Peggy Revell
An unchecked Lotto 6/49 ticket bought months ago has turned into a million dollars.
“It’s all surreal, it just really is,” Paul Bock, owner of North Air Services here, said yesterday about the $1-million win which will be split between 10 employees at the business.
“It’s just bizarre. It doesn’t seem like it happened.
“Some of the guys haven’t slept right, haven’t eaten right, it’s just so strange I guess is the best way to put it,” Bock added.
“It’s a fantastic feeling, and yet at the same time, you wake up every morning and go, ‘Did that really happen?’
“And thank God it did.”
The business runs a lottery pool from time to time which anyone who comes through the office can sign up for, Bock explained, adding one started back up again in November and December.
“We don’t necessarily hit every draw, it’s kind of when I remember to send somebody or somebody grabs tickets,” he admitted.
“We don’t buy a lot of them,” he added. “We buy two bucks here, five bucks there, three bucks or whatever, and just kind of keep our names in it.”
But when Bock saw the sign advertising a possible $37-million jackpot for last Saturday’s 6/49 draw in front of Sparky’s Confectionary here a few days ago, he decided they had better get in on the draw.
So he grabbed the unchecked lottery tickets on his desk—some of which had been sitting there for as long as three months—and brought them with him.
“And that was basically it,” Bock said.
“They went through and found some non-winners, some free ticket winners, and then I think near the bottom of the pile was this one which said ‘Big Winner,’” he recalled, noting the winning ticket actually was a 6/49 Encore
number from Dec. 9.
“It [the lottery terminal screen] said ‘Big winner’ and nobody said how much,” Bock noted.
“We had to wait for a call from the lottery board and they confirmed this, confirmed that, take a name, and then it processes off the machine,” he explained.
“Next thing I knew, they handed me a chit here for a million.
“I haven’t been quite the same since, I tell you!” he remarked.
While they still haven’t gotten the cheque in hand yet, Bock said everyone has plans for what they will be doing with their share of the jackpot.
“Some people are splitting it between their kids, some people are putting an addition on their house, some people are buying a newer vehicle,” he noted.
Everybody’s got something that they’re going to do with this.
“It’s nice that there’s 10 people in on this,” Bock added, noting that for many people, their share amounts to three or four years’ worth of wages.
While it’s not a life-changing amount, it’s certainly fantastic and a real great boost, he remarked.
“A million dollars, you’ve got to change your friends, everything else, but this is, I mean it’s fantastic,” he reasoned. “You can go out and buy a house or a boat, or whatever.
“It’s really nice, it’s a comfortable amount,” Bock said.
“It makes your life a whole lot better but it doesn’t have to change who you are, I think is what I’m hoping for this.”
