Taking Chances brings Rebels/City a happy ending
By Kyra Hoggan
A letter expressing upset to city council penned by the president of the Castlegar Rebels, Jim Craig, has proved to be the catalyst for a good news story, in which everyone walked away happy. Craig said in a letter included in Monday night’s council meeting that the Rebels rely on their community bingo nights for roughly 15 per cent of their operating budget, and would perhaps have opposed the gaming centre development were it not for promises made at the time. “During the hearings the city held to introduce the casino (sic) to our community, we were constantly reassured that the casino would allow organizations such as ours to move our bingo to the casino, and as a result we would suffer no loss to our club,” he wrote. He went on to say that the gaming centre declined such an arrangement, which meant the Rebels Club would suffer a serious economic loss, as they simply couldn’t compete with the venue and amenities offered by Chances. The Source called Chances Gaming Centre and spoke to newly-arrived manager Maz Artang, who has only taken over the top spot in the past two weeks, and discovered he was not only unaware of the particulars of the situation, but is actually very much on board with hosting community events. “I had already planned to have a meeting with the Rebels to discuss hosting a bingo night, to really make this a community gaming centre,” he said. A couple of hours and several phone calls later, Artang was able to confirm for The Source that just such a meeting was scheduled this afternoon. The meeting will see the Rebels and Chances create a submission to send to the B.C. Lotteries Corporation (BCLC) for approval. He stressed that the final decision resides, not with him or the Rebels, but with the BCLC, but said he’s optimistic about seeing a Rebels Bingo Night at Chances.
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