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1 Winn-Dixie Customer Has Golden Ticket

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By KEITH MORELLI The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 22, 2008

PINELLAS PARK - For the second time in less than a month, a multimillion-dollar Lotto ticket has been sold in the Tampa Bay area.

Only one ticket matched all six numbers in Wednesday night's drawing. The $37 million ticket was purchased at the Winn-Dixie supermarket on 102nd Avenue North.

The winner had not stepped forward Thursday, but Winn-Dixie workers were celebrating.

Normally, store manager Marc Sheppard would "be doing paperwork or walking the store," he said. Thursday morning, he was busy mugging for cameras, posing with lottery officials and store staff, and posting signs announcing his store sold the winning ticket.

He said he has regulars who come in for lottery tickets, but he had no idea who has it. "We're keeping our eyes out for somebody coming in who's really, really happy."

The $37 million jackpot accrued through rolled-over Lotto games that began Jan. 26. The previous drawing, on Jan. 23, produced an $18 million jackpot that went to a Town 'N Country family. That ticket was purchased at an Albertsons grocery store on West Hillsborough Avenue.

Sheppard said he got a call from a lottery official Thursday morning telling him his store sold the winner and that he should be ready for an onslaught of media. He was told by his supervisors to start posting signs and blowing up balloons.

"I thought he was kidding around with me," Sheppard said while passing out cardboard placards saying "Winning Ticket Sold Here" to his office staff, with orders to put them up throughout the store. One big poster will go outside, he said.

Sheppard said it's the store's first Lotto winner. He has been a manager in the Winn-Dixie chain for five years, and nothing like this has ever happened, he said.
Lotto players were coming in all day, buying and checking tickets, he said. "We've had quite a few people stopping by."

Pedro L. Lopez strolled up to the counter with money and his Lotto picks for Saturday. The 86-year-old Pinellas Park man said he was not aware the store sold the winning ticket.

"Once I won $12,000," he said. "But not here."

Jack Higgins, field sales manager for the Bay area district for the Florida Lottery, was at the store Thursday morning.

"We have a good time when this happens," Higgins said. "We're very pleased with the whole situation."

The winning numbers are 10-12-20-25-28-39, and the odds of winning were one in 22,957,480.

The other winners were: 184 had five of the six numbers, winning $4,327.50; 10,485 had four, winning $61.50; and 202,902 had three numbers, winning $4.50.

Reporter Keith Morelli can be reached at (813) 259-7760 or kmorelli@tampatrib.com.

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