BIDDEFORD — On Thursday, several dozen members of the Biddeford 50+ Club showed up at their meeting space at the J. Richard Martin Community Center to say they wanted to be able to continue their bingo games.

“We miss bingo,” said Lorraine West. “For a lot of people, it’s the only thing they have to see their friends.”

It’s been more than three weeks since the Wednesday morning bingo games have ceased.

The weekly games, which took place for more than 20 years, came to an end after Jim Gass, a special investigator with the Maine State Police, got a tip that cash prizes were being awarded to winners of the club’s bingo games.

After verifying that, he informed Debbie Lizotte, the senior program coordinator for the club, that the games couldn’t be held if cash prizes were awarded because the club doesn’t have a license.

“We weren’t hiding that we were giving cash,” she said. “We didn’t think we were doing anything wrong.”

When she started her job about 10 years ago, Lizotte said, another state employee told her that the club didn’t need a license because it didn’t make a profit.

According to state statute Title 17, Chapter 13-A, section 313-A, groups with at least 90 percent of its members 62 years old or older can operate bingo without a license if it is for “their own entertainment and recreation and not for profit.”

However, Gass said in a telephone interview earlier this week, that according to his reading of the statute, it’s not just the organization that can’t profit, it’s also the players.

Lizotte said he told her they could still play bingo, but it would have to be for non-cash prizes like candy bars.

Club Treasurer Barbara Jackson said they didn’t want to play for candy bars, since many of the members are diabetic.

Even though the winnings aren’t that big, the average prize was less than $10,  playing for a candy bar “is not much of an incentive,” said Club President Frank Defrancesco.

Since the bingo games have stopped, people miss it, he said.

“They come here for the camaraderie, to find out what’s going on,” he said. “It’s a day out for us. We even have our lunch.”

“It was a social club, not just bingo,” said Jean McLaughlin. She said people came not just from Biddeford, but from all over the area like Saco, Old Orchard Beach, Sanford, Dayton and Wells.

Dorothy Peers said she would drive up from Sanford to play bingo at the 50+ Club. She said she liked that it was an afternoon game because she has trouble driving at night.

Knowing how much this means to the seniors, the city is taking steps to see if something can be done.

Recreation Director Carl Walsh wrote a letter to Gass asking for written clarification as to why the club no longer meets the statute’s exemption for the elderly.

City Manager John Bubier said once an answer is received, City Solicitor Keith Jacques would review it and the city could proceed to either challenge the state interpretation of the statute or come up with another solution so that the bingo games can continue.

McLaughlin said she hopes the matter is resolved soon.

“The longer they hold us back, the more people we’re going to lose,” she said.

— Staff Writer Dina Mendros can be contacted at 282-1535, Ext. 324 or dmendros@journaltribune.com.