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Finally, there is a big winner in the long lottery Queen of Hearts organized by McHenry VFW Post 4600.
"Lori S." will receive $ 4,248,317 before taxes, or 60% of the $ 7,080,528 pot. Federal and provincial taxes total 33%, so home earnings will be about $ 2,846,372.
Lori S. was not at the VFW's lobby and, when she was contacted by VFW officials, stated that she wished to remain anonymous. All that has been revealed, is that she is from Illinois.
"Totally stunned", Post 4600 Cmdr. Dwane Lungren spoke about her conversation with her shortly after the big draw.
"After telling him, there was silence on the other side and I told him to calm down," Lungren joked. "She's from Illinois, that's all I'm going to say, and it's a good thing."
The packed house burst into applause as Senior Vice Cmdr. Ben Keefe showed the winning card.
"She's here," said Keefe, before being immediately sprinkled with string.
Seven envelopes remained closed at the beginning of the night and the queen of hearts was found only at the fourth. The fourth ticket fired by McHenry Mayor Wayne Jett, who almost reached his shoulder in a large bathtub filled with tickets, was number 54. As had been chosen earlier and had been the largest number available, the organizers – following a procedure spelled out before the draw – reassembled at the beginning of the procession until the next available number – 25, which contained the coveted queen of hearts.
The game that started in 2016 took off once the pot exceeded one million dollars. Tuesday was the first time that the hundreds of people entering the VFW hall were sure they would not have to come back next week.
VFW officials decided to do the raffle and select the tickets until a winner was chosen because of the fatigue of staff and volunteers and the pressure on the resources of the city.
"It's amazing – it's way beyond what we expected," said Jeff Homeier, chairman of the VFW board of directors.
"It's amazing.We need a break.We are all very tired," said Kelly Ozyuk, event manager for Post 4600.
During his race, the VFW had to use three barrels bigger and bigger to hold the tickets. On Tuesday, there were so many people that Post 4600 had to secure an 8-foot-wide storage tank, like the one used on farms, to keep them all and to mix them up. They were stirred with oars.
Ninety minutes before the drawing, the building was so full that people were stopped at the door until someone else left.
A festive atmosphere prevailed outside while the grounds, countless picnic benches and two huge tents were filled with so-called millionaires. Sales were so heavy that harassed volunteers stopped at picnic tables with collecting buckets for filled tickets.
At the end of a long line, Dan Simmons, of Buffalo Grove, said that he had lost the wire of weeks that he had played. As a rule, he buys $ 5 worth of tickets, but he received $ 15 for the last night. He said he used significant figures like birthdays for his selections, but he took off Tuesday, with choices spread across the other seven numbers.
"It got to the point that these numbers were taken," he said. "At this point, all that remains."
Mike and Brittany Sand, from Lake Zurich, earned $ 120 for tickets.
The couple bought for $ 10 and the rest for another eight people.
"We are really here because we live as close as we can," Brittany said.
The tank was full of red, white and blue tickets. Keefe said the post did not have a patriotic theme. he used red tickets, but he could not have enough for this week's drawing.
The VFW will receive 20%, will be used for veterans programs and will be doing renovations to the Post 4600. The remaining 20% will be used as the basis for the next match, which starts on January 8th.
"We do not know exactly, but it's over $ 3 million," Keefe said. Ticket sales for this game are not expected to start until December.
The next step will be determined by Lori S., who will contact the VFW for a private meeting to secure her winnings.
"I suggested that she first get a lawyer and an accountant," Lungren said.
• Patrick Kunzer, Daily Herald photographer, contributed to this report.
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