Although he played the lottery on the luckiest day of the year, 07-07-07, Statesboro electrician Clinton Brown probably still got a shock when he realized he'd just won $100,000.
Brown, 57, Nevils-Daisy Road, was out of town, according to an unidentified woman who answered his phone, and was not immediately available for comment Friday. But he told the Georgia Lottery Commission he planned to pay bills with a portion of his winnings, which were the result of a $20 Millionaire Raffle ticket purchase July 7.
“That’s a lucky day,” he told lottery officials. “Something like that doesn’t come around too often.”
Brown saw the draw results on the Georgia Lottery’s Web site and immediately shared the news with his wife, Mary, said Tandi Reddick, Georgia Lottery Corporation media relations coordinator.
"I was excited,” Brown said. “I told my wife our ship had come in.”
Brown purchased the winning online ticket at Mighty Mike's Hot Stop #17 at the intersection of Sinkhole Road and Ga. 46. Manager Josette Bailey appeared as excited as if she had bought the winning ticket.
"I feel so happy," she said. "I just knew we were going to sell a winning ticket someday."
As a matter of fact, the store sold not just one, but two winning tickets that day. Another customer purchased a Millionaire Raffle ticket that was worth $1,000, she said.
Bailey didn't know who won that ticket. She said she didn't recognize Brown by name, but would likely recognize his face.
"Most of our customers we know by face or by car," she said. "I'd probably recognize him."
Although Brown told lottery officials he planned to pay bills with some of his winnings, he likely has plans for other, more exciting things with the rest. After the bills, “We’ll see what will happen after that,” he said.
Millionaire Raffle was a limited-time game that gave Georgia Lottery players their best odds ever to win $1 million. The game offered four $1 million prizes, five $100,000 prizes and 500 $1,000 prizes. The $1 million tickets were purchased in Acworth, Carrollton, East Dublin and Milledgeville. The $100,000 tickets were purchased in Evans, Forsyth, Hampton, Snellville and Statesboro. According to Bailey, at least one of the $1,000 tickets were sold in her Statesboro store as well.
Reddick said the Georgia Lottery Corporation has returned over $9 billion to the state of Georgia for education since its first year. "All Georgia Lottery profits go to pay for specific educational programs including Georgia’s HOPE Scholarship Program and Georgia’s Prekindergarten Program," she said. " More than one million students have received HOPE, and more than 790,000 4-year-olds have attended the statewide, voluntary prekindergarten program."
Brown, 57, Nevils-Daisy Road, was out of town, according to an unidentified woman who answered his phone, and was not immediately available for comment Friday. But he told the Georgia Lottery Commission he planned to pay bills with a portion of his winnings, which were the result of a $20 Millionaire Raffle ticket purchase July 7.
“That’s a lucky day,” he told lottery officials. “Something like that doesn’t come around too often.”
Brown saw the draw results on the Georgia Lottery’s Web site and immediately shared the news with his wife, Mary, said Tandi Reddick, Georgia Lottery Corporation media relations coordinator.
"I was excited,” Brown said. “I told my wife our ship had come in.”
Brown purchased the winning online ticket at Mighty Mike's Hot Stop #17 at the intersection of Sinkhole Road and Ga. 46. Manager Josette Bailey appeared as excited as if she had bought the winning ticket.
"I feel so happy," she said. "I just knew we were going to sell a winning ticket someday."
As a matter of fact, the store sold not just one, but two winning tickets that day. Another customer purchased a Millionaire Raffle ticket that was worth $1,000, she said.
Bailey didn't know who won that ticket. She said she didn't recognize Brown by name, but would likely recognize his face.
"Most of our customers we know by face or by car," she said. "I'd probably recognize him."
Although Brown told lottery officials he planned to pay bills with some of his winnings, he likely has plans for other, more exciting things with the rest. After the bills, “We’ll see what will happen after that,” he said.
Millionaire Raffle was a limited-time game that gave Georgia Lottery players their best odds ever to win $1 million. The game offered four $1 million prizes, five $100,000 prizes and 500 $1,000 prizes. The $1 million tickets were purchased in Acworth, Carrollton, East Dublin and Milledgeville. The $100,000 tickets were purchased in Evans, Forsyth, Hampton, Snellville and Statesboro. According to Bailey, at least one of the $1,000 tickets were sold in her Statesboro store as well.
Reddick said the Georgia Lottery Corporation has returned over $9 billion to the state of Georgia for education since its first year. "All Georgia Lottery profits go to pay for specific educational programs including Georgia’s HOPE Scholarship Program and Georgia’s Prekindergarten Program," she said. " More than one million students have received HOPE, and more than 790,000 4-year-olds have attended the statewide, voluntary prekindergarten program."