Announcing the 1st winner of Ralph Meacham Award

And now presenting the 2015 Ralph Meacham Award to ...

Well let’s hold off just a moment for that so as to explain.

We like our powerhouses in life – whether it be a city such as Manhattan, a sports team such as the New England Patriots, or celebrity icons such as George Clooney or Oprah Winfrey.

Those are the people, places and performances that ensure that life can be normal, assured and expected. By the continued supremacy of such a few, the rest of us average folk who watch “Alaskan Bush People” can pause and believe “all is well.”

But we average folk also need a hope as we watch supremacy.

It’s the hope that the supremacy of anything gets tested and corrected occasionally, and a hope that we, too, can possibly attain that perch – as a city, a team or a person.

It was a rare sight last week when Tom Brady was relieved of duties at the end of the Patriots game as a chance at victory was eliminated. It was important for Clooney to make “Leatherheads” and “Fantastic Mr. Fox” – and for us to stay away from those films in droves.

Such events are the corrections from which life benefits.

Last year, Ralph Meacham was a vital correction for the Valley.

Mahoning County had not elected a Republican to a nonjudge post in 30 years before Meacham. More Hollywood-ish than that stat is that Ralph was a kinda-retired guy just enjoying his morning Vindicator in August 2014 – days before the filing deadline. He read in the paper that the Republicans had just lost their candidate for auditor and were taking anybody to fill the bid.

“Anybody.”

He stepped up, and in eight weeks, went from a political nobody in an area that makes a sport of politics, to an elected auditor huddling with top Ohio officials.

To the pleasure of many of us since – he just quietly went away to do the job he was elected to do. That, too, is a rarity in local politics. Such a win as Meacham’s, in the minds of some, earns you front-row seats to Cavs games and a 100-person crowd every time you decide to have a press conference.

Hence my creation of the Ralph Meacham Award. The award is a selection committee of one – me. It’s an honor only in name and mission: no large dinner; no trophy for the mantel.

The award’s mission is to seek out and salute the Davids amid the Goliaths of life; salute the feat that says “Yeah – there’s room for others.”

The 2015 winner of the Ralph Meacham Award is Austintown tavern Barry Dyngles – whose dumb luck in 2015 with a small, old bar-top game of chance became a four-month, $1.2 million spectacle for all of us here and for many across Ohio and the Midwest.

Imagine this:

It’s late winter 2015 and the team at Dyngles pulls in Austintown police and officials to craft a plan:

“We have this kinda gambling game; it will be so huge that one night a week from July through October, we will lure 3,000 to 10,000 people and close down Raccoon Road.”

Had this happened, officials likely would reply: “Yeah – right. There’s a multimillion casino down the street. We’ll be there if you need us.”

What happened in Austintown last summer and fall was unfathomable – especially in the shadows of a mega-million racino.

Even more absurd – Barry Dyngles’ previous 2015 significant event was to lose its contract with Mill Creek Park Golf Course.

So a tavern that ran afoul managing a simple golfer snack shack was now the toast – of sorts – of Ohio gambling due to its Queen of Hearts game.

So successful was the Queen game, Dyngles ran out of food; ran out of beer; had to close down for a day here and a week there just to unplug from the madness; had to revise rules as the event grew; business neighbors were flush with new business; paid parking appeared in the neighborhood and more.

Here’s how freakish the Queen of Hearts event became: It was even too big to host at the Covelli Centre.

State officials in Columbus started peeking in amid whispered concerns of who’s auditing tickets and money handling.

The Dyngles game was everything they would laugh at you for on “Shark Tank.”

And it won.

And for all of that, I’m thrilled to honor it with the 2015 Ralph Meacham Award.

Keep me posted on nominees for 2016.

These are the people and the events that life needs – the correctors, if you will.

That is, of course, after Brady wins the Super Bowl.

Todd Franko is editor of The Vindicator. He likes emails about stories and our newspaper. Email him at tfranko@vindy.com. He blogs, too, on Vindy.com. Tweet him, too, at @tfranko.