Broken heart for Liberty man


By BRANDON KLEIN

bklein@vindy.com

AUSTINTOWN

Ray Clark of Liberty didn’t win the $778,203 jackpot at Barry Dyngles Pub, 1601 S. Raccoon Road, Wednesday night.

“I was really excited [when I heard my name],” he said.

Now retired, Clark selected the No. 38 spot on the 54-card board, drawing the nine of hearts instead of the queen of hearts to win the jackpot.

Clark said he would have used some of the money to pay bills but intends to play again.

Those who don’t win the jackpot receive a $20 gift card to the restaurant.

There are now eight spots remaining on the board.

Thousands of people came out to the restaurant drinking, eating and socializing in real tailgate fashion.

The restaurant hired eight off-duty police officers to keep things in order.

“I’m glad it’s helping the community,” said Janet Decesare-Faber, 54, of Austintown.

She and her friend Laurie Cesitsky, 55, of Canfield brought a cutout kissing booth redesigned with the words “Queen of Hearts” at the top and “Potential Winner,” at the lower half. They brought it for “all people to have fun,” Decesare-Faber said, by using it for selfies, or self-taken pictures using a smartphone.

“Do you want your picture taken?” she would ask others at the event.

Though she didn’t win, Decesare-Faber said she bought 250 tickets for Wednesday night’s drawing and has participated for the past 12 weeks.

“It’s grown so much,” she said.

People were still lining up to get tickets, writing their names and the numbered spot where the elusive Queen of Hearts could be located.

Some had to fight their way through the crowds to drop their tickets in a 300-gallon red, cylindrical container, provided by Nannicola Inc.

More than 306,000 tickets were in the container, said General Manager Doug Duganne, who rotated the container a few spins to mix up the tickets.

Next week’s drawing will take place at 8 p.m. Wednesday.