Melissa Blessing of Havre de Grace is $50,000 richer, thanks to a Money Money Money scratch-off.
$50,000 top-prize win goes to for Harford County woman
Celebrating the holiday with an Easter egg hunt is a widely held tradition dating back centuries. A Harford County 911 operator described her family’s unique take on the practice to Lottery officials on Tuesday when visiting headquarters to collect a $50,000 scratch-off prize. Their version includes instant tickets, eggs and adults only.
“We all like scratch tickets,” Melissa Blessing explained. “And, since there are no kids involved in our gathering, they make great replacements for candy.” Melissa’s family members all bring instant tickets to the party, separate them randomly into groups and assign each a number. Each hidden egg is then numbered, with the corresponding scratch-offs going to the finder. “It really is a lot of fun.”
Melissa is a Harford County government employee and an occasional Lottery player. “The most I’ve ever won was $2, but I keep buying them because I really enjoy playing.” As her family scratched their prizes together at the end of the hunt, her scratch-off win ceiling was about to climb dramatically.
In her hands was a $5 Money Money Money scratch-off.
“I saw the match and must have read over the instructions five times,” Melissa told Lottery officials. Unable to accept what her eyes were telling her, she showed her instant ticket to her family, asking, “Am I looking at this right?” The fun day was turned upside down when her $50,000 top-prize win was confirmed by a family member equipped with the Maryland Lottery app.
The Havre de Grace resident plans to pay bills and do some traveling with the proceeds from her prize. “I still can’t believe this has happened,” she said. “As we were all leaving, everyone was saying that this was an Easter we’ll be talking about for years.”
Wawa #582 supplied the egg salad and beverages for Melissa’s family’s festivities, along with the top-prize winning $50,000 Money Money Money instant ticket. The new scratch-off debuted March 18 with eight top prizes; six remain.
The store will receive a $500 bonus from the Lottery for selling the top-prize winning instant ticket. Look for the Bel Air business at 2300 Churchville Road.
