 Lorraine Blackmon of Baltimore (center) celebrates her top-prize win on a $100,000 Winter Winfall scratch-off with husband Edward and daughter Jessica. |
A Baltimore city woman made a financially rewarding choice last month when she realized her gas tank was running very low. Lorraine Blackmon was heading to work just before Christmas when she saw the gas gauge reading. Should she stop and fill up her car’s gas tank or wait until later?
Her decision to pull into Royal Farms #169 on Pulaski Highway was a real winner! First, she didn’t run out of gas that day and, thanks to the top-prize winning $100,000 Winter Winfall scratch-off ticket she bought at the store, the lucky lady won’t run out of Maryland Lottery cash any time soon.
Lorraine, 54, is a state employee working in a finance office. She had no idea when looking over the offerings in Royal Farm’s Lottery vending machine that she would soon have to apply her professional finance savvy to her personal life. Good fortune came her way once the $100,000 Winter Winfall game caught her eye and she made her $10 purchase.
“I hadn’t played it before,” she said. “I thought I’d give it a try.”
After scratching off her $100,000 winning instant ticket at lunch, Lorraine found herself unsure of what to do next. “I was stunned. I just couldn’t believe it.” Even amid the confusion, she knew to do one very important thing to protect her prize. “I signed the back of the ticket. Everything after that was a blur.”
The happy winner shared a picture of her lucky game with friends and her husband Edward. “Everyone was so excited for me except my husband,” she said. Edward curbed his enthusiasm, he explained, only because he couldn’t get a good enough look at the scratch-off on his phone.
“I didn’t want her to get her hopes up until I could see the ticket,” Edward said. He and their daughter Jessica accompanied Lorraine to claim her prize.
Paying off student loans for her children is first on Lorraine’s list of ways to enjoy her prize. Her $100,000 Winter Winfall cash will also help with bills, a home improvement project and preparing for the family’s first grandchild.
The game still has four $100,000 top prizes awaiting discovery and eight more $10,000 prizes along with thousands of lesser prizes. Also a winner is Royal Farms #169 at 6201 Pulaski Highway in Baltimore. The store earns a $1,000 bonus for selling a top-prize winning scratch-off of $100,000 or more.