Windfall kept a secret, except for close family members
It’s been a bit of a challenge, but during the week of Christmas, a couple from Salisbury has been able to keep a $50,000 Powerball win mainly to themselves.
“It’s been hard to keep it quiet,” the wife said Dec. 27 after braving Chesapeake Bay Bridge traffic and travelling to Maryland Lottery headquarters in Baltimore to claim the prize. At the time of the claim, only their adult children were aware of the hit.
Though $50,000 is a lot of money and the two are tickled about the windfall, they couldn’t help wonder aloud how different things would be if the numbers had been a little different. As it was, they hit four of the five white balls plus the Power Ball number in the Dec. 17 drawing for a third-tier prize. Had they hit five of five but no Power Ball, it would have been a second-tier prize of $1 million. And, of course, they had matched all their numbers, the drawing would have been a truly life-changing event.
“That one number!” the husband said.
As it is, the third-tier prize will be bringing good times to the couple. They’ll get caught up on bills, put a deck on the back of their house and give some money to their children.
“That pretty much takes care of it,” the wife said. Though the two aren’t big vacationers, they may also celebrate with a small excursion. Mainly, they’ll keep working, or as the husband put it: “Go to work and pay bills, go to work and pay bills, go to work and pay bills.”
The two have been playing the same set of numbers for several years – so long that they don’t recall exactly where the set came from. And they expect to keep on playing as they’re hopeful about winning the jackpot.
“We’ll probably hit again,” the husband explained.
They bought their lucky ticket at the Goose Creek convenience store at 111 Truitt Street in Salisbury. Try your luck this weekend with Powerball. No one has hit the Powerball jackpot, which rolled to $200 million for the Saturday, Dec. 28 drawing.