Holiday gift leads to winning ticket in Dec. 26 drawing
A Worcester County woman calling herself “Beach Baby” gave her family a holiday gift to remember. She bought Powerball and Mega Millions tickets for them to share so all could dream of winning one or both of the jackpots. A month later, her lucky family members were splitting a $50,000 Powerball prize in the Dec. 26 drawing.
The 59-year-old Ocean City resident said she got the idea because she and her older sister have teamed up in the past to buy Maryland Lottery tickets and then split any winnings. “Beach Baby” and her family have minimized their risk of catching COVID-19 during the pandemic by staying distant. This makes the times they come together — even by phone — that much more important. Coming together to play Lottery games was one more way to have fun together.
“The family had gotten together on a conference call around the holidays to catch up when I told them I would be getting a Powerball and a Mega Millions ticket for all of us,” said the winner. She also told her family, “If we hit the big one, we would all be splitting it.”
At the time, the Powerball jackpot was at $341 million and the Mega Millions jackpot at $352 million. “Beach Baby” visited 7-Eleven #23819 located 11911 Coastal Highway in Ocean City on Dec. 24 to buy a Mega Millions ticket and the lucky $8 Powerball quick-pick ticket for the Dec. 26 drawing.
New Year’s Day came and went before she remembered to check the tickets. When she read in the newspaper about a Powerball winner at her local 7-Eleven, “Beach Baby” retrieved the ticket from her car and compared it with the results. Their ticket was the winner! She and her family had matched four winning numbers and the Powerball, which gave them a third-tier $50,000 prize.
“I got them all on another call and said, ‘Guess what?’ It took a lot of convincing to make them all believe it was real,” she said.
They split the $50,000 prize four ways, with each family member receiving $8,300 after taxes. For “Beach Baby,” the prize will help her take care of car maintenance and home improvements. For her kids, the prize will help with growing families and milestone purchases.
“This win was really a blessing for me and my family,” said “Beach Baby.”
Your family can try their luck playing Powerball, too. The jackpot for the Feb. 10 drawing is $42 million with a cash option of $31 million.
