Sandy Lions Club Hosting Bunco Fundraiser March 14 at Oral Hull Park to Support Sight and Hearing Services

The Sandy Lions Club will host an afternoon of bunco on Saturday, March 14th, from 1:00 to 4:00 at the Rainbow Lodge in the Oral Hull Park located at 43233 SE Oral Hull Road. All proceeds are going to serve Sandy residents with sight and hearing concerns. This will be the first Lions-sponsored bunco event.

Sandy Lion’s Club President Tawni Copher also doubles as Operations Manager at the Hull Foundation and Learning Center. Scheduling a charitable event at the park is the easy part for Copher. She is always looking for ways to promote the park. Combining her professional and personal interests might seem a bit self-serving, but that would only be partially correct. In her view, there is only “serving,” and Copher loves that part the most.

“There are so many underserved citizens in our community that we can help.     The Lions will help to pay for eye glasses and hearing exams through the Oregon Lion’s Sight and Hearing Foundation,” said Copher.  

Copher has been the Sandy Lion’s Club President since 2016. This year she will take on the added responsibility of serving the Estacada and Eagle Creek residents, as outgoing Estacada Lion President Bill Perry retired last December, marking an end to his stellar 60-plus year tenure of service with the Estacada contingent. 

Copher intends to provide a seamless transition for all of the Estacada and Eagle Creek citizens who benefitted under previous leadership. Her immediate plan is to acquaint herself with the community through communication and a steady presence.  

The secondary plan is to reach out and recruit new membership for both the Sandy and Estacada communities.    

“Our Lions member numbers have steadily declined a little bit over the years.  It is time to reach out and pass the torch to the next generation of Lions,” said Copher.  

Bunco day is one of the many ideas Copher has to draw public interest for volunteer opportunities with the Lions and with The Hull Foundation and Learning Center. A clean up day is scheduled for Saturday, March 28, at Oral Hull Park: volunteers are needed. Bring your gloves and any tools you want to use. Slated for August is a golf tournament at the Mt. View Golf Course.  

Local businesses have unique opportunities to donate cash prizes or store freebies to benefit local citizens. Business support will be acknowledged through the Hull social media pages. On the day of the bunco event, a list of sponsors will be posted for all to view.

There is a $20 ticket charge prior to the March 14 bunco game and a $25 day-of-the-event charge. All ages are welcomed.  Coffee and refreshments will be provided. Prizes, snacks, and raffle items will also be available.

Since about 1980, the game of bunco has enjoyed a resurgence in popularity as a fun, multi-player interactive dice game with winners and losers receiving cash prizes. Bunco first appeared, however, around 1855 in the San Francisco area, as a card game with high stakes for winners and a sordid reputation as a game run by swindlers.  Bunco can be traced to its first resurgence in 1920s America during the prohibition era, with an even more shady reputation.  Bunco games could be found at speakeasies in the back room with corruption at the forefront.   Police formed ‘bunco squads’ to raid speakeasy bunco parties to make arrests.  

The Lion’s Club was formed in 1916. In 1925, the Lion’s Club welcomed their most celebrated member,Helen Keller, and her lifelong friend and teacher Anne Sullivan-Macy. Keller became the first deaf-blind person to earn a Bachelor of Arts degree, and Sullivan-Macy attended every class with Keller en route to graduating cum laude from Radcliffe College in 1904.

Come join the fun!