A Port Townsend couple who uses bingo games to raise thousands of dollars to donate to charity has been named Rhododendron Festival grand marshals for 2017.

Judy and Pat Lundgren, owners of the Hilltop Tavern on Sims Way, are honored to play the Rhody role.

“I’m a little overwhelmed . . . I actually asked them if they ran out of people to be the grand marshal,” Judy Lundgren joked.

“Usually we fly under the radar up here on the hill,” she said.

The 2017 Rhody Festival Grand Parade is Saturday, May 20. Lundgren said she didn’t think serving as grand marshal would be too taxing.

“I think we’re just riding in a car leading the parade, smiling and waving.”

Both of the Lundgrens were born and raised in Port Townsend. They bought the Hilltop Tavern in 1987, and celebrated 30 years of running the business this March. According to Judy Lundgren, Jim Daubenberger started the tavern in 1953.

“We were chosen for all the money we raised for charitable things in Port Townsend through our barstool bingo,” she said of being named marshals.

Hilltop Tavern’s bingo games are Wednesdays at 7 p.m.

“Last month we made $1,330 . . . it would almost pay for a scholarship,” she said.

“It’s usually between $1,000 and $1,500 that we raise every month for charities, and I can’t, off the top of my head, think of how many years we’ve been doing it.”

Lundgren guessed that the bingo games and “our customer’s good hearts” have raised more than $100,000 for charity over the years.

Beneficiaries of the bingo charity have included Relay for Life; the Port Townsend Public Library; Olympic Neighbors, which is working to provide housing for adults with developmental disabilities; the Rhododendron Festival; the Elks charities; Kiwanis’ Christmas for Children; Port Townsend High School scholarships; the North Olympic Salmon Coalition; and the kids’ demolition derby.

“This month, we’re doing it for the Humane Society,” she said.