Numbers in varying combinations is central to the game of Bunco, but reading is fundamental to the Reid Avenue Bunco Babes.
During their third fund-raiser for the Port St. Joe Public Library late last month the Reid Avenue Bunco Babes and friends - nearly 50 in all - turned a night of fun and prizes into a $1,088 bounty for the Friends of the Library.
That brings to more than $4,000 the amount of cash donations the Bunco Babes have provided to the Friends of the Library, a lifeline in a time when budget crunching has been particularly brutal to the public libraries, forcing a reduction in hours, staffing and materials.
"The Bunco dollars are crucial," said Bobbye Johnson, one of the Reid Avenue Bunco Babes. "And the reason we’ve people come out and play isn’t because they want to play Bunco, it is because this is for the library."
The latest donation will be used for to purchase books for the library. The first Bunco for Books raised more than $2,000 for books and periodicals last spring and in the fall a second Bunco for Books brought in some $1,700 used for basic operational expenses.
"We consider ourselves to be very blessed to have such support from the community," said Cathy Colbert of the Friends of the Library. "The Friends just supplement what the library does, but these Bunco dollars are so important."
The community support for the Bunco Babes and their efforts to support the library has been evident since the first Bunco for Books.
Three different establishments, The Fish House Restaurant in Mexico Beach, Sunset Coastal Grill in Port St. Joe and, last month, the St. Joseph Bay Golf Club, have hosted the Bunco for Books tournament.
The Golf Club waived the rental fee for its meeting space and provided the dinner for the tournament participants.
Businesses, civic organizations and individuals provided items for a silent auction held during Bunco play and the Bunco Babes sponsor a 50/50 drawing.
And while Bunco is primarily a social game played mostly by women - Bunco is a game of dice in which combinations are key - men have attended, participated and, in at least one case, even one some prize money during a Bunco for Books night.
"We have had men at every tournament and they have enjoyed it," said Elaine Lerch of the Bunco Babes. "It is a lot of fun. And everybody does their part. It is not just one person. It is a community effort."
For a cause the Bunco Babes see as essential.
"A library is an essential element of a community," said Bunco Babe Dana Boyer. "When a company is looking to come into a community, they look at what amenities make a community. A library is on that list."
Boyer noted that with so much business and communication being done online, the library’s 12 computers, including two set up for work requiring privacy, such as unemployment claims.
The library has also
"They go out of their way to provide a service to the community," Boyer said. "The library is becoming a lifeline."
Winter visitors also perceive a fundamental value from the public library.
"Winter visitors are very interested in a community that has a library that is accessible to visitors from out of town," Johnson said.
And the Friends of the Library serve as an essential partner, sponsoring children’s summer reading programs, funding a lend/lease program that brings new books into the library and maintaining up-to-date book, periodical and newspaper inventories.
April is National Library Month and during the month any third-grader who signs up for a new library card and shows that card to his or her teacher earns a coupon for a Hungry Howies lunch.
"It is a stimulus to use the library and a reward for using the library," Colbert noted.
The Friends also conduct used book sales, the books donated by members of the community.
"Anybody can donate their used books and the money will be used to purchase new books," Colbert said.
While planning for the next Bunco for Books event is "only in our minds," as Bunco Babe Nancy Swider said, the hope is to have a tournament in the spring and another in the fall or winter to attract the snowbirds and other tourists.
"We could not do this without all the support we get from the community," Colbert said. "We are truly blessed by the community’s support."
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