Banging on doors, yelling, threatening to egg cars.
Frat house?
Nope -- Holyoke Senior Center, at least according to one official.
"The Friday bingo mindset seems to infect people who behave rationally all other days of the week," said Navae Fenwick Rodriguez, executive director of the Holyoke Council on Aging (COA).
"She's putting that way out of hand. It's not that bad," said Lorraine Gorham, 77.
Allegedly bad behavior by senior citizens prompted Rodriguez to announce last week she was reducing the number of times bingo will be held at the Senior Center at 291 Pine St. to two Fridays a month from the current four a month.
Gorham and others responded with calls to city councilors and circulation of a petition to ensure bingo stays available at the Senior Center four Fridays a month.
With echoes of fraternity house rowdiness, which was met with denials or skepticism, Rodriguez nonetheless said in an email sent to a city councilor that the clamor includes:
seniors banging on doors of other rooms at the facility;
sneaking people in for lunch when a ticket is required;
being rude to staff and volunteers;
leaving the room a mess;
threatening to egg the vehicles of staff and volunteers upon learning bingo regularity was in jeopardy.
The alleged boorishness seems to stem from senior citizens impatient to enter the multipurpose room where bingo is held and then rushing in to compete for seats at tables with friends, Rodriguez said in the email.
"In (one) case, a player yelled at a (COA) board member because the board was meeting in the multipurpose room prior to bingo. Though it was only 11:15, and bingo doesn't start until 1, she didn't think the board had any right to prevent her from getting to her coveted seat," Rodriguez said.
http://www.masslive.com/news/index.ssf/2017/03/inappropriate_behavior_at_frid.html
Gorham acknowledged seniors display an eagerness to get seated in a desired location, to ensure they'll enjoy their spot during the hours-long event, but she said she is unfamiliar with the situation as described by Rodriguez.
"They just want to get in there and sit down," she said. "She's putting that way out of hand. It is not that bad. I am there 90 percent of the time and I have not seen that."
City councilors have weighed in to say that while poor behavior obviously is unacceptable, the whole idea of the senior center is to address the needs of the elderly. They said they will read the schedule of events and activities at the facility to ensure that remains the case.
Rodriguez responded to a request from The Republican for further comment by emailing this statement Wednesday night:
"I know seniors are frustrated. We, the staff and the board of directors, have tried to address the issues with Friday bingo administratively for over two years. Our guiding principle is that programming at our senior center is decided by our seniors. It's difficult to have to go in this direction."
Bingo is held on Friday at 1 p.m. and draws 75 to 80 people who enjoy socializing and playing the game, said Gorham, a lifelong Holyoke resident.
It costs 25 cents per bingo card, with three games per card. The average player spends $4 to $6 on an afternoon of bingo cards. The prizes are $23 to $27 in cash each time someone's card registers bingo, she said.
Gorham has circulated a petition that will be sent to city officials demanding that bingo every Friday remain the norm.
"I got 72 signatures (on Friday), which means I didn't get everybody," she said.
The bingo curtailment came without explanation, she said, which seems to conflict with what Rodriguez said in her email.
"Nobody could understand why," Gorham said. "What they're doing should not be done. This is just unfair, totally unfair."
Rodriguez said the decision to halve the number of bingo Fridays came after "much deliberation" with staff and COA board members.
"We have been dealing with inappropriate behavior at Friday bingo since before we moved to our new senior center. For some reason, it seems to bring out the worst in people," Rodriguez said.
The $8.1 million Senior Center opened on Dec. 3, 2012. Hailed as a jewel for the city's elderly, the venue came after senior center facilities languished for years in a windowless space in the basement of the War Memorial building at Appleton and Maple streets.
City Councilor at Large Daniel B. Bresnahan and Council President Kevin A. Jourdain asked whether the majority of senior citizens will be getting deprived of weekly bingo because some are rude.
Bresnahan questioned what activity would occupy the slot occupied by by the popular bingo and whether Senior Center staff contact police when problem behavior occurs.
"The intent of this (Senior Center) is these people who are in their golden years have a place to hang out," Bresnahan said.
Jourdain said in an email to Rodriguez Tuesday that the city response should be to figure out a solution instead of reducing bingo for senior citizens
"This group tremendously looks forward to this activity. We built that facility for them and they want bingo once per week. They shall have their bingo once per week as they have had it. They are the bosses in the chain of command. We are the servants," Jourdain said.