Fred, 78, makes last bingo call (From Craven Herald)
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Fred, 78, makes last bingo call
4:00pm Monday 17th September 2012 in News
LAST CALL: Bingo caller Fred Jackson, who is calling it a day
Fred Jackson has made his last call of “two fat ladies 88” after 39 years delivering the numbers at Carleton Social Club.
The 78-year-old, who still works as a driver, has been forced to call “house” on the bingo sessions he has been running every Sunday at the club since 1973.
Fred said: “Numbers have gone down and down. Very few now turn up.
“On a good night we might get 15 but at holiday times there are very few.
He added: “I was still calling the traditional way – ‘all the twos dinky-doos’, ‘two fat ladies 88’ – a lot of these big clubs don’t do that now.
“I’ve enjoyed it and it’s very sad to give up but it’s not worth keeping it going.”
Fred lives in Spence’s Court, Carleton, with his 75-year-old wife Stella, who is the warden of the sheltered complex built in the late 17th century.
