A “Lucky Laurel Couple” will spend their $50,000 Powerball prize on home repairs and a vacation.

Laurel couple claims $50,000 prize in Jan. 13 drawing

“I still cannot believe this is really happening” was the very first thing the 65-year-old grocery store employee told Maryland Lottery officials after claiming his $50,000 Powerball prize.

He had just handed in his winning ticket and successfully filled out the claiming paperwork to receive his winnings from the historic Jan. 13 drawing. The Laurel man had one of 24 $50,000 winning tickets sold in Maryland for the drawing, which also created three new Maryland Powerball millionaires.

This amazed winner recalls that he was out for a quick pizza dinner with his wife when he decided he needed to add more Powerball tickets to the collection he’d started the previous day.

“We were driving home and I saw a 7-Eleven so we decided to add a couple more,” he said. That 7-Eleven #33339 at 14651 Laurel Bowie Road in Laurel served up a sweet “dessert.” He got the great news about his win from the Maryland Lottery smartphone app on his phone the next day.

“I kept looking at it and looking at it,” he said. “I thought I was seeing things.” He called over his wife and the pair studied the ticket for several minutes before concluding that four of the first five numbers and the Power Ball matched the winning numbers. “We were pretty excited, but I really couldn’t believe it was true! Part of me was holding back.”

The “Lucky Laurel Couple” plans to take care of some long-overdue home repairs with their winnings. They are also planning a vacation, which they say is also long overdue. “We had a rough time last year, so this really turns things around for us.”