It was a memorable Valentine’s Day for Sylvania couple Virgil and Talondria Jenkins. Dinner was nice, but “dessert” was richer.
    Virgil scratched a lottery ticket worth $1 million.
    After taking his wife to a romantic Valentine’s Day dinner, Virgil, 44, stopped at the Ace Stop N Shop on Frontage Road in Sylvania and bought a $20 instant game Millionaire Jingle Jumbo Bucks scratch-off lottery ticket, according to Kimberly M. Starks, the media relations manager with the Georgia Lottery Corp.
    “I scratched it in the store, and I hollered,” Virgil Jenkins told lottery officials. “I shared the news with my wife, and she was thrilled.”
    The couple have two young children and look forward to purchasing a new home. Neither Virgil nor Talondria immediately replied to messages left by the Statesboro Herald on Facebook Wednesday. They told lottery officials they did not wish to return calls seeking comment about their win, and their home phone number is unlisted.
    It is possible to win up to $3 million playing Millionaire Jingle Jumbo Bucks, Starks said.
    Georgia Lottery profits fund specific educational programs including the state’s HOPE Scholarship and prekindergarten initiatives. Since its first year, the Georgia Lottery Corp. has returned more than $14 billion to the state of Georgia for education.
    “More than 1.4 million students have received HOPE, and more than 1.2 million 4-year-olds have attended the statewide, voluntary prekindergarten program,” she said.
    According to the Jenkinses’ Facebook accounts, which are restricted to those not on their “friends lists,” Virgil Jenkins listed his employer as Oracal, a vinyl and tape products factory in Ellabell. He also says that he is a 1986 Screven County High School graduate.
    Talondria Jenkins’ public Facebook account information shows she attended Georgia Southern University. 

    Holli Deal Bragg may be reached at (912) 489-9414.