Husband stops at Safeway to pick-up brother-in-law’s favorite pie for Thanksgiving; also buys winning Scratch ticket
Olympia, Wash. (December 14, 2020) – Move over, pumpkin and so long, apple…cherry pie is the new favorite at the Thanksgiving table at Liz and Ricky’s home in Auburn thanks to a special request from their holiday guest that led Ricky all over town before finding his brother-in-law’s favorite flavor at the local Safeway. That’s where he also bought three “Millionaire’s Club” Scratch tickets from the Washington’s Lottery vending machine on his way out the door, one of which turned out to be a $1 million winner.
“We’ve been playing the same set of Lotto numbers every week since 1988 and we always have fun dreaming of winning the big one. It’s our form of entertainment,” said Ricky. “Sometimes we pick up some Scratch tickets for birthdays or Christmas…and I guess we should be extra thankful we picked up a couple for Thanksgiving, too.”
While focused on family and their Thanksgiving meal, including that delicious cherry pie, the winners didn’t scratch their tickets until a couple of days later. Liz and Ricky said they don’t usually scratch off the part of the ticket that shows the prize amount until they’re sure they have a winning match.
“When we saw the symbols match, we scratched the part that shows the prize and we saw a ‘1’with an ‘M’ next to it,” said Liz. “We thought we knew what that meant, looked at each other in shock and decided to call the Lottery office in Olympia. When the woman at the Lottery asked me how much I’d won, I actually said ‘I can’t tell you that. I’m too nervous.’”
Once they realized that they had, in fact, won a million dollars, the family hopped in the car for a drive to the Lottery’s Headquarters office in Olympia. While current public health precautions prevented them from having their “big check” moment with a giant oversized one for a picture, as Ricky said, “the regular-sized check deposits easier in the bank.”
The couple said that their young son will be getting a new bike for Christmas, and each of their family members will be getting an extra-nice gift for the holiday, as well – especially Ricky’s cherry pie-loving brother-in-law.
“Millionaire’s Club” is a Scratch game from Washington’s Lottery. Tickets cost $20 each and have a top prize of $1 million. As of Dec 14, 2020, two of those million-dollar prizes still remain unclaimed. Ricky and Liz’s winning ticket was purchased at the Safeway located at 101 Auburn Way S in Auburn.
About Washington’s Lottery: Since 1982, Washington’s Lottery has generated more than $4.2 billion to support important state programs including the Washington Opportunity Pathways Account, which provides grants to help college students statewide achieve their higher education dreams and supports early childhood education learning programs. The state’s Lottery offers consumers several types of games, including Mega Millions, Powerball, Lotto, Hit 5, Match 4, PICK 3, Daily Keno and Scratch. For more information, visit www.walottery.com or find us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram at @walottery.
Keep it fun. Know your limit. Washington’s Lottery is an advocate for responsible gaming and collaborates with the Evergreen Council for Problem Gambling to provide resources for those in need. More information is available at www.walottery.com/Responsibility.
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Press Contact
Belle Eliason (Curator on behalf of Washington’s Lottery)
E-mail: Belle.Eliason@curatorpr.com