Mary and Alex Bartolino of West Windsor won a 2005 ES 300 Lexus in a raffle sponsored by the auxiliary of St. Francis Medical Center. According to his wife, Alex enjoys buying $100 tickets to benefit organizations — not to win prizes.
“When the phone rang at 9:30 p.m. on a Sunday night, I was watching ‘Law and Order’ and chose not to answer the phone,” Mary says. “When I heard the words St. Francis, I thought they were calling him to give blood. After the show I listened to the message and it was about good news about the raffle ticket.”
“When I looked at the ticket on the bulletin board I was hoping they would tell me that we won the third place prize — a diamond necklace and earrings set.” When Alex called the next morning, they found out he had won the car, which was later sold to Mary’s sister in Virginia.
Both of the Bartolinos were born and raised in Princeton. She went to Princeton Regional Schools and he was a student at St. Paul’s. In 1970 they built their home in West Windsor. She worked with Princeton schools for 35 years as an instructional aide and still works there part-time. He is retired from Local 269 Electrical Union.
She drives a BMW, a gift from her husband for their 45th wedding anniversary. He recently totaled his Saturn and is presently driving a “knock-around car.” His wife sees two more raffle tickets on the bulletin board — one for a BMW Roadster and one for a Mercedes convertible.
