as long as seats remain.