Festival hits the jackpot with Casino Night

The organizers of the Wasco Rose Festival were looking for an event for Saturday evening to finish off the jam-packed Saturday of the festival when they decided to hold a Casino Night. It was the first time, and for all concerned, it was a big winner.

Over 200 people were at the Wasco Elks Lodge, playing a variety of casino games, earning tickets for a chance at a cache of prizes.

According to Erik Brown, an Elks member and one of the organizers of the event, attendees received a stack of "funny money" which the players played at the different table games, including blackjack, roulette, craps, the Wheel of Fortune and poker.

Players won chips while playing and at the end of the evening, they turned the chips into raffle tickets for a collection of prizes.

Another organizer, and emcee of the event, Carlos Lopez, said that he was very happy with the turnout and thinks this will be the first of many Casino Nights at the festival. "We had some great sponsors, volunteers and so much support from the community," he said. Among the sponsors for the event were Garza's Lawn Service, Pizza Factory Wasco, Arely's Quince Vibes, Hector's Plumbing and Glen Wegman.

There was also a full bar and food at the event. One of the winners of the evening was Orquedia Campo, of the Orange Hearts Foundation, who won one of the prize packages. "Yeah, I spent $7,000 of funny money winning the electric griddle." She said the event was so much fun and said that it was a big success.