Have you ever done Car Bingo? If your answer is no, make sure you finish reading this blog. This isn’t just an event; it’s a social experiment wrapped in a family activity.

KLQP radio—yes, the greatest radio station in the known universe—conceived of this brilliance during the Great Pandemic. The mission was simple: Get people out of the house.  We needed to be together, yet separated. The solution? Communal gambling from inside your car. The very first one was at the Madison softball fields, and the parking lot was so packed with honking vehicles it looked like a highly organized traffic jam. People were instantly obsessed.

​Now that the world is slightly less chaotic, Car Bingo has become the annual, prestigious event of the Madison Chamber of Commerce, held behind the Old National Bank. I have been forced—I mean, privileged—to work every single one. And I love every chaotic minute! Around here, regular VFW Bingo is a serious, solemn affair. But Car Bingo? That’s where the fun begins!

​You may be wondering how this glorious automotive tradition works.

1. You pull into the parking lot, and before you can say “O-69,” you are handed 12 bingo cards on paper. Twelve! We’re not messing around. Bring your own supplies—an official bingo dauber, a sharp pencil, or crayon! We judge based on marker professionalism.
2. Tune your radio dial to the holiest of stations, KLQP, 92.1FM. There, the magnificent and legendary Maynard Meyer calls out the numbers live. He delivers “G-53” with the thunderous intensity of a weather emergency.
3. When you get a bingo. Your moment of glory is here. HONK YOUR HORN!!! Not a gentle toot. We need a sustained, obnoxious, celebratory blare that stops the entire game dead. We need to know you mean business.

Then a Chamber worker—comes sprinting to your car. They get your name, grab the winning card (the evidence!), and then shuttle it to yours truly. Where am I? Sitting in my warm, cozy car. I’m on the cell phone with Maynard, confirming the numbers like we’re defusing a bomb.

The winner gets their prize, which includes $25 and $50 Chamber Bucks (better than actual money, trust me), and thanks to the saints at Cargill and Jubilee, the sacred offering of turkeys and hams. We play 12 games in about an hour. Between games, Maynard just chats about things, probably what he had for lunch, and then reminds everyone that local eateries are giving discounts after car bingo. He also mentions holiday events happening in the area.

This year, three valiant, freezing-cold angels—Amber Omland, Bree Arenson, and Amber Boyens—braved the elements to hand out those 12-ply cards and retrieve the winning bingo cards. I want to personally thank them for doing that while I remained inside my rolling sauna of a vehicle. Their sacrifice did not go unnoticed (from my very comfortable vantage point).

​The False Alarm Heard ‘Round the Lot

During one particularly intense game, a child—clearly a toddler with a vendetta against poultry—accidentally slammed the horn. The whole game froze. Pure silence, then a collective groan. It was a false alarm! The greatest anti-climax in Car Bingo history. The game resumed.

But the real joy for me. When I got home, I saw my friend Kelli Fernholz’s Snapchat. It was her entire family, crammed into the SUV, playing the game. The highlight? Her son Grady getting a Bingo and winning from the back seat! The sheer, unadulterated sound of the Fernholz family dissolving into hysterical laughter, and Grady’s huge winning grin, is what this madness is all about. Got to love car bingo!!