What’s a family barbecue without ice to chill the drinks? It’s that thought that Shirlean McCoy of Salemburg says caused her to stop and buy a bag of ice and the Powerball ticket that made her “dream come true.”

McCoy beat odds of 1 in 913,129 to win a $150,000 prize in Saturday’s drawing.

“It feels so good to be lucky,” McCoy said.

When she found out she won, she couldn’t believe it.

“I was in the kitchen watching the drawing,” McCoy said. “I was writing down the numbers as fast as I could. I kept asking myself, ‘Is this really real?’ This is a dream come true. I was just so excited, so excited!”

First, she called the lottery’s customer service line to check the numbers. Then, just to make sure, she took her ticket to a store to be scanned.

“Let’s just say I didn’t sleep that night,” McCoy said. “I was up and down, and up and down.”

She claimed her prize Monday at lottery headquarters in Raleigh. After required state and federal tax withholdings, she received $104,252. She plans to save the money.

She bought the $3 Power Play ticket at the Short Stop on Ramsey Street in Fayetteville. The numbers matched four white balls and the Powerball to win $50,000. Because McCoy added the Power Play feature, the prize tripled to $150,000 when the 3X multiplier was drawn.

The jackpot for Wednesday’s drawing has reached $121 million with an estimated lump sum of $76 million.

Ticket sales from games like Powerball made it possible for the lottery to raise more than $634 million dollars for the state last year. For details on how lottery funds has made a difference in Sampson County, click on the “For Education” section of the lottery’s website.