Township, Dyngles Reach Agreement on Drawings
AUSTINTOWN, Ohio – The queen of hearts will have the next chance to show her face Sunday at 7:30 and the winner need not be present to claim the $1 million jackpot. That’s the outcome of an agreement reached last night during a meeting with township officials and the operators of Barry Dyngles Pub.
Township trustees are expected to discuss the agreement at a special meeting this morning.
The new drawing date and change in the rules follows concerns about crowd control – about 10,000 gathered inside and outside and pub at 1601 S. Raccoon Road Sept. 16 the last drawing when the jackpot was $778,203.
By no longer requiring the owner of the ticket that’s drawn to be present, officials believe many players will stay home and wait to be contacted should they be so lucky.
Eight cards remain on the game board, which means there could be as many as eight drawings, each of which would be held on successive Sunday nights until the queen is revealed. The jackpot grows with each drawing and is likely to be well over $1 million Sunday. By comparison, on Aug. 26 the jackpot was $329,000.
Michael Dockry, township administrator, has nothing but praise for Dyngles’ ownership and how it has handled the publicity and huge crowds generated by the game. “From Day One, when we started to see this thing build, they have cooperated totally,” he said.
Officials asked the pub to hire sufficient off-duty police officers to provide security, which it did. Fire inspectors ensured that occupancy limits were met, which were never a problem, and the crowds have been “well-behaved.”
The only complaints the township has received, Dockry said, are about litter left after the drawings – a minor inconvenience for nearby businesses that have also benefited from the huge crowds.
As part of the agreement reached last night, Dyngles will beef up security and provide trash containers for litter control.
A few months ago, when township officials first got wind of how the jackpot was accumulating, Dockry said they contacted the Ohio Department of Liquor Control to notify regulators of the situation. The agency confirmed that Dyngles was operating within the law and regularly communicating with the liquor board.
Enforcement of public safety gives he township authority over the operations of the private business. Zoning code also comes into play.
“The game is actually played on the [pub’s] premises, but the fact of the matter is it’s drawing people all over the place and it’s not limited to his premises,” Dockry explained.
Pictured: Doug Duganne, general manager of Barry Dyngles, with the game board.
Copyright 2024 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.
