ROCHELLE — On Friday, Feb. 28, Rochelle VFW Post 3878 presented a $458,464.50 check to the winner of its Queen of Hearts contest, Lauri Hays. The contest ran for 49 weeks and reached a $705,330 total jackpot.
The Queen of Hearts drawing involves 54 cards hidden under a covering to be revealed one card per week until the Queen of Hearts is drawn. There are 52 playing deck cards with the two jokers hidden. Players at the local post can purchase tickets in increments of six for $5 and write a number corresponding to a hidden card on the board and their information on them before placing them in a tumbling drum. One ticket is drawn each Tuesday night and the card with the number on the ticket is revealed.
“I never expected in all those tickets that mine would ever be the one picked,” Hays said. “You can't win unless you throw some tickets in there. I cried happy tears when I found out. I feel so thankful and blessed.”
When the Queen of Hearts is drawn, the winner receives 65 percent of the pot. The remaining 35 percent ($246,865.50) will be split evenly between the post and donations to nonprofit organizations. The VFW plans to use its $123,432.75 portion for improvements and operational costs. The donations to area nonprofits and veterans organizations will be made in the coming weeks.
VFW Commander Dennis Orlikowski said the recent run of the Queen of Hearts game went “very well” after it started out at around $100,000 and saw a flurry of ticket sales and activity at the post in the past several weeks.
VFW Quartermaster Joe Drought said the funds raised will “help tremendously” with projects at the post such as an ongoing floor remodel. He’s excited to make contributions to charities as well.
“Our part of this is the satisfaction of being able to get this money out into the community and doing good things with it,” Drought said. “And using our share to improve our building infrastructure and having a solid foundation to pass onto the next generation of veterans.”
The $705,330 total jackpot was a record high for the VFW in its years running the Queen of Hearts game. Patrons looking to win life-changing money spent time at the post buying tickets in recent weeks and many also bought food or drinks during their time there, which helps with the nonprofit organization’s revenue. The VFW is open to the public.
The VFW got a helping hand from members and volunteers when selling tickets became too much for bartenders to handle due to the game’s popularity.
“You get to talk with people and it's people from all over,” Drought said. “People want to be a part of it. It's exciting to see that. The public is always welcome here. We like to say the VFW is where the community meets its veterans. We want to have that interaction and welcome the public. If we didn't have the public in here, we would've had to close our doors years ago.”
Drought said the VFW is always looking for new members for its organization to keep numbers up in order to maintain a voice and relevance with lawmakers to affect change to help veterans in the country. Eligible veterans need to have been involved in a campaign or have served in Korea to join.
Drought said being able to hand a member of the community a check for life-changing money was gratifying. The start of the next Queen of Hearts game will be delayed for 4-6 weeks due to the upcoming completion of the post’s flooring project and updates on the start of the game and its first jackpot will be provided on the VFW’s Facebook page.
Orlikowski and Drought thanked the post’s staff, members, volunteers and the community for their involvement over the past 49 weeks.
“The volunteers putting the hours and effort in is tremendous,” Drought said. “Our staff here is top-notch. They make it happen. When it gets super busy, it's too much for the bartenders to sell tickets and take care of everyone's food and drinks. We count on our volunteers. And I want to send a big thank you to the community and everyone in the region that came and contributed and participated and was a part of the excitement. We're so thankful for everybody's participation and involvement. It's been a tremendous blessing.”
