Bingo Beats the Winter Blues

On Tuesday January 7, we gathered at the Piqua YMCA Senior Activity Center for our first Muster & Mingle of 2025. We had planned to hear from Cheyanne with Brookdale Senior Living about how to utilize the Aid & Attendance benefit, but she got stuck in the snow. So we did what we do best, and pivoted to an activity that is always a hit. BINGO!

Dinner was mini meatloaves, green beans, and macaroni and cheese thanks to our partners at Romer’s Catering. They had them leftover from an event, and we were happy to feed our veteran crowd with their delicious cooking.

After dinner, we did our announcements and heard from a special guest, Kyle Kuta with Miami County Veterans Services. He introduced himself to those who hadn’t met him before and talked about their upcoming events; from Vet Talk at VFW post 4874 in Piqua to the Vet Fest they are planning at the Miami County Fairgrounds in October. He teased an upcoming announcement on their entertainment roster, and told everyone to keep an eye on their Facebook page.

After Kyle spoke, we had a special presentation. Skylar, who works the check in desk at the Activity Center, brought in some memory items from her grandpa, who was in the Navy during the 1960s. She brought his book from basic training, a photo of the ship he was on, and his Shellback certificate. Sailors earn the Shellback certificate by crossing the Equator. She never had the chance to talk to her grandpa about his military service, so we were really happy to connect her with veterans who had shared duty stations, ships, and experiences with her grandpa. She said it helped him to come alive in a new way to her!

After that, we rolled out the Bingo cart and the games began! We played several rounds of Bingo, with the winners choosing prizes from our stash of swag. We had a great night, and are looking forward to our next event. For a list of upcoming events, check out our Upcoming Events page.