Behind the Headlines

Stephanie Ariganello; stephaniea@monroenews.com

Well, I finally found out what a feather party is – and it’s not nearly as exciting as I thought it was going to be. (Although, I have to admit I was a little leery when I kept seeing the sign for one at my local American Legion place, conjuring images I just didn’t want floating around in my brain.)

The Feather Parties are bingo/gaming parties where the participants win various assortments of fowl. They’re usually held to raise money for a church group or veteran’s organization.

I was looking for more information on them since I’ve been seeing signs and only really turned up links to Michigan. Is it true – are feather parties exclusive to the Mitten?

In recent years, there have been what I like to think of as old-timey raids on different events in southeastern Michigan because of the mix of gambling and booze.

Have you ever been to a feather party? What’s your favorite fact or story about feather parties?

(Above cartoon from www.kevscartoons.com)