Thursday, August 27, 2009

Aaargh: Return of Pirate Bingo!

Good Mornin' highlowaha! You guessed it, today be t' day we begin gettin' ready for National Talk Like a Pirate Day, September 19, 2009. You won't want t' miss out, as thar be fun t' be had and loot t' be won!

I won't make you read an entire post in pirate-ese (yet!), but rest assured, the closer we get to the day the more proficient you will become. Newcomers to our site should take an extra couple of minutes to view our pirate fun from last year.

So what's in store this year? Lots of fun capped off by the Second Annual Pirate Bingo Fundraiser. Readers purchase a Bingo card for a nominal fee and then play Bingo in hopes of winning fabulous prizes. All proceeds go to Highlowaha's Gift of 218 Philanthropy.

Lots of details still to be worked out.

Detail #1. What are our prizes?

That's where you - our fun loving and thoughtful - readers come into play. Loyal readers, occasional visitors, and lurkers alike - get to donate items you consider worth winning (click here to see examples from last year). The fact that loot is donated is what makes the event a fundraiser.

Detail #2. How do you win prizes?

Readers and your family and friends will be invited to purchase Bingo cards. On the evening of Saturday, September 19 we will host a Pirate Bingo Party - virtually. We call numbers and post them in our blog's comment section. You play Bingo in your homes (in front of the computer) and the first person to post Bingo wins the round and the prize of his/her choice. The process wasn't flawless last year, but rather than make me walk the plank how 'bout making a suggestion or two about how we might refine the process.

Detail #3. What's in it for you?

Fun; an opportunity to catch the Spirit of 218 by celebrating with family and friends; a chance to continue raising money for the Gift of 218. Check out the Official Talk Like a Pirate Website for more ideas than you could ever implement. You could... build a pirate ship, elaborate or out of card board; bake a pirate cake or cupcakes; play pirate games; or sing pirate sea shanty's.

Detail #4. What now?

Mark your calendar for the evening of Saturday, September 19; dig out your pirate garb; start planning your party or family gathering; and get ready for some fun. Also, let us know if you can donate some loot to be won by our Bingo winners.

Questions? Questions?

Otherwise, signing off until tomorrow mateys...

14 comments:

heather said...

Argh...I can't wait.

cassie p said...

Since Ill be on vacation with my family, with no access to a computer...I cannot participate this year :( DARGHN!

Katie said...

Aargh...I am determined to make that pirate ship from cardboard boxes. I'm not sure what for or when, but it just looks like something that I could do...and fun for some sort of pirate party.

I might be out of town for Sept. 19, but if I'm in town maybe I'll try to make it for that and host a get-together here in my building.

Ahoy me mateys!

maureen said...

I dont know if I will have a Pirate Bingo Party this year but I am sure I will participate. Maybe I will try and get some people together. I have to wait until my kids are back to school and we know everyone's schedule. It was a lot of fun last year. I cant believe a year has passed already!

Have a great day HLA!!!

Robin said...

I'll see what I can find to donate but alas, it's Rosh Hashanah that day, I believe.

Cheryl Houston said...

I'll come up with something to donate and I'm in for Bingo!

What if use yahoo chat or something similar so we don't have to keep refreshing the page?

heather said...

Cheryl...I think you should donate a piece of artwork!!!

Claudia said...

I'm all for a piee of Cheryl's artwork. Great idea.

Cheryl, maybe you can brief me on Yahoo Chat at tonight's meeting. I'm up for whatever makes the process smooth.

Katie, I agree the ship looks like FUN! If you're traveling that weekend, I feel certain it will be to a place where you can partake in someone else's Pirate Bingo fun.

Katie said...

Cheryl, I think we can definitely add some sort of chat widget to the right sidebar for that night where we could play bingo that way instead of having to constantly refresh. I will put this on my "HLA to-do" list and get investigating.

Claudia, I feel certain that you are correct. Maybe I can even convince the people I'm with to make the cardboard ship with me.

I need to think about what I want to donate this year. Last year I did a movie night in a box with candy, popcorn, gift card to blockbuster, etc. I need a new idea for this year!

Jessie said...

What about a phone teleconference? I have a toll-free call in number that I am assigned for work. I am sure that I could donate it one evening for a good cause! I didn't play last year but it sounds like fun!!!

Kat said...

Yeah! I missed out last year, so I am excited to participate this year!

Cristine said...

Claudia check out talklikeapirate.com. A friend who is really into pirates told me about it. I'm not sure if we will be playing - that us the night of the Naperville Wine Festival but I'm sure that Struble Suds will donate something to the cause

Katie said...

Cristine and others:

Beginning a few weeks ago, Claudia began including links within the text of each day's post to relevant other posts within HLA and to outside websites. There are a lot of links included in today's post. Anything that shows up as red or blue and is underlined (within the text) is a link to another site. Talklikeapirate.com is one of the links included today.

Claudia said...

It's true. My posts are now laced with magical links to old posts and new resources.

We have Katie to thank for this.

So far we have a few prize ideas. Keep them coming. Katie, you could do mixes of CDs!

I still need to decide what mine will be. Hmmmmm... do I go Halloween theme or something compeltely different?