Les Belles-Soeurs - The Îles-de-la-Madeleine lottery

Vous pouvez faire le tour du monde, aller dans les recoins les plus sauvages de la planète. Vous pouvez avoir toute la culture du monde, connaître les peuples, les coutumes, les langues. Jamais vous ne trouverez le comble du kitsh ailleurs qu'aux Îles-de-la-Madeleine. Rien de peu battre le BINGO...à la radio. Le principe est simple, voire simpliste:

1. Achetez vos cartes de BINGO à 1$ et votre encre tamponneuse (si vous n'en n'avez pas encore) au dépanneur le plus proche.
2. Rassemblez votre famille dans la cuisine (ou le salon, au choix) le samedi soir.
3. Allumez la radio à 18h00.
4. Le but est d'obtenir une carte pleine.
5. L'annonceur commence par tirer 50 numéros, vérifiés par son assistante. Il les nomme en français et en anglais, les répète, dans les deux langues.
6. Il laisse ensuite 2 minutes pour que, si vous avez la chance d'avoir une carte pleine, vous appeliez.
7. Si personne n'appelle, il pige 2 autres numéros et laisse encore 2 minutes aux gens pour appeler.
8. Et ainsi de suite jusqu'à ce qu'il y ait unE grandE gagnantE du 1000$.

Michel Tremblay serait fier, ou à tout le moins inspiré.

Every Saturday night, at six pm, the islands have a special treat for both residents and visitors. To participate, all you need is a dollar and a radio.

All you need is a dollar and a radio isn't the official slogan of the Îles-de-la-Madeleines lottery, but it should be.

Of course, it's not actually called the Îles-de-la-Madeleines lottery, I have no idea what its official name is, we just call it radio bingo.

Are you already here? Go back and reread that last sentence.

Radio. Bingo. We've all listened to the radio. We've all played bingo at some point or another. But have you ever played bingo over the radio? Have you ever even heard of playing bingo over the radio?

Bingo cards can be purchased at any dépanneur or grocery store for a dollar each, and by card I actually mean cheap piece of, what appears to be, recycled paper with a bingo card ink-printed onto it. You can buy as many as you'd like, but we just buy one per person who will be playing.

Then, at six pm, turn on the radio to the local station. Don't worry about finding it, there is only one station on les Îles, and we're secluded enough here that when the weather is bad, which is frequent, it's the only station we can pick up.

You'll be greeted by an announcer who explains the rules, which are as follows:

The announcer will call out a bingo number. They will repeat it a few seconds later.

They will do this fifty-two times.

At this point, there is a three minute break. If your card is complete, if all of your numbers have been called, pick up the phone and dial the station during those three minutes in order to collect your prize. If no winner phones in during those three minutes, then two more numbers are called and another three minute break is taken. This process is repeated until a winner, or winners, call in.

And what is that prize? One thousand dollars to be split amongst the winners. Except for the last Saturday of the month, where the prize is doubled to two thousand dollars.

Our current winnings?

Negative eight dollars.