SOUTH ROXANA – At 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2024, there will be a colorball game night with a total payout of $4,400 over the course of 12 colorball games with four additional raffles. This night will be hosted by the South Roxana Dad’s Club, a non-profit organization where Tony Venezia, the longest-serving member, will be there.
The South Roxana Dad’s Club was started by several fathers who wanted to have a little carnival for the Boy Scouts and was ultimately chartered with the state of Illinois on Sept. 11, 1948. In the early days of the club, they threw big homecomings that only got bigger throughout the 65 years they went on until homecomings started going downhill.
“In 1972 we started having bingo on Saturday nights to help get income,” Venezia said. “That’s how we ended up having bingo be our sole sport. Four years ago, we opened a little pub in our clubhouse which has gaming and several pool leagues that help pay the bills so we can give away money.”
The pub is open to the public seven days a week from 3 p.m. to midnight every day.
There are two teams that meet on Monday, and two teams that meet on Wednesday for the pool league.
“It is all about having fun and having a good time. We don’t take it too seriously,” Mike Davis, the recent president of the dad’s club, said.
Mike joined the club just six years ago, compared to Venezia who joined back in 1966, and became the president of the club just this year.
“My goals are to increase our membership and try to bring in new members,” Mike said. “Right now we are at about 12 members, and I would like to be at 30 or more. It is hard to find people that want to volunteer their time to a great cause that supports the community. Everybody that has grown up out there all have memories from the playground and the homecomings from back in the day. We would like to see that continue for generations to come.”
The club averages four to six scholarships at Roxana High School every year. They also feed 20 to 30 families every year around Christmas time and give out toys to kids within those families.
In addition to these scholarships, the club has bingo every Saturday night where you can win big. If their colorball night goes well on November 6, the club will be hosting a colorball event every other month.
To get into the colorball specifics, there is a minimum buy of $40 in which you will get two, four, six, eight colorball sheets. There will be four sets played of two two two and two. Each set is a $200, $300, and $500 game which is $1000 right there, and they will do that a total of four times which would be $4,000. There will be a raffle game between each set which will be $100 each, making the total payout $4,400 for the evening. It is $1 for each raffle ticket, and there is no limit to how many you buy.
You can expect good meals on Saturday nights for bingo as well as November 6 for colorball because of the Women’s Auxiliary. The women have a kitchen in the back of the bingo hall and prepare food such as hamburgers, hotdogs, chili, and desserts for all who attend.
On Wednesday, October 23, in conjunction with the Village of South Roxana, they will be conducting a big trunk or treat that night. The day after that on Thursday there will be a Halloween parade where the Dad’s Club and Ladies Auxiliary always cook from 400 to 500 hotdogs for everyone in the parade. On November 1 the Dad’s Club will be hosting a Halloween party with a costume contest.
“The goal is to try to get people who want to do good for the community,” Venezia said.
You can contact The South Roxana Dad’s Club at (618) 254-0051.
Colorball will be held at 417 Roxana St. South Roxana. Doors open at 4 p.m. and the games start at 7 p.m.
