Local man wins more than $1 million in Aviston Queen of Hearts drawing

The Queen of Hearts raffle in Aviston ended Wednesday night, after running for more than a year, when a winner won the $1 million jackpot.

Centralia resident Norman Sprehe took home the jackpot, according to an American Legion auxiliary member. He had worked for the Illinois Central Railroad in Centralia for 42 years.

Sprehe did not immediately return requests for comment.

In November, the American Legion’s jackpot had reached $1,089,989 when a New Baden man selected the Queen of Hearts card. However, he only won half of the pot because he wasn’t present for the drawing.

The rest of the money rolled over to a new raffle, which started in March. On Wednesday, the pot was at $1,302,177 when a local man won it all.

“Thank you to all the volunteers and to all who participated in the Queen of Hearts,” the American Legion posted on Facebook. “Because of your support this drawing was a huge success.”

This story was originally published August 16, 2018 at 8:06 AM.