Forget the tricks, Linda McBride of New Bern said she got the treat of a lifetime after she won a $257,594 Cash 5 jackpot on Halloween.

McBride’s good luck started Thursday afternoon when her husband of 35 years stopped at the Handy Mart on South Glenburnie Road in New Bern and bought a Quick Pick Cash 5 ticket.

“We’ve been playing the lottery together for a long time,” McBride said. “It’s something we enjoy doing. Whenever he gets a ticket, he always makes sure to get one for me.”

She found out she won the next morning while she was tending to her horses.

“I thought my husband was kidding at first,” McBride said. “Then he told me to look at the ticket and the numbers on his phone. I couldn’t believe it.”

McBride claimed her prize Friday at lottery headquarters in Raleigh. After required state and federal tax withholdings, she took home $182,248. McBride said she doesn’t have any big plans for the money, but said she wants to make it a nice Christmas.

Cash 5 is a statewide draw game that gives players the chance to win a jackpot every single night. Tickets cost $1 and players can buy tickets at most lottery retailers or through Online Play on the lottery’s website. The jackpot for tonight’s drawing is $120,000.

Ticket sales from draw games like Cash 5 make it possible for the lottery to raise more than $700 million a year for education. For details on how lottery funds have helped all of North Carolina’s 100 counties, click on the “Impact” section of the lottery’s website. https://www.nclottery.com.