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November 19, 2008
Possibly the UK’s oldest bingo player, certainly the Crown Bingo hall’s oldest bingo player, Amelea Turner, celebrated her 100th birthday last week, 10 days later than her official birthday.
Anyone who visited the British Legion Club in Cardiff this past Guy Fawkes Day would think the place had been mobbed. But the huge turnout had nothing to do with fireworks; instead, people had turned out in force to pay their respects to a woman called Amelia Turner.
Amelia had just turned one hundred years old, an impressive age by any standard, which makes her the oldest bingo player still actively playing at the Crown Bingo hall. Her friends at Crown Bingo recognised the special day by sending her a massive card and a cake.
More than 150 old friends and well-wishers turned out to celebrate the day and to congratulate Amelia on her century. Her daughter said that by the end of the night, there were so many cards and presents that they lost count.
Amelia received her congratulatory card from the Queen ten days later. This, her daughter explained, was due to a mixup now a century old. Things were a bit different back then, and Amelia's father didn't register her birth straight away as you would do today.
In fact, he only got around to registering her almost a full two months later, on the 27th of December of that year. Since by that stage he couldn't accurately remember, he took a guess, and wrote down the 15th. Thus, even though Amelia was born on the 5th, official records show she was born on the 15th, so her birthday card from the Queen turned up a bit late.
Amelia loves to play bingo, and is a regular at both the Crown Bingo club, where she plays every week, and at bingo games held at the British Legion Club. She is well known and liked by all the bingo players, and by everyone in the local community.
Bingo is well known to be a game that keeps you mentally alert, since you have to be “on the ball” in order to be able to shout “Full House!” before anyone else. There's also a huge social angle to it, which is probably why you find such a large number of elderly players like Amelia at your local bingo hall. These days, with public interest in bingo picking up and the increasing focus on bingo online, you're just as likely to find as many young people playing as well.
Congratulations, Amelia, we hope you have many more!
Written by John Witherspoon for BingoStreet.com – the top resource in the UK bringing you top online bingo websites and the best bingo promotions.
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