It took years of auditions and a lifetime of watching with her grandmother for Tequila Smith to finally stand beside the wheel she grew up cheering.
“Every time I was over there, at seven o’clock, we put on Wheel of Fortune, and that was something that we would do as I became an adult. That was our thing,” Mrs. Smith said. “And then right after that, the [lottery] numbers would come on. It was something I’ve always done with her.”
A Toledo native who now calls Perrysburg home, and manager at Unison Health, Mrs. Smith auditioned annually for four years. Despite family skepticism and technical glitches, she persisted…