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Winner need not attend to get 100% of jackpot
By ROBERT CONNELLY
AUSTINTOWN
The next Queen of Hearts drawing will be at 7:30 Sunday night, and the winner need not be present to get 100 percent of the jackpot.
That change in the game’s rules came after a meeting Thursday night between township officials and representatives of Barry Dyngles pub, where the game has been taking place. Previously, if the winner was not present that person would get only 50 percent of the jackpot, which Township Trustee Jim Davis said was a house rule.
“Number one was public safety, so they had to address the security concern, and they’ve done that by agreeing to hire additional officers,” Davis said.
The pub plans to hire 12 to 16 off-duty officers, similar to the number Austintown schools have at a home football game or a similar-sized event, Davis said.
Further, he said, Raccoon Road will most likely be closed for an hour Sunday night, 30 minutes before the drawing and 30 minutes after.
“We spoke to the [Raccoon Road] business owners today and for the most part, [they] were receptive to the game, and the ones that aren’t receptive to the game will be closed at the time of the drawing Sunday,” Davis said.
Township trustees will meet at 11 a.m. today to take a formal vote to allow the game to resume. The game was anticipated to draw a crowd of 15,000 people before the requirement to be present to win all the money was removed Thursday night. Officials have said the jackpot could reach $1 million, and The Vindicator’s broadcast partner, 21-WFMJ News, reported Thursday night that the jackpot has already hit $1 million.
Before Thursday night’s meeting, there were discussions about other possible locations for the event. Those sites included Eastwood Field, Greenwood Chevrolet Austintown Falcon Stadium, Canfield Fairgrounds, Youngstown State University’s Stambaugh Stadium and the Covelli Center.
Officials at YSU and the Covelli Center said Thursday afternoon they received no inquiries from the pub about using their sites.
Similarly, Joe Bell, director of corporate communications at Cafaro Co., said Eastwood Field officials contacted Barry Dyngles pub representatives to discuss that location.
“Eastwood Field would probably be completely wide open and available for” an event like that, Bell said. “We just threw it out there as a possibility.”
He said as of 4 p.m. Thursday he had had no response from the pub.
Austintown schools Superintendent Vincent Colaluca said the school district had no contact from the pub regarding use of the schools’ stadium. Davis had suggested Greenwood Chevrolet Austintown Falcon Stadium, blocks away from Dyngles, as a possible location last week.
“They never reached out to us,” Colaluca said.
That’s also the case for Canfield Fairgrounds, said Craig Myers, Canfield fair board president, and Bev Fisher, fair manager.