Lisbon man claims $230K Adele’s drawing

SALEM -- William Caldwell of Lisbon hit the Queen of Hearts drawing for $230,840 at Adele's Place on Thursday. Another Queen of Hearts game will be held with a new board in two weeks, owner Adele Lake said.

Caldwell's ticket, with the number 20 on it, was pulled from the drawing barrel by 6-year-old Caleb Ogden of Hanoverton and matched the Queen of Hearts.

The total amount in the drawing was $256,489 and 10 percent of that will be rolled over to the new game that will start with $25,648, Lake said.

Caldwell's winning ticket came on the 15th drawing in the 54-card deck.

He is semi-retired and has played the Adele's Place Queen of Hearts game since it began last year.

When in Florida, Caldwell said he has his son buy his tickets. He plays $20 per week on the Queen of Hearts and $20 per week on the 50/50.

He said he won a car 25 years ago.

Lake expects to issue Caldwell a check early next week and was happy to note, "The money is staying in the community."

Caldwell said he has a good time playing. "You'll never win it if you don't try it," he said.

Johann Schuster Jr. of Berlin Center took home $1,191 in the 50/50 drawing that had $2,382 in it.

Ogden drew the tickets for each drawing and was too short to reach into the barrel, so John Tarleton, a staff helper at the drawings, picked him up and held him head-first in the barrel.

Since adding a 50/50 drawing in September 2016, Adele's Place has donated over $21,000 locally to worthy causes.

Last month, Adele's Place donated $10,000 to Akron Children's Hospital pushing the nine-month total amount it has donated to over $21,000.

The money has been given to the Perry Township Police Department, the Perry Township First Responders, the Salem Police Department K-9s and to the Shriners.

The Akron Children's Hospital donation represented the largest split from the 50/50 and was accumulated by holding the 50 percent from several consecutive drawings.

Lake said they are again doing that with the 50/50 and when it reaches $10,000 it will be donated to the St. Paul Elementary School in Salem to help equip an autistic sensory room.

It will be in memory and honor of C.J. Jones, a kindergarten student at St. Paul who died of influenza-related complications in January.

The money will be combined with funds leftover from donations for C.J.'s funeral and a scholarship is to be set up at St. Paul in his name.

Jones had sensory issues and went to three therapies a week.

The special sensory rooms are designed to "both calm and stimulate the senses" in children with special needs, according to advocacyinaction.net.

The rooms have three main purposes: to provide relaxation and enjoyment by eliminating distraction, to increase creative sensory input, and to facilitate communication and mobility for children with a wide range of disabilities.

It's another reason why Lake wants more people to play the weekly 50/50 drawing for $1 a ticket. The 50/50 drawing is held just before the Queen of Hearts drawing.

"We want more to play the 50/50," she said, "because the chances are a lot better to win now and the money stays locally."

She said not as many people have been buying them.

"They know about it but they're not really pumping their money into it. But the money stays local.

"It makes a big difference to us little people and they like to hear it stays in our community," she said.

The Akron Children's Hospital money will be used to provide for charity care for unreimbursed services for local kids, JoAnn Stock, the senior director of development for the hospital, said.

lshields@salemnews.net