Tribal Gaming lobbied to have electronics bingo removed from all California bingo halls. Electronics are/were the profitable side of bingo (at least here anyways). Arnie and the legislature caved and Tribal Gaming won. We fought the lawsuit and were originally going to have the machines until August, which would have gotten us through the drumline season. The 9th Circuit Court removed the restraining order attached to the lawsuit and we had to remove the machines in January. Although the board has tried hard to make the paper bingo game successful, it is simply not enough to continue on with the expensive trip to Dayton. We tried... hard... believe me. I am personally devastated not only for the organization but for the members and to see my corps fold once again.
Although the alumni/mini-corps is an adult group, there were things that the organization was subsidizing to help them get to DCA (costs of equipment transportation, music rights, etc). At this point, I have no idea how this will affect the alumni/mini-corps.
My heart goes out to everyone in the Freelancers family. This is our 5th time folding and it never has been easy. The difference this time is that it was mid-season. The drumline was nothing short of awesome to watch this year. It has been an honor working behind the scenes to help them.