Dennis Joyce was out on his pontoon boat when he missed a call from retired North Royalton Police Sergeant Joe Cepik. Joyce, a resident of Lake Clarke Shores, a town in West Palm Beach, Fla., listened to Cepik’s voicemail and quickly shrugged it off as a scam or joke from friends.
Cepik was calling from North Royalton to inform Joyce that he was the winner of a 1969 Chevy Chevelle SS396 Resto from North Royalton’s BlueLine Classics, as part of a raffle prize drawing sponsored by the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge #15 to benefit the construction of a K-9 memorial. Joyce had purchased a raffle ticket through work back in February and had since forgotten about it.
“A coworker down here has ties to Lodge #15 and sent this flier around the office about a raffle drawing, and I figured, ‘sure, why not?’” Joyce said in a telephone interview from Florida.
Though he has no ties to police or safety personnel, Joyce said he has a deep appreciation for law enforcement and was moved to purchase a $100 raffle ticket. The Lodge sold 1,000, $100 raffle tickets all over the world, said Jeff Canter of BlueLine Classics, a State Road business that specializes in the buying and selling of classic cars. Lodge representatives approached BlueLine Classics about purchasing a classic car to raffle off in support of the memorial construction. The raffle ran from Feb. 1 through April 30.
“They wanted a 60s muscle type car, and Chevelle’s are really hot at the moment,” Canter said.
As part of the raffle, there were also drawings for $1,000 and $500 cash prizes. The drawing took place April 30. Funds from the raffle are also earmarked for programming and training events, Cepik said.
“I’ve never won anything, so this is really cool. I was in tears when I learned it was true,” Joyce said of his win.
He flew up to Ohio last month to claim his prize and meet with raffle representatives. To cap off a phenomenal win, his winning ticket also included free out-of-state delivery. His 1969 Chevy Chevelle arrived May 13 at his Florida home.
“I’ve never been to Ohio. Cleveland is a really cool town, and we really enjoyed our time there,” Joyce said, who stayed in the University Circle area with his girlfriend and spent the weekend touring museums, eating in Little Italy and seeing the sights of downtown Cleveland.
He also enjoyed Ohio’s milder temps, adding that the 50 degrees was like “sweater weather” and a pleasant respite from balmy West Palm Beach. His new 1969 Chevelle will go into storage as a show car. Joyce, who works as a roofer, also made an additional donation to the construction of the K-9 Memorial. The memorial, which is still accepting donations, will feature a police badge, engraved pavers commemorating K-9 police dogs that served FOP #15, lighting and landscaping. For more information and to donate, visit ohiofop15.org/ and/or find them on Facebook at Fraternal Order of Police Lodge #15 (@ohiofoploge15).
“We want to make it a sacred place for handlers and visitors to gather and reminisce,” Cepik noted of the site.
Back in Florida, Joyce reflected on his raffle ticket purchase.
“I knew the money was going to a good cause and I’ve always been charitable,” he said. “God’s blessed me with health and being able to work. I was happy to do it.”
By SARA MACHO HILL
Contributing Writer
