MELVYN MISQUITA
17 FEBRUARY 2024
When children, parents, relatives and well-wishers attended The Rosary Fiesta 2024, the annual fete of The Rosary High School, Cujira-Bambolim, at the International Centre Goa in Dona Paula on February 9, 2024, not many were aware that one particular and novel game at the Games Zone had an unusual story that went back nearly 30 years.
My daughter, Megan, studies at The Rosary High School and I happen to serve as chairperson at the School PTA. The school hosted its annual fete ‘The Rosary Fiesta 2024’ and as part of the fete, we needed some new and different games to attract the children.
I began to wonder if an unusual ‘Wheel of Fortune’ game I had designed as a youth in 1996-97 could be revived and reused at The Rosary Fiesta 2024.
But first, some background and details about this unusual design.
* * *
I was an active member of the Aldona Parish Youth (APY) in the mid-1990s and as part of our activities, the APY would organise the Parish fetes each year. The Wheel of Fortune had been one of the many games at the fete. At the time, the Wheel of Fortune consisted of a circular board with numbers and an arrow (much like a large clock dial). The arrow would be spun and would eventually point to the winning number.
For our Parish Fete in 1996-97, I had plans to present a novel and attractive Wheel of Fortune of a different kind. The plan involved numbers on a proper cycle wheel which would rest on a frame. The wheel would be set in motion with a pedal and a chain, much like a normal cycle, adding to the dramatic effect and attracting a crowd to the stall.
I needed to design this Wheel of Fortune from scratch.
My first stop was to a cycle mechanic who used to be located near the junction of the Traffic Island close to Pharmacy College in Panjim. I bargained for an old Atlas cycle frame and also got him to sell me a chain, wheel rim, sprocket, pedal and bell, which were needed for the Wheel of Fortune.
I then took the cycle frame to Aldona and went to meet the late Francis Dias, who had a fabrication business close to my house. I got Francis to cut off the unwanted portions of the cycle, so that we would only have a “V” frame of the cycle and invert it as a stand, with the horizontal bars to support the wheel rim.
Francis then welded stands for the base. In order to affix the numbers, Francis cut out a circular strip of a metal plate and we fitted this strip between the spokes of the rim. He also welded a cycle bell on the “V” frame.
Once this was done, I went back to the cycle mechanic in Panjim and got him to assemble the Wheel of Fortune. The rim was fitted to the horizontal bars, while the sprocket, chain and a single pedal were added to the main frame.
With the Wheel of Fortune fitted, it was now time to get it painted. I took the Wheel of Fortune back home and painted the frame black. I also painted the circulate metal plate fitted to the rim alternately in black and white, cut out 12 numbers from a large calendar and fixed them on the circular plate. I added reflectors on the spokes for added effect.
The Wheel of Fortune was now ready for a test. The single pedal set the rim in motion and the rim along with its numbers revolved beautifully.
But there was one problem.
In the absence of a brake or some pressure, the rim took a rather long time to stop, and this posed some problem. I needed to get the revolving rim to stop within 30 seconds or less.
The problem was solved when I took an electricity wire with thick insulation (used in concealed house wiring) and placed it along the rim to give it some pressure. This worked well and the rim would come to a stop within about 15 seconds of rotation.
The Wheel of Fortune was now ready for its first appearance at the Parish Fete organised by the APY in 1996-97. Suffice to say, the Wheel of Fortune was a huge hit at the fete, and it drew in a lot of players.
I moved residence from Aldona to Panjim in June 1997 on account of my new job as a journalist and I was given to understand that the Wheel of Fortune was used in subsequent Aldona Parish fetes.
The popularity of the Wheel of Fortune game was such that it was used by the St Thomas Girls’ School at Aldona and the St Mary’s High School at Mapusa (both run by the Apostolic Carmel congregation) for some of their fetes. My uncle, Joaquim D’Souza, who served in the administrative section at St Britto High School (my alma mater) in Mapusa, also took the Wheel of Fortune for the Britto school fete for a few years till his retirement about eight years ago.
* * *
When the need for some new and different games were being considered for The Rosary Fiesta 2024 on February 9, 2024, my attention turned towards my unusual Wheel of Fortune designed in 1996-97.
But first, I needed to trace the whereabouts of my Wheel of Fortune, which had been used at four different fetes in Aldona and Mapusa.
I got in touch with my mum, Maria Felicia (Felie), since my Wheel of Fortune had been lying in Aldona during the first few years of its existence. She admitted that she had no clue about the Wheel of Fortune. I then turned to my uncle, Joaquim, as he had taken the Wheel of Fortune for the fetes at St Britto HS in Mapusa.
I was in luck.
Joaquim confirmed that my Wheel of Fortune had been stored in the garage of his house in Moira. I was very eager to collect it and have it used for The Rosary Fiesta 2024.
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| The Wheel of Fortune at my uncle's house in Moira. It had had aged over the years and had rust on the frame. The Wheel of Fortune initially had black/white numbers when I had designed it. The peach and yellow numbers were added some time later. |
My wife, Anastasia (Tasi) and I made a trip to Moira. I was delighted to see the Wheel of Fortune, even though it had aged over the years and had rust on the frame. I thanked Joaquim for having carefully stored it for so many years and we took it to Porvorim.
I needed to restore the Wheel of Fortune and so, we traced a cycle mechanic in Porvorim.
We explained the nature of our Wheel of Fortune and the restoration work needed. The mechanic was quite impressed with the Wheel of Fortune and offered to restore it. The project would involve removing the rust, cleaning the rim, chain, sprocket and pedal, and painting the frame and rim in black colour.
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| The Wheel of Fortune is being restored at a cycle mechanic's shed in Porvorim. |
We went to a cycle shop in Panjim and picked up a new cycle bell and three new reflectors to be fitted on the spokes of the rim. The mechanic in Porvorim completed the cleaning and paint job and fitted the chain, sprocket, pedal, bell and reflectors.
We took the Wheel of Fortune to our home in Porvorim. I bought some white paint and painted every alternate segment of the circular metal plate. I went to an art design shop in Panjim, got large 3-inch number stickers from 1 to 10 in alternate colours (the white ones being reflective stickers) and fitted them on the metal plate. In addition, I also added a sticker “WINNER” to one side of the horizontal frame, so that the number which fell behind the “WINNER” sticker would be declared the winner.
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| Painting every alternate segment of the circular metal plate in white. |
I fitted all these stickers on the Wheel of Fortune, and it was slowly but surely taking shape.
Megan was fascinated with this Wheel of Fortune project and put forth an unusual request: A sticker with her name to be affixed on the Wheel of Fortune. I got that done.
Since the insulation wire was no longer on the rim, I needed a new plan to get the rim to slow down after it was set in motion.
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| Fixing the numbers on the Wheel of Fortune. |
I first tried fixing a coconut fibre rope around the rim but found it rough and feared it could snap over prolonged use at the games stall. Tasi had spare cotton Nada Dori string (used in ethnic Indian attire) and suggested it could be used in place of the coconut fibre rope.
This cotton Nada Dori string worked perfectly. After rotation, the rim would come to a completed halt within about 14-15 seconds.
We then turned our attention to a piece of hosiery for our Wheel of Fortune.
I needed something to cover the rusted pedal. The mechanic had initially fitted a piece of cycle tube to cover the pedal, but it was not a perfect fit and some rusted portion still remained exposed.
After some thought, Tasi and I decided to use one cotton sock to cover the pedal. It worked just fine, and it was soft enough for the right hand to use the pedal to get the rim into motion.
In order to add some dramatic effect to the Wheel of Fortune, we went to Mapusa and purchased a loud Goan baker’s horn and also ordered two solar red LED lights from Amazon. I also made three sets of tokens from a carton for each of the 10 numbers.
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| The Wheel of Fortune is finally restored and ready for use. The loud Goan baker's horn and the tokens for the game can also be seen. |
After repeated trials, my Wheel of Fortune was finally ready for The Rosary Fiesta 2024. I was excited about the Wheel of Fortune.
But there were some apprehensions as well.
Having put in considerable effort to locate and restore the Wheel of Fortune, would it attract crowds at the Rosary School fete like it did at the fetes many years earlier in Aldona and Mapusa?
* * *
I explained my Wheel of Fortune game to the Rosary High School Headmistress Alice Joan Goes, the Rosary Primary School Headmistress Martha Pinto, the Rosary High School Art teacher Alvito D’Costa and some PTA members. All were very interested in this game and looked forward to it.
As mentioned earlier, restoring the Wheel of Fortune took me some time and effort. I was unable to present and demonstrate my Wheel of Fortune to teachers ahead of the fete. I am grateful to the school for having believed in the Wheel of Fortune game even though they had not seen it in action.
We took the Wheel of Fortune to the International Centre Goa at Dona Paula on February 9 at about 3.45 pm, well ahead of the fete, as I needed to fix the two red LED lights on the frame. I also needed to give the teachers handling the stall a short demonstration of the Wheel of Fortune.
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| I gave final touches to the Wheel of Fortune just before the school fete could start. |
By about 5 pm, the games stalls were ready for action. The loud Goan baker’s horn was put to full use and racket was sufficient to attract children and their parents to the stall. Many curious to see and play a game which had a spinning cycle rim affixed with ten numbers. It may have been quite unlike other games before.
The game was simple and easy to follow. Each player could choose a number and was given a token for that number. The rim was then set in motion with the pedal and when it came to a halt, the number below the “WINNER” sticker on the horizontal frame was declared the winner. In some rounds, the edge of two numbers would fall under the “WINNER” sticker and the wheel would then be set in motion once again, giving players a second chance to try their luck.
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| People of all ages were attracted to the Wheel of Fortune at The Rosary Fiesta 2024. |
The presence of a crowd added even more players to the stall and once people understood the game, there was no turning back. The two teachers in both shifts at the stall were quite busy handling the Wheel of Fortune. The ecstatic winners and the many repeat players were enjoyable moments. I was present at the stall for some time to ensure that everything went off smoothly.
My initial apprehension soon turned to satisfaction as the crowds kept flowing in to play the Wheel of Fortune. I was also pleased to see people enjoying various other games at the Games Zone and all of these stalls also did really well.
* * *
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| A family that plays together, stays together. Megan, Anastasia (Tasi) and I along with our Wheel of Fortune at The Rosary Fiesta 2024. |
For me, using the Wheel of Fortune for the second time in nearly three decades was my moment of satisfaction and it certainly brought back fond memories. The unusual and novel game I had designed as a youth in 1996-97 had been successfully revived and reused at The Rosary Fiesta 2024.
The Rosary High School already has plans to use the Wheel of Fortune for its fete next year. If this unusual Wheel of Fortune continues to attract, entertain and excite children and their parents, it would be wonderful for me and all those who helped me build and revive this beautiful game.
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| Mission Accomplished! The Wheel of Fortune was one of the popular games at The Rosary Fiesta 2024 on January 9, 2024. |
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