Loteria draws Spanish speakers to Windsor Senior Center

Delia Nieto, a volunteer at the Windsor Senior Center, was looking for something to draw Spanish-speaking elderly residents, including her 81-year-old father, to the center.

“I called senior centers and none of them had activities for seniors who spoke only Spanish,” Nieto said.

She recalled playing the loteria game - a variation of bingo, that she and her father played when they were younger and that he had played at traveling fairs in Mexico.

The game originated in Italy in the 1400s and was brought to New Spain (Mexico) around 1770 where it was favored by the colonial upper class. Soldiers played the game as a pastime in the 1810-1821 Mexican War of Independence.

It spread throughout the country by traveling fairs and was extensively played in homes.

The loteria games on the first and third Thursdays at the Senior Center began with a few people in February, but attendance has grown to more than a dozen players, Nieto said.

The game consists of 54 cards each with an image of a popular figure in Mexican culture, El Catrin, The Gentleman, El Borracho, The Drunk, La Dama, The Lady,or images of fruit or folk art.

A cantor calls out the name and number of the cards drawn one by one, and sometimes includes a rhyme or riddle to describe the card.

The players traditionally mark their cards with a pinto bean whenever they have a match on their card that contains 20 squares.

The winner is the first ?person to fill out the entire card, or four squares horizontally, vertically or diagonally ?or the four corners of the ?card. They then shout out, “loteria” or “buenas.”

At the Windsor Senior Center, the players use pennies ?to mark their cards, Nieto ?said.

Among the players at the Center Center on Dec. 18 ?were 88-year-old Maria ?Perez and 99-year-old Mary Madrigal.

“She loves it. That is her social life. She doesn’t miss it,” Madrigal’s companion Diana Novella said. “She’s very self-sufficient and likes to go to the movies too.”

Perez’s daughter Alicia Lopez, also a volunteer at the Senior Center, said she also brings her mother-in-law also plays loteria at the center.

“She looks forward to it. Most of the players enjoy it; they get out and go to a social gathering and talk about old times,” Lopez said.

Nieto said the Cloverdale Senior Center is starting a loteria game in January.

Most players at the Windsor Senior Center are in their 80s, Nieto said. There are three games between 2-3 p.m., and local restaurants have donated gift certificates as prizes.

“It’s taken a life of its own, and it’s quite rewarding to watch and fascinating to sit back and listen to their stories,” Nieto said.