Bingo! It’s back in Boutte.
The Luling-Boutte Lions Club will host the grand opening of its new bingo hall at 13117 Highway 90 on Friday, Nov. 22. Doors open at 5 p.m. Bingo starts at 7 p.m.
Phyllis Breaux, the Luling-Boutte Lions Club president, said she recommends people arrive early to the grand opening. The new location has space for about 225 people.
“I think it’s going to be a full house,” she said. “Hopefully we don’t have to turn anybody away.”
Breaux said the response from the parish community has been great.
“We’re getting a lot of good feedback,” she said. “People have stopped us at Wal-Mart like ‘hey, we heard y’all are coming back and we can’t wait to go!’”
Breaux said the club will give away an assortment of prizes, including candles, George Forman grills, and other donated items, at the grand opening. Concessions will include red beans and rice, hot dogs and chili, nachos and cheese, chips, candy and drinks. Smoking and vaping are not allowed in the bingo hall, Breaux said.
A $10 buy can be paid in cash at the door. Checks or credit cards are not accepted. Bingo players can win up to $300. The bonanza prize is $700, and the blackout prize is $1,000.
The club originally planned a grand opening for the first week of November, but there were some delays in the renovations, Breaux said.
“The facility is brand new,” she said. “We gutted everything.”
All proceeds from the bingo hall go toward community service organizations, like the Destrehan/Hahnville scholarship funds, the Louisiana Diabetes Association, the Louisiana Lions Eye Foundation, Louisiana Lions Children Camp, Catholic Charities, and local food banks, Breaux said.
She said the club is excited to give back to the parish.
“All of our money is non-profit,” she said. “We donate our money to our people in our parish.”
The Luling-Boutte Lions Club and another chapter of the international service organization, the New Orleans Filipino American Lions, are opening the Boutte bingo hall. The New Orleans Filipino American Lions will host their grand opening at the hall on Saturday, Nov. 23.
For 20 years, the Luling-Boutte Lions Club hosted its bingo games at the St. Charles Room Bingo Hall in Boutte. When the building was sold to the United Way of St. Charles in 2020, the club relocated to VFW Hall in Luling. Games were put on hold when the COVID-19 pandemic hit, and the club moved its games to Houma in 2021.
Breaux said club members felt they needed to move back to the parish to better serve the community.
“We do a lot of giving all year long,” Breaux said. “We enjoy helping the community any kind of way we can.”
Lions Club International is the world’s largest service club organization, with 1.4 million members across the globe. It seeks to strengthen communities and support those in need, according to its website.
