New business offers food and Bingo

By John Peters
Editor

A new establishment opened recently just outside the Littleton town limits, one that has the unique claim of being new, yet also being a family business that has transcended three generations.

Jean and Velma’s Beach Bingo and Restaurant opened its doors Nov. 2, and as the name implies, the establishment serves as both a place to eat and, in the evenings, a place to gather for some friendly Bingo competition.

Dana H. Makepeace owns the business, and his partner, Wanda Hilker, explains its origins.

“We were both retired, and looking for a new business venture over the past year,” she said. “One day, out of the blue, we thought what better way to honor my Grandma Barrow than a restaurant/Bingo (house),” she said.

And that’s where the three generations come in.

Hilker said recently she spent a good deal of her earlier years with her grandmother, going from Bingo game to Bingo game while her grandmother, Velma Barrow, took part in her favorite pastime.

Hilker’s mother, Jean Shingleton, was also a big Bingo fan.

“My mom was so excited for us … she was retired and she was going to help us,” Hilker said. Tragically, she passed away on Sept. 22, just a few weeks before the restaurant opened.

“We knew the only name for the business would be Jean and Velma’s Beach BingoRestaurant,” she said, “They both loved to cook, and my grandma played Bingo over 40 years, four to five nights a week. … I know the game helped keep her mind sharp and gave her lots of interaction with other people.”

At present, the restaurant is open 11 a.m. until 11 p.m., Tuesday though Sunday. Bingo -- in a nice, big hall complete with wood stove and areas for both smokers and non-smokers -– gets under way at 6 p.m. each day.

“I look to expand that,” said Makepeace. “As the business grows, I hope to start Bingo at 1 p.m., and to add two shifts of workers.”

Both have played, and watched others, play Bingo for years, and they are putting those observations to work now.

“A lot of the Bingo place, we’d see people playing and they’d get hungry, and all they had on hand to eat were nabs or chips,” Hilker said. That led them to the idea of providing hot food for Bingo players, which is what the restaurant portion of the business is for.

Although, both said the kitchen is most definitely open for lunch and dinner customers who don’t play Bingo.

The menu features pizza, burgers, chicken sandwiches, sausage dogs, barbaque, fries, desserts, and other food.

“We may eventually get into plate dinners. If a person comes in here and wanted to order a plate of shrimp or fish, we could do that,” Makepeace said. “We use ground chuck in our burgers … we cook everything to order … if you came to my house, you’d eat the same things we eat here.”

‘It’s all home-cooked, just like we learned from mom and gradmother,” Hilker said.

Jean and Velma’s Beach Bingo/Restaurant is in the former Robert’s Seafood Restaurant, on U/S. 158 just outside of Littleton.