BRISTOL, Va. – A biweekly trip across State Street paid off in spades this week for two Bristol, Tenn., produce stand employees, who won $1 million playing the Virginia Lottery.
On Tuesday, Angie Hayes and Donald Wade bought two $120 Million Cash Blowout scratch tickets from Andy’s Market, a Commonwealth Avenue convenience store that’s two doors down from the Virginia-Tennessee state line.
After they won $20 with one of the tickets, Hayes and Wade decided to buy two more. It was one of those tickets that yielded the game’s top prize of $1 million.
“When [Wade] handed me the ticket, he said, ‘I think there’s too many zeroes on it,’” Hayes said.
The two lottery winners stop by Andy’s Market twice a week to buy lottery tickets for their coworkers at Scotty’s Market on U.S. Highway 421, she said.
Hayes and Wade took their ticket by the Virginia Lottery office in Abingdon, Va., on Wednesday. On Friday, they picked up their check during an afternoon news conference at Andy’s Market.
The store also got a check for $10,000 because it sold the winning ticket.
The $120 Million Cash Blowout is set to give out $120 million in prizes before it runs out, including ten $1 million top prizes.
Those who win the game’s top prize can take it as a $1 million pot that’s paid out over 25 years or as a one-time payment of $564,000, Virginia Lottery State Customer Service Centers Manager Mark Merritt said.
Hayes and Wade decided to go with the game’s $564,000 payment. But their actual winnings will be closer to $400,400, lottery spokesman John Hagerty said, after the minimum state and federal taxes are withheld.
Hayes and Wade decided to split their winnings and have each said they’ll use them to pay some bills and make sure their children and grandchildren get whatever they need.
“I’m just happy we could share [the prize money] together,” Wade said, adding that Scotty’s Market employees often share what they own with each other.
Wade also said Tuesday’s win wasn’t the first time he and his coworkers have hit the numbers. About three years ago, he said, they won $10,000 playing the Virginia Lottery’s Pick Three lotto game.
“These lucky folks aren’t our only winners,” Merritt said when he gave Hayes and Wade their check. Since 1999, the Virginia Lottery has given the Bristol, Va., school system $4.5 million, while $13.7 million has gone to the Washington County school system.
gmclean@bristolnews.com | (276) 645-2518
Email
Facebook
Google
Twitter
Favorites
More
Advertisement